Eagles Coach Establishes "College" Culture That Brings Players Together

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has won 14 games in two of last three years and has firmly established a winning culture.

Dec 29, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni and chief security officer Dom DiSandro after win against the Dallas Cowboys at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

PHILADELPHIA – Nobody it seems gives Nick Sirianni enough credit for taking all the talent general manager Howie Rosman and his team of scouts and assistants give him and winning with it. The assumption by way too many is that it’s easy to win with talent. That is not the case.

Talent can implode just like the lack of talent can explode. It takes the right coach to instill the right culture to make the talent mesh. Sirianni has done that, otherwise, he wouldn't have put together 14-win seasons in two of the last three years. He wouldn't have 48 wins in four years.

There have been times this year when players have talked about the college feel that Sirianni has intentionally or not brought to the locker room, the meeting rooms, and the field.

The NFL is a lot different in trying to establish connections between a group of players with diverse backgrounds and at various stages in their life.

He said on Wednesday, as the Eagles prepare to host the Packers in a wildcard game on Sunday, that in high school the connection is natural because you are playing with your friends, guys you grew up with in most cases. That same natural connection exists in college where guys come together who are away from home for the first time, live in the same dorms, and hang out with each other.

“There are a lot of different things that challenge connection in the NFL,” said Sirianni. “Some guys live in Jersey, some guys live in Philly, some guys live Main Line, some guys live in Delco, like wherever, and some guys have families, some guys are single, some guys have girlfriends, so everybody is in a different stage a little bit in the NFL, so you have to work at that to create that.

“I think that’s what you appreciate from these guys is how much they’ve worked to connect with each other, because I know this at the end of the day if you’re a connected football team, that doesn’t guarantee you win anything, but it guarantees that you don’t want to let that person down.”

The coach referenced and paraphrased something right tackle Lane Johnson said a couple of weeks ago. Johnson said something like, “We’re so committed to being together and having a tight football team that we have a little bit more on the line that we don’t want to let each other down and that’s the key to it.”

Sirianni fosters that.

“I want there to be joy when they walk in here and see their pictures on the walls and on the video screens and have success and root for the success of the other guys, but that doesn’t happen – all those things I just talked about – doesn’t happen without special people,” he said, “and we have some special, special guys that make that happen. Culture is your habits, your habits are what happens by the team and we have some special guys that can accomplish that.”

More NFL: Eagles Nick Sirianni's Message Not Changing Now That Playoffs Are Here