Method Behind the Madness of Eagles’ Free Throw Talk

Eagles coach Nick Sirianni is always thinking about his messaging to the team, cognizant that using the same verbiage over and over again has a shelf life.

In a week where frustration began to emerge among some of Philadelphia’s star playmakers, Sirianni wanted to double down on a process that has resulted in four consecutive postseason berths, two Super Bowl appearances, and a Lombardi Trophy after winning Super Bowl LIX in February.

So, the Eagles’ coach dipped into a deep bag of life experience and took the players back to his days as a basketball player at Southwestern Central High School in Jamestown, New York.

“We really talked about the process,” Sirianni said when asked about his messaging in a somewhat tumultuous week. “The process is what produces results and just being completely locked into the process.”

That might not click with the veterans who’ve heard that talk before, so Sirianni shifted the vehicle to impart a message he’s been preaching since turning things around in 2021 as a rookie head coach.

“I kind of correlate it to somebody shooting a free throw,” he explained. “When you are shooting a free throw, we’re taught to have a process in that, right? 

“However many dribbles that you have, and then shoot. Why do you do that? You do that because when the gravity of the moment seems high or the crowd’s yelling and screaming, trying to get you to miss the free throw or anything like that, you focus on the process with your dribble so you can shoot and give yourself the best chance to shoot.”

It resonated because most of the Eagles played basketball at some point in their lives and had to develop some kind of routine for free throws, that had to remain consistent if long-term success was the goal.

Sirianni, who remains an excellent shooter according to team sources, went self-deprecatory, pointing to a poor performance before turning it around when explaining his own free-throw process.

“One dribble,” he said. “I didn’t want to think about it too much, so boom.”

The coach also asked for feedback from others as well. 

“I asked some of these guys what theirs were, and it was interesting to see some of their routines,” Sirianni said. “Zack Baun’s was funny. He said he wasn’t a great free-throw shooter, so he changed it a bunch. So, he had a couple of different ones. 

“I shared a story that I was like 6-of-14 from the line one game. I didn’t change it, but went back and really worked on it, and the next game I was like 14-of-15 from the line. But I wanted them to know from that that I did a good job getting to the hoop. So, there was part of that reason why I told that, too.”

When Messaging Lands