Nick Sirianni Invested in Phillies' Run to World Series

The Eagles head coach didn't watch any college football on Saturday night, instead watching a basbeall game in full for the first tme in a long time

PHILADELPHIA – Nick Sirianni loves football, no matter whether it’s the pro game, college, or high school, so you know something big was happening on Saturday night when he didn’t watch a single snap of the sport he loves.

Instead, the Eagles coach was tuned in to Game 4 of the National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres. He watched the Phillles pound out a 10-6 win.

“I can't say that I've watched a baseball game in a long time in the sense of just sat there and watched a baseball game because that team that I liked, they don't have many successful postseason attempts,” said Sirianni on Wednesday as the Eagles returned from their bye week.

“It's fun. I'm glad to say now I'm a Phillies fan. That Saturday night game was fun. That was fun. I didn't watch any college football that night. That's what I watched, the Phillies game. A lot of fun to watch. That's a fun team.”

Sirianni didn’t want to admit to the team he liked, but it is believed to be the Pirates, which, of course, is located in Pittsburgh, where the football team that will play the Eagles on Sunday (1 p.m./CBS) resides.

The Eagles coach can easily relate to this Phillies team, which will play Game 1 of the World Series on Friday night on the road against the Houston Astros.

“Man, I just look at that team and I think about the way they connect with each other, because you want to emulate good teams and you want to see what makes good teams good teams,” he said. “They connect with each other. They're always celebrating together. It's fun to watch.

“All those different things, they went through adversity throughout the year and came out better because of it. My hat’s off to their coaches and to their players for having the dawg mentality to go and control what you can control.”

Phillies Fever has even invaded his home.

Sirianni returned from work on Tuesday and found one of his sons asleep wearing a Bryce Harper jersey.

“I think that's really cool,” he said. “Really excited.”

It was certainly a good week for the Eagles to have a bye, turning the spotlight over to the Phillies.

And the World Series schedule is laid out perfectly for Philly sports fans, with an off day on Sunday, when the Eagles host the Steelers, and another one, four days later, when the Eagles will be in Houston to play the Texans on Thursday night.

“We're busy this week to get ready for our stuff, but Friday and Saturday, we'll have a little time to watch it,” said Sirianni. “Next week, we won't have as much time to watch anything, just being on a short week, but I look forward to watching the games I can watch and continuing to root them on.”

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Fan Nation Eagles Today and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglesmaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.