Friday Meetings with Nick Sirianni has a charming ring to it as a made-for-TV movie about the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles. The first-year head coach revealed he has been meeting with Jalen Hurts every Friday after everyone else has left the facility. The two get in the room and chop it up, everything from game-plan wrinkles to life decisions.
Hurts and Sirianni are trying to build their relationship and grow together in a new city. And for a rebuilding franchise. It goes beyond the football field as Sirianni takes “connecting” – one of his five core principles – to heart.
“Fridays, after everything and everybody leaves, we come in and we just talk about anything other than football,” Sirianni told reporters. “So, I just think you grow your relationship, the connection grows, the relationship grows, and everything grows. And as that grows, the communication gets better, the chemistry gets better. I think that’s just a part of growing as a football team.”
Coach Sirianni on @JalenHurts
Hurts acknowledged it was his idea to start those Friday meetings. The initial goal was to “holla” at the lead play-caller and get on the same page, then Sirianni proposed making it a weekly thing.
“Our Friday meetings are something we find very important for us and the team,” Hurts told reporters. “Talking about life, talking about things we got going on, we’re both new to this city, we’re both new to this opportunity and this job we have so we talk and we build. And we all talk about things we want to do to get this thing rolling.”
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One Mentality: ‘Results Will Come’
Hurts has enjoyed healthy relationships with his coaches throughout his career. It was impossible to avoid the boss when Hurts was a teenager since he lived with him: his dad, Averion, coached him at Channelview High. At Alabama, Hurts and Nick Saban would talk after Saturday games. Ditto for Lincoln Riley at Oklahoma.
“I lived with the guy I played for in high school,” Hurts joked. “I got a lot of time with him.”
Jalen Hurts on how the Friday meetings with Nick Sirianni came to be: “I told him I wanted to come up there and holla at him. And we talked and he was like ‘let’s make this a Friday thing.’ That was already my intention.” #Eagles #FlyEaglesFly
While he’s still getting to know Sirianni’s quirks, it hasn’t stopped their bond from growing stronger and stronger. Hurts said they have a lot more in common than people might think.
“One thing I realized is, we kind of realized it about one another, is we’re more alike as a competitor than we think,” Hurts said. “We both may express it in different ways but coach and I we want to win. And we work hard every day, we’re putting the work in every day, to get better and help the team. So we’re going to continue to do that and the results will come when they come.”
Brian Johnson Down to Eagles Sideline
Another big development in Hurts’ growth has been Brian Johnson. The Eagles young quarterbacks coach moved from the upstairs coaches box to the sideline prior to Week 8. That transition has given Hurts a direct line to an influential voice he’s been listening to since childhood.
“I think it’s crucial for everybody to be on the same page,” Hurts told reporters. “You have a ton of different people who have their hands on the quarterback – Coach Steichen, Coach Sirianni and Coach Johnson – I mean everybody’s on the same page, we’re all preaching the same things so we can be as efficient as we want to be. Brian’s been very important to me during my time here and this year, he’s been good for us.”
.@JalenHurts on his relationship with Quarterbacks Coach Brian Johnson
Johnson’s move down to the field was initiated by Sirianni who needed more time to do other things, like helping coach the defense. And it has provided opportunities for Johnson and Hurts to go over film together in critical moments.
“I think he’s been a great influence on Jalen on the sideline,” Sirianni said of Johnson. “And then, yeah, I mean, Brian just brings a wealth of knowledge in a lot of different areas; blitz protection, quarterback play, different styles of quarterbacks. So, yeah, Brian’s a major, major key. And I just think we have a really good offensive staff.”
Eagles QB coach Brian Johnson has known Jalen Hurts since he was 4 and once recruited him, but has never had the opportunity to coach him until now.
Johnson on what it’s been like working with Hurts:
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‘Influential Voice’: Eagles Make Key Coaching Change