New Eagles Head Coach Nick Sirianni raised some eyebrows during his introductory news conference in late January. Stuck in a large, empty conference room staring at a computer monitor. The first time head coach was left to answer questions from one of the toughest media markets in the NFL. Needless to say, it was a tough day and the first impression was a little rough.
Fast forward 6 or so weeks, has things changed? Happily I am glad to say, I think they have. I was part of a virtual Season Ticket Holder meet and greet today with the new Eagles coaching staff. After listening to the coach talk. I am fired up! He had me ready to play. You can tell he has a love for the game and coaching it. He loves to compete at everything. He was talking to us about football! That was it, not about thanking anyone or being prim and proper, he talked football! I want to let you in on some of his insights.
For clarification, NFL rules prohibited any question on the reported trade of Carson Wentz, the coaching staff will talk about that on March 17 at 4PM.
On Frank Reich and his influence " I really consider Frank a mentor and I really paid attention to what he did day in and day out".. "Frank has really prepared me."
What will your message be to the players when you stand before them for the first time
First he talked about his 5 Core Values
Connect -"Player to player, player to coach, coach to coach. You are willing to go a little bit further for the person you know rather than the person you don't know." "He wants a tight knit team. He wants the Offensive Line going out for dinner night, the coaches to hang out together. Just be a team.
Compete-"Every game is close in the NFL, if you are not competing on a daily basis it is foolish" You have to practice competing. Always compete, if you don't win in practice you can't win on the field.
Accountability-Everyone is accountable, players, coaches . "If we let things go, and say hey it wasn't that bad a mistake we are not going to talk about that. That will be our downfall. " He wants the players and coaches to hold each other accountable. Show the film, here is what acceptable and what isn't, practice, practice, practice till you get it right.
Football IQ- Implement system that are easy to learn and you will have good fundamentals. Systems that are easy the players can just play and not think.
Fundamentals-All the players in the NFL are good, it is your fundamentals will get you over the top. For example he talked about the KC/Cleveland playoff game. How the Browns fumbled through the end zone. That single fundamental play turned the entire playoff game around.
Coach also talked about "Winning Double Positives". What does that mean? Win the turnover battle and win the explosive plays. Again all the players are good in the NFL, if you win the turnovers and make explosive play, and don't give them up you will be successful.
Some more positive points that really stuck out to me. He loves to run the ball but he doesn't have a set system. If he needs to run the ball he will run it, if he has to win airing it out, that is what he will do. He won't force a square peg in a round hole. He preached protecting the Quarterback and how his offensives in SD/LA/Indy regardless of the QB they were protected. It wasn't a coincidence in my book that Kelce announced his return in 2021 shortly after this Q&A. The line will be a priority. Another detail that caught my attention. " I love coaching receivers" ...."I can't let it go". Hello!!! Jamar Chase anyone!!!
He talked about his coaching staff and the connection they have. It really felt like 4 buddies getting ready to work together as one. It felt right. These guys seem like they are young, aggressive and hungry. No retreads here. I am excited to see them work.
This Q&A went on for almost and hour. I could go on and on. We were introduced to a young, hungry, new aged coaching staff. Quite frankly, one that this football organization has never seen before. I was really, really skeptical of the new coach at first. I came away from the Q&A refreshed and excited about what we are about see. We just might have a diamond in the rough.
One final thing......He HATES Dallas........Now he can't wait to beat them too!