Getty Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni knows the expectations are always extremely high in Philadelphia.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is well aware of what the numbers say. He’s seen them. He’s dissected them. He’s thrown them out of his memory bank. Don’t tell him that only one team in the past 20 years has returned to the Super Bowl after losing it the year before.
That team was the 2018 New England Patriots who won the whole damn thing. Sirianni addressed the alarming statistic at the NFL Annual Meeting in Phoenix in late March. He wasn’t annoyed by the question because he knew it had to be asked. He just wasn’t interested in rehashing history.
“We don’t give a crap about what the numbers say about who was able to get back to the Super Bowl,” Sirianni told reporters on March 28. “It’s going to take day-in and day-out work. And I know that’s cliche but when you can set your sights narrow as far as here’s what we’re focusing on today, it helps you stay focused on that day and continue to build and build and build.”
“I ain’t hungry. I’m starving for this shit.” – Jalen Hurts
GO BIRDS!
The numbers say the Eagles have no shot at redemption in 2023. To further pound home the point, consider this: 40% of those Super Bowl runner-ups missed the playoffs entirely the year after losing. The odds are stacked strongly against them, harder than a Brian Dawkins’ stick on Alge Crumpler. What say you Sirianni?
“There’s that thing that Jalen said, ‘I’m not hungry, I’m starving.’ You guys all saw that,” Sirianni said. “I’m starving for this s***. I think that just makes you more hungry, makes you more starving.”
Nick Sirianni Won’t Put Ceiling on Jalen Hurts
The word ceiling and Jalen Hurts don’t need to be in the same sentence. After watching his incredible development as a passer in 2022 – Hurts surpassed every expectation on his way to MVP runner-up honors – no one is willing to gamble on what or what he can’t do anymore. He is the franchise.
“People have asked me how good can Jalen Hurts be? No one knows what Jalen’s ceiling can be but I know God willing he can reach it because of all the factors he has,” Sirianni said. “So he’s not all of a suden different because he;s still putting in the work like you’ve seen him oput in the work like you’ve seen him put in the last couple years.”
Jalen Hurts pre-draft interview: “I’m a difference maker. I’m a dog… I can make every throw. I don’t say sky’s the limit because I don’t put a ceiling on how good I can be.”
Hurts admitted during his pre-draft interview that he would never put a ceiling on himself. He’s a dog. And the sky’s the limit. His words.
Vote of Confidence for New OC Brian Johnson
Shane Steichen will no longer be calling the offensive plays in Philly. He’s gone, off to Indianapolis where he’ll be the head coach of the Colts. Brian Johnson was promoted from quarterbacks coach to take on Steichen’s old role in what was a pretty obvious move to anyone paying attention. Johnson will be the new guy wearing the headset but don’t expect too much to change.
“Yeah, what you’re going to see with our offense is you’re not going to see a lot of change, because myself, Shane, right, Brian, like we do it all together. Obviously, Shane will be gone. There will be little differences and little different ways that the game is called, but the way the offense is run with everything is going to be exactly the same,” Sirianni told reporters on February 28. “The way our guys run routes are going to be the same. The way we block inside zones is going to be the same for different looks that we get. The way we do our snap count.
“You’re just continuing to build … I was hired as an offensive coach to bring the offense that I have run and my expertise in that, so I’ll continue to do that. It’s just going to be a different guy calling the plays, but it’s still business as usual.”
More on the responsibilities of #Eagles new offensive coordinator, Brian Johnson. The head coach Nick Sirianni runs down everything that Brian Johnson did with the team as the quarterback coach. @SportsRadioWIP