Sirianni making Eagles’ dream season a family affair
Eagles coach wants run to Super Bowl to be lifelong memories
Unlike his predecessors, Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni brings his children to postgame news conferences at home games.
That hasn’t happened on the Eagles’ dais in at least three decades, as head coaches Rich Kotite, Ray Rhodes, Andy Reid, and Doug Pederson all performed for the cameras without their kids, and Chip Kelly had no kids.
As for Sirianni Family face time, get used to it, probably even during Super Bowl LVII week in Phoenix.
Sirianni pours so much into his job and spends so much time away from his family he wants his loved ones around for portions of the journey. Sirianni, a coach’s son, grew up hanging out with family and football characters.
“So many of my memories are being at practice pretending I’m Walter Payton diving over the bags, or my brother’s hitting me with the bag as we’re playing catch at practice,” Sirianni said. “So many of my memories are about football and being around football. So, you know, my kids wouldn’t do that as much in the NFL right? So yeah, I want them to have that same feeling. Part of that is that I bring them up there (to the podium), like I think (daughter) Taylor’s going to be reminded of this when she’s a probably a senior in high school, the way she acted on the stage and we’ll have fun with that at that point. I want them to remember that stuff.”
Sirianni’s children — Jacob, 7; Taylor, 5; and Miles, 3 — joined him on the dais after the NFC title game blowout of the 49ers. The coach had to tell Taylor to stop mimicking his hand and facial gestures while he spoke. It was a daddy moment.
The Sirianni kids also have been given the opportunity to get together with Eagles players at various functions, which isn’t unusual. They’ve already bonded with players over hot dogs, hamburgers and grilled chicken.
“I want them to remember slapping high-five with A.J. (Brown) or DeVonta (Smith) or Jalen (Hurts), you know?” Sirianni said. “Jacob still talks about the time when Jalen (Hurts) and Gardner (Minshew) came to our house this summer for a little cookout. And so, yeah, it’s deliberate, because I have so many cherished memories of football and I want them to have those, too.”
Sirianni’s boys have learned a lot about the fundamentals of football. Enough that they can dad out on occasion.
“They see everything, and they hear everything,” Sirianni said. “And so my father-in-law the other day, we were watching the replay of the (Giants) game, and he was asking me a couple questions. He was a lawyer, retired now, and he’s asking me a couple questions like, ‘Hey, why did you do this here?’ I’m like, ‘Here, that’s why we did this.’ Then he kind of asked me the same question again, as the drive went on. And I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going back to this again.’ He asked me at a third time and finally my son’s like, ‘Hey Pops, when you score 38 points you can’t ask questions?’ So, I’m cognizant of maybe I’ve said something like that before.”
While Sirianni was growing up people always stopped by — mostly players — to see his father, Fran, a bit of a local legend in the Jamestown, N.Y. area, as former coach of Southwestern High School in West Ellicott, N.Y.
Now it’s Nick’s kids who have that chance to grow.
“Hopefully,” Sirianni said, “my son is saying the same thing.”