Nick Sirianni said it was “business as usual” in his post-season meeting with Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie.
Hard to believe.
Because the way this past season ended was anything but usual. After a 10-1 start in 2023, the Eagles completely collapsed, losing six of their final seven games, including a wild-card round loss to the Buccaneers.
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Despite that, Sirianni said his meeting with Lurie was normal.
“It wasn't anything different than it's been the last three years,” Sirianni said. “Now, in my mind, you'd better believe I'm thinking how do I re-prove myself. I was a young coach that Mr. Lurie and Howie (Roseman) and this organization trusted to give the job to. I had to prove myself that this guy can lead the organization like they asked me to, and I had to prove myself from then.
“I think you asked me that question, did I have to sell my vision? No, because it was business as usual. But you'd better believe that I'm thinking after that 1-6 finish after starting the way we started and doing the things that we've done in the past, that I'm thinking I'm going to prove them right again and we're going to prove them right. We've got to re-prove ourselves. We've got to go prove it again.
“That's how I feel right now. That's how I'm attacking this offseason. That's how I'm attacking this upcoming season as we get ready for it. Just hungry to be able to prove myself again to Mr. Lurie and the faith that he's had in me and Howie and the faith he's had in me and the rest of the team and the city.”
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There’s no doubt that Sirianni has had success since the Eagles hired him as their head coach in 2021. He has been to the playoffs in three straight years, got all the way to the Super Bowl in 2022 and has a 34-17 record over the past three seasons.
While Lurie did not speak to reporters on Wednesday, the second-most important decision-maker in the organization did. Longtime general manager Howie Roseman cited some of Sirianni’s accomplishments as he expressed confidence in the head coach.
“Yeah, I think every conversation that we're having is about how we can move forward together,” Roseman said. “And I think the important thing for us to look at is before this stretch, which was a difficult stretch – I’m not diminishing the 1-6 stretch at the end – [but] we were 26-5 over the last 31 games. That's four times the amount of games that we played over this stretch. That is hard to do in the National Football League. That is hard to find a head coach in this league who has that record of success.
“I think we were 33-11 up until that point with Nick. We've made the playoffs three straight years. Again, not OK finishing 1-6, so I'm not sitting up here saying that, but it is hard to find somebody who can do those sort of things. I think as we go forward, doing this together in a way that continues to get the best possible people we can, on and off the field, for me, that's my job to try to make sure that we have that on the field and my group is as strong as we possibly can get, and I know Nick is committed to that in his group.”
When explaining the reasons for why Wednesday’s press conference didn’t take place until nine days after the season ended in Tampa, Roseman cited the Monday night playoff game, the shell-shocked feeling in the locker room, lengthy exit interviews, a snowstorm and some others.
The one reason Roseman left out? The Eagles were likely figuring out whether or not they were going to keep their head coach. The Eagles will never admit as much but it’s hard to imagine a team making sweeping changes that didn’t at least think about making a change at the top.
Roseman is right, though. Sirianni has been successful. But the collapse is hard to ignore too. And since the season ended, the Eagles have already moved on from both of their coordinators and are searching for their replacements.
At the defensive coordinator spot, an ESPN report indicates the job will go to veteran coach Vic Fangio. On offense, the search is underway. And during Wednesday’s press conference, Sirianni acknowledged that he’s ceding some power on that side of the ball to the new hire.
It appears as if Sirianni will become more of a CEO-type of coach in 2024, hopefully with strong coordinators leading their respective sides of the football.
“My job is to be the head coach of the team,” Sirianni said. “Not the head coach of the offense, not the head coach of the defense, not the head coach of the special teams, but be the head coach of the football team. So that's building the culture. That's making sure the culture is working with our five core values, are taking every day at a time.”
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