Nick Sirianni, who will hope to lead the Eagles to only their second ever Super Bowl trophy, has history with both of this weekend’s Lombardi competitors.
The 41-year-old has been transformative since taking over at Philadelphia in January 2021, leading them to consecutive postseasons and ultimately their first Super Bowl appearance since 2018.
Back then, Sirianni had just been named the head coach at Indianapolis after years spent as a technical coach for various offensive positions, perhaps most notably at the Kansas City Chiefs.
After making the step up from college football coaching, the team he will hope to defeat this weekend as Eagles coach handed him his first role in the NFL. This makes for an interesting subplot for this year’s Super Bowl, having been highly thought of in Kansas and making his way up the ranks – first as offensive quality coach and subsequently in charge of the wide receivers.
However, he was let go in 2012 by incoming coach Andy Reid, who deemed him surplus to requirements. Despite coming as a huge disappointment to a budding young coach at the time, Sirianni has insisted he used it as motivation when speaking ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl showdown.
Nick Sirianni – Assistant Coach, Kansas City Chiefs (2009-12)
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“Do you always have this little chip on your shoulder? Sure, yeah, you do,” Sirianni said.
“But that’s who I am as a coach and as a person — I want to make sure I’m working my butt off to get as good as I possibly can. And sure, you hold on to some of those things.
“Did I want to leave Kansas City? No. My future wife was from there, we were engaged at the time, she had a nice teaching job there, she had all her friends there, her mom and dad were a half-hour down the road. Of course I didn’t want to leave there.
“But when I look at it, God’s always put me in great positions and guided my paths. I know I don’t say stuff like that all the time, but I know he has.”
Andy Reid remains at the helm for the Chiefs having masterminded seven consecutive first place finishes in the AFC West, as well as what will be a third Super Bowl appearance in four seasons this Sunday.
Reid also has ties of his own to Philadelphia, and much stronger than that of Sirianni’s to Kansas. He led them to a Super Bowl appearance in 2004 as well as five NFC Championship games in one of the more successful periods in the franchise’s history.
Although Sirianni claims he has matured after admitting he ‘stood on the press box’ with arms flailing and fists pumping the air after beating the Chiefs as Chargers quality control coach in 2013, there is sure to be the remnants of bitterness that will fuel his yearning for a first Super Bowl title.
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