Everyone has their way of dealing with success to stay humble. Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has found some clever ways of working through it and staying focused on the task at hand: getting better every day.
While speaking with NBC Sports Philadelphia Eagles reporter Dave Zangaro, he shared some of Sirianni's comments on what he is focused on for the 2025 season. There is one word that Sirianni is refusing to use during the year: repeat.
“Every time we talk about it, talking about this topic, we’re talking about sustained success. I think they understand what that is. A lot of these guys have had sustained success, right? They know it’s not anything they’ve done in their past and it’s not them looking forward to the future. It’s about being where they are right now. I think that’s kind of our daily message with them.”
Sirianni would go on to use a marathon runner metaphor to make his point. For him, it's all about everything the team does in between the start and end that will determine whether they can win it all again.
“They don’t think about the miles that they’ve already run, they don’t think about the miles that are coming up,” he said. “And that’s a really cool way to say it. It resonates with me even a little bit more and you’re always trying to find fresh ways to say the same thing. You’re running the mile that you’re in, you’re not thinking about Mile 26.1 …
“So, yeah, pretty intentional about that. Pretty intentional about that, just being solely focused on the day but I think that’s really been our process. I’m not saying anything different than I’ve said the last four years, just being focused on today. Not, ‘We’re playing this team today but in three weeks, we go this.’ I would have never said that in the first place. So I think it’s just our culture and our daily habits and how we go about it.”
This is the right approach that Sirianni needs to take with the team. He delivered another powerful metaphor to the team before their OTA workouts, where he told them to "treat praise like perfume. Sniff it, don’t drink it—it’s poison.”
Everyone makes fun of Sirianni for his introductory press conference, where he used the metaphor of flowers, but these are the things that have helped build the right culture for the Eagles. It has led to four consecutive winning seasons under Sirianni, two Super Bowl appearances, and a Super Bowl win in February.
Sirianni has a career record of 48-20 in the regular season and is 6-3 in the postseason. Only former San Francisco 49ers head coach George Seifert has had a better first four years as a head coach than Sirianni.
The Eagles are the right mindset and know what needs to be done in 2025. They know they have a target on their backs as the defending champions and have to prove their worth all over again.
At least the team has Sirianni there to keep them in check and focused on improving each day.
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