GLENDALE, Ariz. — If the Eagles win the Super Bowl, the cameras had better stay locked in on their head coach. Nick Sirianni is very likely to let his truest emotions surface for 100 million viewers, and that is not a bad thing.
Over the course of a magical season in which the Eagles have won 16 of 19 games, including 16 of the 17 that Jalen Hurts started at quarterback, Sirianni has collected more than his fair share of enemies. In different ways, he has mocked the Colts, the Cowboys and the Giants. He was even in regular-season form during the preseason, when he profanely screamed at Jets head coach Robert Saleh after Quincy Williams delivered a late and vicious sideline hit on Hurts.
Opposing fans have vented on social media about how much they’d love to punch that very punchable face belonging to Sirianni, and shut his mouth for good. But much like the city he represents, the Eagles coach isn’t one to back down. Whether it was cursing at Saleh in August, or cursing at the Cowboys with victory assured in October (“That’s f–kin’ game. F–k you”), Sirianni explained his response the same way:
“I’ll never apologize for sticking up for my players.”
But this isn’t about just another coach feeling obliged to defend just another team. By telling you exactly who he is and how he feels, Sirianni cuts against the grain of a profession overpopulated by say-nothing, process-obsessed automatons who would never, ever consider doing what the Eagles coach did when a camera got up close and personal during his team’s playoff rout of the Giants.
