Nick Sirianni Readies for Climb to Top of Family Tree

Eagles coach will try to stay even-keeled for his first NFL game in charge, but he is well aware of what the moment will mean to his family of coaches

Nick Sirianni is about to embark on his first season as a head coach in the NFL.

The youngest of three brothers, all of whom are or have been head coaches at various levels of football, but not the NFL, is trying to contain his excitement for the Eagles’ season opener in Atlanta on Sunday (1 p.m./FOX).

“I just have to make sure I temper my emotions because I always feel like as the leader of the football team people are looking at you," said Sirianni on Monday. “If I'm too up, they're going to be too up. If I'm too down, they're going to be down.

“I just want to keep this even keel, no matter what's going through my mind…I need that so I can stay calm, and I can call the game the way I need to and manage the game the way I need to. Again, just want to be even-keeled through all that.”

That said, the moment is not lost on the 40-year-old rookie head coach.

His brother Mike is the head coach at Washington & Jefferson College, south of Pittsburgh, and another brother, Jay, was the head coach at the brothers’ alma mater, Southwestern Central High School in Jamestown, N.Y.

Jay led Jamestown to back-to-back New York state titles in 2008 and 2009.

Southwestern is also where Nick’s father, Fran, coached for nine seasons.

“I come from a coaching family, and it definitely is special to me that it’s going to be my first game as a head coach this Sunday,” said Sirianni. “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.”

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Sirianni was on 94WIP on Tuesday afternoon, and he said he gave his brother Mike a two-point play that Mike used to help beat W&J, a win achieved against John Carroll, which was a rival of Sirianni’s college, Mount Union.

The coach said he spent three hours listening to Saturday’s game on the radio.

“Football has always been a family affair for us,” said Sirianni. “That's going to be special because I just know the family interactions that we have. My dad was at the (W&J-John Carroll) game, so I would call him and be like, ‘Hey, what's happening on this play, what is happening on this play?’ I'm assuming that's going to be very similar here, except it's going to be on national television.

“So that's where I think it's really special, just a special thing with my family. But I'm not going to let that moment distract me from what's important. That's just being ready, doing everything I need to do to be ready this week.”

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