The Eagles officially named Nick Sirianni as the 21st head coach in franchise history on Sunday. Who is Nick Sirianni? The 39-year-old comes to Philadelphia after three years as the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts. Who is currently the head coach in Indianapolis? Former Eagles Offensive Coordinator Frank Reich who was an integral member of the Super Bowl LII coaching staff.
Reich tabbed Sirianni when he took the job with the Colts shortly after the Eagles' championship triumph. The two coached together previously in San Diego. Dave Spadaro spoke with Reich to glean some insight into the new Eagles head coach for the latest episode of the Eagles Insider Podcast.
On why the Eagles are a good fit for Sirianni: "He's naturally a relational guy. It comes natural to him. He cares about people. He's the guy who knows everybody's name in the building because he cares. He's just great at connecting with people like that. Second, I know the organizational support he'll get from the Eagles to make that transition and that will help as well. He's ready for all of it. This is the right person at the right time for the Eagles," Reich said.
On Sirianni's role as the Colts' offensive coordinator: "He was a driving force in everything we did as the coordinator. He really led the effort with the offensive staff to collaborate on the game plan and then he and I would work out the details. On gamedays, he's my right-hand man as far as calling it. A lot of calling plays and setting up the call sheet is how you want the call sheet to flow and you're thinking of ideas. Some of that is done on gameday, but a lot of it is done during the week. In my experience, there is nobody better at that than Nick was. He was a huge help to me and a big part of the success that we had in San Diego offensively and here (Indianapolis), obviously, he was a huge part of the success that we had together," Reich said.
"He's been preparing for this his whole life. He's a young guy in many respects, but I'm just telling you: This guy is brilliant. Football smart. To his core, he's a football coach. He comes from a football family. He's a natural leader. He's got a lot of presence. He's a great coach on the field. He holds guys accountable. Strong leadership. Good communicator. Phenomenal teacher. All the qualities you need to be a head coach."
On Sirianni's ability to game plan: "That's probably the thing that Nick and I talked about more than anything. Every week, you're sitting down ... I think Nick has a great understanding that this is a players' game and you have to adapt to your players," Reich said. "As the offensive coordinator here, he was the one leading the charge and how we did that, and how we used the personnel that we had. Not only year to year, but week to week as guys get hurt or as guys get COVID, or whatever the situation was, you've got to be able to be quick on your feet and you've got to be able to adapt. Not only week to week, but even in game. I would find during the course of the game, as a playcaller, I could turn to Nick and talk to him about the way the game was going series to series and we could talk it through. That's a needed quality to have in your head coach and playcaller, and Nick certainly has that."
To listen to the entire conversation, click the play button below.
