Nick Sirianni had a bumpy start to his introduction to Philadelphia. But an impromptu connection won him backers for life.
This story starts at Sirianni’s introductory press conference on Jan. 29, 2021. He stumbled a bit in speaking to the media. It was a beginning that left many less-than-enthused.
Between then and the Sept. 12 season opener against the Atlanta Falcons, there wasn’t much reason or opportunity for Sirianni – previously the relatively unknown offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts — to connect with fans. Most probably couldn’t spot him in public.
But that summer, Sirianni got to make another impression, and receive a first dose of Birds fandom as the head coach, at the ICONA hotel in Avalon.
Doug Landon was a groomsmen at a wedding held at the ICONA on July 18, a Sunday. He’s a big sports fan, he certainly knew what Sirianni looked like — and he noticed a familiar face as two families headed out of the hotel that day.
“I saw [Sirianni and then-Eagles offensive coordinator, now Indianapolis Colts head coach, Shane Steichen] in the lobby the morning of the wedding and kind of just went up to him and said, ‘Hey, welcome to Philly. We have a friend that’s getting married here this evening. The whole wedding party … are all die-hard Eagles fans. I don’t know if you’ll possibly be in the area or the lobby later this evening, but it would be super cool if we could pull you in and kind of just take a picture with you, something like that,’ ” Landon said. “But he was with his family, he was going to the beach, I didn’t really expect anything from it.”
Sirianni said sure.
“He didn’t really think anybody would recognize him, being that he hadn’t started coaching this season yet. He had just been hired,” Landon said.
Fast forward to the evening, when Sirianni and his family returned from the beach, the wedding reception was underway and Landon and other members of the wedding party were in the lobby.
“We had to walk through the area of the wedding to get to the elevator to our room. And there was a groomsman and he was like, ‘Hey! Can you stay right there, I’m going to get the bride and groom,’ ” Sirianni recounted to 94WIP later.
Sirianni agreed to stay put while Landon ran to grab the bride and groom, Russ and Stef Carmolingo, off the dance floor. (Don’t worry, it wasn’t the first dance.)
“I don’t even think I said, ‘Sorry, hold on. I’ll be right back’ to the wedding guests that I was talking to. I think I just hit them with a ‘I got to go,’ “ Stef said. “It was the most perfect scene for our wedding day, just all in all with our whole relationship and how it was formed and everything that our family is based on and everything like that.”
Russ and Stef, both police officers in South Jersey, are regulars at Eagles tailgates and games who practice the kind of passed-down-through-the-generations fandom synonymous with Philly sports. Their mutual love of the Birds was a big part of how they connected and fell in love.
They recalled that Sirianni stayed to meet everybody in the wedding party, chat, and receive unsolicited coaching advice, until his wife finally pulled him away.
“I was in the wedding party photos. And there was an Eagles chant that happened — ‘E-A-G-L-E-S’ — after every one,” Sirianni told WIP. “And I’m like, this is pretty cool. I just saw my son staring at me, he’s 6, like what the heck is going on here?”
“He was just like a gentleman and a really genuine human being,” Russ said. “Like he didn’t have to do that.”
The Carmolingos, Landon, and the rest of the wedding party got something that most fans don’t get with the leader of their favorite team: A real human connection.
It wasn’t the last time their paths crossed. Russ ran into Sirianni while working security at a basketball tournament. When he was able to find an appropriate moment to walk over, Sirianni remembered him and shared the same down-to-earth warmness he had in Avalon.
Nearly four years after the wedding reception, the Carmolingos still hold “unwavering loyalty” for the coach who gave them a special memory, and stand up for him when friends or coworkers say he should go.
“I’ll defend him, whether he wins, whether he loses, because he was kind, relatable and a perfect fit for Philly,” Russ said.
