On January 24th, 2021, Nick Sirianni was hired as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. In his first press conference, visibly shaken by nerves, he told the Philly faithful that they had to build a smart football team, and a smart football team is one that “knows what to do.” This one line set the internet ablaze and had pundits and media personalities calling for his job right from the start. But as the old adage goes, it’s not how you start; it’s how you finish.

Before Sirianni was calling plays, he was running them as a receiver for the Mount Union Purple Raiders, where he won three Division 3 national championships and was just two yards shy of a thousand-yard season with 13 touchdowns in his senior year of college. However, as a sophomore, it looked like his athletic career was finished after a calf injury left him with compartment syndrome, a condition that nearly cost him his leg. When doctors told him his playing career was likely over, he told them:

“Forget that, I’m playing football again. You can’t tell me that.”

Sirianni was back on the field in time for his junior season.

After graduating from college, he became the defensive backs coach at Mount Union and later the wide receivers coach at the University of Indiana, Pennsylvania. Before breaking into the NFL, coaching for the Chiefs, Colts, and Chargers.

The Flower

In his first season as head coach with the Eagles, Sirianni led the team to a 9-8 record and a wild card berth, falling to the eventual champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Sirianni knew his team was building towards something special. In a post-game press conference, he explained that the team was like a flower growing.

“Nobody wants to see results more than us,” he told reporters, “but it’s really important that the foundation is being built and the roots are growing out.”

The Eagles continued to build on that foundation. In 2022, they improved their record to 14-3 and reached the Super Bowl, where they fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 38-35. Throughout the Super Bowl run, the Eagles perfected what would come to be known as the “Tush Push.” In 2022, they ran the push 27 times and were successful over 92% of the time. In 2023, they continued to build on that success, running the play 42 times over the course of the season.

In his first three years with the team, Sirianni led the Eagles to 2 division titles and  Super Bowl appearance. As well as signing top offensive weapon A.J. Brown, and perfecting an unstoppable play. Going into the 2024 season, the organization was poised to take it all the way.

Champions

In 2024, the Eagles looked like a complete team, ranking 4th in the NFL in total offense and 1st on the defensive side of the ball. That offseason, they added premier running back Saquon Barkley, who had the best year of his career, rushing for over 2,000 yards. In the playoffs, the Eagles outscored their opponents 145-75, blowing out the back-to-back champion Kansas City Chiefs 40-22 in the Super Bowl.Hide trimmed content

So, what lessons can we learn from Nick Sirianni and his team’s rise to football immortality?

There are levels to success. Like Sirianni, we may judge ourselves or be judged by others when we are just getting started. In his first press conference, Sirianni didn’t seem like the coach he is today. As he said, we need to be willing to grow like a flower, laying a strong foundation even before the results are visible. If we can embrace this approach, just as the Eagles did, we too can rise to become champions.

hat’s it for this post! If you liked what you read, follow us on Instagram or Facebook using the buttons above. To help us create more inspiring content, please donate by clicking here.