Eagles Coach On Sustaining Success

Sometimes success can be more difficult to deal with than adversity.
Dec 15, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni in the tunnel against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field.
Dec 15, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni in the tunnel against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field. / Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
In this story:

PHILADELPHIA - When it comes to the NFL, a lot of digital ink is spilled on handling adversity.

How about the other end of the spectrum? From a psychological standpoint, it can be just as difficult to deal with success, albeit with different hurdles.

The 12-2 Eagles have won a franchise record 10 consecutive games and Nick Sirianni is now 46-19 (.708) as Philadelphia's coach, the sixth-best winning percentage in NFL history.

One of Sirianni's core coaching beliefs is accountability so Philadelphia Eagles On SI asked the coach if that becomes more difficult during periods of sustained success.

"No. I think when you are making corrections, the tape is very black and white," Sirianni said. "Either I didn't do my job or I did do my job. That's as a player, that's as a coach."

The goal, according to Sirianni, is clearly defining what's expected before anything unfolds.

"Something that we focus so much on as coaches is to paint the picture very clearly so that the job requirement is very clear," he said. "Showing them different looks, different pictures, things like that. ‘Hey, here is the job requirement on this.’"

It's a familiar refrain from quarterback Jalen Hurts: "The standard is the standard."

"When you meet the standard – whether that's in situational football, whether that's on a play design, whether that’s on a play design versus a certain look, offensively or defensively – you’re pointed out and told, ‘Hey, this is really good,’" Sirianni explained. "When you don't meet the standard, you correct it."

That doesn't change win, lose or draw.

"I think that's something that you do no matter what," said Sirianni. "I know that sometimes you can even be harder on guys after wins and through stretches because everyone is trying to get better. So nothing really changes. It’s kind of our core value as far as accountability. Our job as coaches is to be very clear and to do the things that we need to do. Then their job as players is to live up to that standard.

"So we talk about that, and our corrections to the coaches and players are the same off of that."

MORE NFL: Why the Eagles Need Bryce Huff


Published
John McMullen
JOHN MCMULLEN

John McMullen is a veteran reporter who has covered the NFL for over two decades. The current NFL insider for JAKIB Media, John is the former NFL Editor for The Sports Network where his syndicated column was featured in over 200 outlets including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Miami Herald. He was also the national NFL columnist for Today's Pigskin as well as FanRag Sports. McMullen has covered the Eagles on a daily basis since 2016, first for ESPN South Jersey and now for Eagles Today on SI.com's FanNation. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube.com. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey and part of 6ABC.com's live postgame show after every Eagles game. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen