Nick Sirianni was a baller in college. Check out the highlight tape.
The 6-foot-3 wide receiver won three national championships with the Mount Union Purple Raiders.
After the Eagles’ Super Bowl win over the Kansas City Chiefs, fans have been watching a lot of highlight reels recapping the season. But it wasn’t highlights from Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, or A.J. Brown that fans were watching Wednesday. Instead, it was a viral video featuring highlights of Nick Sirianni as a wide receiver for Division III school Mount Union.
Sirianni has accomplished quite a lot in four seasons as the head coach for the Eagles. He’s led the team to four straight playoff appearance, two Super Bowl appearances, and, of course, one Lombardi Trophy. But before coaching the Eagles — or coaching anywhere — he was finding plenty of success as a player with Mount Union.
The 6-foot-3 wide receiver won three national championships with the Alliance, Ohio-based program (2000, 2001, 2002). His senior year, Sirianni caught 52 passes for 998 yards and 13 touchdowns, averaging 19.2 yards per catch. The footage shows a young Sirianni, sporting No. 25, making some impressive receptions.
Sirianni didn’t just play at Mount Union, he also started his coaching career there as the defensive backs coach from 2004-05. Ahead of the Super Bowl, Sirianni was asked about what he learned during his time at Mount Union.
“The things I learned there, just about detail and just about not being satisfied with wins, but how do you improve off of wins,” said Sirianni, who became the school’s first alum to win a Super Bowl as a head coach. “And what I learned about winning, what Coach [Larry] Kehres and the Mount Union football program has meant to my family. He’s special, he’s special. I learned a lot there about how to just coach this game, had great memories with great teammates, those things.”
But Sirianni has always had that dog in him, even dating back to his days growing up in Chautauqua County in New York. The coach’s success both on and off the field was enough to put Sirianni in the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame. He was inducted during the 43rd annual banquet honoring sports legends from the home county — just a week after capturing a Lombardi Trophy.
“That’s special,” Sirianni told The-Post Journal, his hometown paper. “It shows how so many good people have come out of [Chautauqua County]. I’m blessed to be a part of that.”