Is the Philadelphia Eagles’ coach Nick Sirianni “stupid”? Or is it “beyond the pale” ? or ”learning on the job” alone?
Coach Sirianni is effectively admitting guilt on all three counts in Sunday’s NFL Week 9 battle against the Dallas Cowboys.
“We have to treat every day the same,” he said during “Dallas Week” in Philly. “You can’t get more up for one game than you would the next game. … That’s for y’all to, you as media, the fans, to get (excited) … I’m not asking for anyone to understand that mindset, and I’m not asking anyone to understand our team’s mindset there. …”
One critic may respond by saying that, given the way Sirianni handles “Dallas Week,” it’s difficult to follow his “mindset” because it seems to be constantly shifting.
He donned a “Beat Dallas” t-shirt during a press conference in 2021 as a rookie coach. That week, the Cowboys defeated his team 41–21.
In 2022, too? “It was a foolish move on my part last year,” Sirinnai said to his teammates, gesturing to the jersey, before the Eagles defeated the Cowboys 26–17 in Week 6.
And this year? “(If I say) ‘It’s Cowboy Week, we’re going to ramp it up!’ Well, what the hell were we doing the last couple of weeks? You’d be like, ‘Well, that’s why you lost to the Jets.’ “I would never (do that).”
But … er … um … Coach … you did do that.
As the Eagles’ head coach for the third season, Sirianni has a 30-12 record. Last February, he guided the Philadelphia Eagles to the Super Bowl, but they were ultimately defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs. He should be commended greatly for managing what may be the best club in the NFL. However, someone has to confront him with what we might politely refer to as “playful hypocrisy,” which also includes him yelling, “How ’bout them Cowboys!” in a childish jest after the team wins in October 2022.
It appears that someone did confront him about it, since SI.com’s Eagles Today this week openly questioned Sirianni about growing from the error.
“If I’m asking the guys to improve every day, then I need to improve every day,” Sirianni answered. “But, yeah, of course, I’ve grown in many ways since Day 1 of becoming the head football coach.”