Football ‘a family affair’ for Siriannis
Nick Sirianni is locked in on the season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, who had a slightly more miserable 2020 season than the Eagles.
So many details, so little time before Sirianni and the Birds take on the favored Falcons Sunday afternoon at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. But Sirianni would not deny the significance of his first game as an NFL head coach because the profession is in the family DNA.
Coaching is a kind of religion in the Sirianni household. To illustrate, Nick Sirianni said he spent three-plus hours getting updates on his older brother Mike’s season opener for Division
III Washington and Jefferson last Saturday. Sirianni described that game as “a big win” for the Presidents, who bumped off their nationally-ranked opponent, John Carroll, 21-14.
“My dad was at the game, so I would call him and be like, ‘Hey, what’s happening on this play, what is happening on this play?’” Sirianni said Monday. “I’m assuming that’s going to be very similar here, except it’s going to be on national television.”
It will be Mike Sirianni setting aside time from his preparations for the next game focusing on Nick, who is nine years younger.
It will be Sirianni’s parents and his brother Jay, a history teacher, taking the game in on TV because of job situations and you know, there’s this COVID virus out there. When Nick Sirianni steps into that stadium, they’ll be with him just as the family has always been there for whoever has taken on the challenge.
“It definitely is special to me that it’s going to be my first game as a head coach,” Sirianni said. “And I know that’s special for my entire family, so I’m really excited about that; excited for my parents to watch it on TV. I’m excited for my brothers to watch it on TV. One of my brothers will be getting ready
for his next week’s game while in the office as he watches it or updates on his phone or whatever it’s going to be. Yeah, I’m excited because it’s such a family affair. Football has always been a family affair for us.”
If you’re a family type, it’s hard not to root for Sirianni. That’s not a rip job of Doug Pederson, who guided the Eagles to a 4237-1 (.531) mark and a Super Bowl title over the past five seasons. Pederson was likable, too. But his mismanagement of the quarterback position, which he had overseen masterfully in previous years, was his undoing. Ultimately, he lost the power struggle with general manager Howie Roseman, realizing too late how limited his authority was, not having control of the 53-man or game-day rosters.
Roseman still oversees
the 53-man roster. Sirianni is responsible for the game-day roster and inactives, which at the least should make for an interesting start to the new coaching tenure.
How the Eagles will play, only Sirianni and his coaching staff know for sure. But it’s become increasingly apparent he hopes a grinding offense will draw the defense in and set up explosive wide receivers DeVonta Smith, Jalen Reagor and Quez Watkins for big plays.
Running backs Miles Sanders, Boston Scott and rookie Kenneth Gainwell are going to get a lot of touches. The offensive line was pretty much shut down for the preseason to keep it healthy and fresh enough to play in high gear from the outset.
Zach Ertz and Dallas Goedert may be the best tight end duo in the league.
The Falcons have a new head coach in Arthur Smith, who was creative with pocket passer Ryan
Tannehill in Tennessee and should be again with Matt Ryan. But the Falcons have one of the worst defenses in football. They were last in the league in pass defense, and ranked among the bottom feeders in rushing defense, giving up 4.4 yards a pop.
Sirianni and defensive coordinator Johnathan Gannon are going to have a tough time matching up with a pretty good and versatile stable of Falcons running backs, including Wayne Gallman, a pain in their side with the New York Giants. Receiver Calvin Ridley is a faster version of Smith. Add tight ends Hayden Hurst and Kyle Pitts to the mix, and it’s going to be a dink-anddunk festivus. Whoever tackles, prevails. Pitts (6-6, 245), a product of Abington and Archbishop Wood high schools. was widely considered the top talent in the recent draft.
None of those details have escaped Sirianni, or his family. He didn’t mention it but rest assured,
the suggestions will be jamming his phone in text messages almost up to the national anthem.
It’s all good, because that’s how Nick Sirianni got to where he is today, if you will. And where he is, if you listen to his players, is a man inspiring his people to overcome all odds.
“We’ve got a lot of people that aren’t looking at us like we’re going to be that great,” Goedert said Monday. “We have a whole different mindset in the building. Looking at our team from bottom to top, I think we’ve got a great team. Our O-line and D-line are great and that’s kind of where it all starts. I think if we can just play well, make sure we know what we’re doing, how to do it and we can play, we’ll give a lot of teams a lot of problems.
“I think our expectations are really high.”
The same can be said for Nick Sirianni.