For an NFL head coach who has taken his team to four postseasons and two Super Bowls in his first four seasons, Nick Sirianni has had a rollercoaster of a relationship with Eagles fans.
By the numbers, that seems very odd. Sirianni currently has the fifth-highest winning record in NFL history. At 43, he’s young enough to challenge Andy Reid’s team record for career coaching wins (234, including playoffs). Most importantly, he has guided the team to its second Super Bowl in his four years, with a chance to gain revenge for a loss two seasons ago to Reid’s threepeat-seeking Kansas City Chiefs this weekend in New Orleans.
Despite this excellent start to a head coaching career, Sirianni has regularly felt the ire and boos of the fan base, even during this very successful season.
So what gives? We talked to an expert to better understand what’s at play.
Expert weighs in
Sirianni is certainly not the first to face Eagles fans’ public criticism; Reid got it too, and so did Super Bowl 52 champion Doug Pederson, though not on his recent return as coach of the Jaguars.
Dr. Joel Fish, a licensed psychologist and director of the Center for Sport Psychology in Philly, has worked with athletes of all ages and skill levels, including all the local pro teams and a number of individuals from the Eagles (not Sirianni, to be clear). Importantly, he lives here and is a self-described hardcore Philly sports fan.
“Philadelphia is special and similar to other East Coast towns in that you have three, four generations of fans who have been loyal to the Eagles, have loved the Eagles,” he said. “Football is dominant in this town, so it’s part of our civic identity, and it’s part of who we are and what we do. The wins, the losses have meaning for us.”
Fish said that Sirianni’s position as the head coach makes him the lightning rod for the ups and downs of the team, just as Pederson and Reid were.
While East Coast neighbors like New York and Boston also have knowledgeable and passionate fan bases that go back generations, Philly’s fans are known for being quick to boo their teams.
So what would drive a crowd at the Linc to jeer an unarguably successful coach? A history of disappointment, Fish says.
“There have been a lot of moments where we’ve had expectations and they’ve been dashed,” he said. “And so when you have — in baseball, in basketball, in football, in ice hockey, too — a fandom that has been disappointed a lot, I do think that builds a certain, if you will, toughness on the one hand, but insecurity on the other hand.”
Recent successes like the 2008 World Series and 2017 Super Bowl victories have eased that disappointment among younger fans, but it’s still instilled in older ones who packed into Veterans Stadium to endure some pretty bleak and heartbreaking performances.
Rebuilding the fanbase’s trust
Sirianni’s four seasons of fan interaction have been more tumultuous than you might expect for a coach who wins 70% of the time. That was especially true in the worst patch of Sirianni’s time here — the second half of the 2023 season.
The team lost five of six games at the end of the 2023 regular season, then were embarrassed by a 32-9 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC wild-card game. That ending left many looking for a change and Sirianni needing to rebuild the fans’ faith in him.
“He took a lot of anger and disappointment in what’s going on here for a team that collapsed in a historical way,” Fish said. “And when you sign up as a coach in Philly, you’re going to be accountable for the good times, but you’re going to be accountable for those bad times. And that wasn’t just a set of bad times, that was a collapse.”
The change came in the form of firing Sirianni’s two chief assistants and hiring capable, veteran replacements, a good draft and some savvy free-agent signings.
Even so, this season didn’t start hot, with two wins and two losses. By the Game 5 win over the Cleveland Browns, chants of “Fire Nick” were ringing out in the Linc, with Sirianni returning verbal fire to the stands as the game wound down.
Eagles HC Nick Sirianni appears to have some words towards the crowd as the clocked ticked down in the Philly victory. pic.twitter.com/XILkMvVamD
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 13, 2024
“Part of the learning curve is not taking personally the passion of the fans when it’s directed towards you,” Fish said of Sirianni’s outburst. “And I think that’s part of the up and down. There’s been some times where he’s responded defensively … That doesn’t play well in Philadelphia, I don’t think, because Philadelphians have dealt with this reputation for so long that we’re unruly, this or that, where it’s really rooted in passion and caring.”
That outburst wasn’t a singular occurrence. Sirianni is an emotional guy and he has shown us all of his, like when he dedicated a victory over the Colts to former colleague Frank Reich, taunted Chiefs fans after a win, and shed tears during the national anthem at Super Bowl LVII.
Fish said that the ability to have a thicker skin and displaying accountability and clear communication helps to rebuild a tarnished trust.
“I think that when a coach comes off as understanding the passion of the Philadelphia fans and it’s, ‘I get how important this is for you, we’re going to fix things, ‘ ” Fish said. “I think it gives the fans some trust that the coach understands where we’re coming from … that trust and respect is the key towards a solid relationship with the fans.”
Sirianni did apologize for his reaction the next day. “I’m sorry and disappointed at how my energy was directed at the end of the game,” he said. “My energy should be all in on coaching, motivating and celebrating with our guys. I have to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy and that wasn’t the time.”
That contrition, and Sirianni’s relative restraint since that game have helped. It didn’t hurt that the team settled in with the two veteran coordinators, Kellen Moore and Vic Fangio, running the offense and defense, respectively, and leaned ever deeper into showcasing Saquon Barkley, who has had a record season. All of that, plus general manager Howie Roseman’s roster building, have helped the Eagles win 15 of their last 16 games and return to the fans’ good graces.
“I think he’s done a great job of silencing the haters per se and we’re going to the Super Bowl now.” said Doug Landon, a diehard Eagles fan who had a unique interaction with Sirianni soon after the coach’s hiring in 2021. “So I don’t really think anybody has got anything negative to say at this point. I think he’s kind of shown that he does know what he’s doing.”
There’s not much debate that a victory Sunday will lift Sirianni into the GOAT discussion among Eagles head coaches. But Landon made clear that current success only buys you so much future job security and trust among Birds fans.
“This is very much a fan base of what are you doing for me now, not what have you done for me in the past,” he said. “It certainly solidifies him being the head coach of the 2025 season, that definitely locks up his job for next year. But if all things fall apart next year, that does not necessarily make him safe for the year after.”
