Fueled by Super Bowl loss, Eagles’ Nick Sirianni is focused on ‘routine that produces the reward’

Nick Sirianni came close to having it all last season.

The Eagles coach fell just short of hoisting the Lombardi Trophy following the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Super Bowl LVII. Rather than delivering the franchise a second title, Sirianni entered the offseason with a bitter taste in his mouth.

“I’ve already dragged myself through the mud on it,” Sirianni, 42, said earlier this summer. “Fifty years from now, 30 years from now, 20 years from now — whatever, if I watch that game, I’m going to have a knot in my stomach.

“... You’re just always going to be upset. That’s any game you lose.”

Ever the competitor, Sirianni is hoping to avoid any lingering hangover from the defeat. He already ignited the team earlier in the summer, when it gathered for the offseason program. During a team meeting, he showed powerful images of red and white confetti falling from high above the slippery field at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

If Sirianni’s messaging during OTAs was any type of indication of what’s to come, the coach likely will have additional inspiration to provide Tuesday when the Eagles are scheduled to report for the start of training camp.

“I think my point was, it’s OK to use this as motivation,” Sirianni said. “You should use it as motivation. But the end goal is not just to say, ‘I’m going there.’ It’s about the process. I feel like I showed that confetti; I made my point. ... I said after that, ‘You can’t admire the results, and desire the reward if you don’t embrace the routine that produces the reward.’

Sirianni’s offseason to-do list was lengthy. It included filling two vacant coordinator positions following the departures of Shane Steichen and Jonathan Gannon, both of whom became head coaches with the Indianapolis Colts and Arizona Cardinals, respectively. Sirianni hired Sean Desai to lead the defense and promoted former quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson to offensive coordinator.

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Led by quarterback and MVP runner-up Jalen Hurts, Sirianni is hoping that some sense of continuity, particularly on offense with a veteran-powered offensive line and a dynamic passing attack led by A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith, and Dallas Goedert, will help maneuver the Eagles through one of the NFL’s toughest schedules. Like many of his notes, Sirianni always keeps a handwritten list of reminders and also the game-by-game schedule within arm’s reach.

“There wasn’t a lot of time to get away right away,” Sirianni said. “… If you ask any of my coaches, they’ll see my to-do list and all my things are written out, we’ve gotta go ‘Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!’

“So that’s what the obsession was. Because you don’t skip steps. That’s what process is. That’s what I tell my coaches. To perfect the process, you have to know exactly what the process is. You have to have it written down, you have to know exactly, here’s what I do during the offseason. You’ve got to know exactly what it is and know what you did right and did wrong last time to make sure that you’re continuing to improve the process, and that’s what the obsession is.”

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He continued: “[We understand] all right, we were pretty good last year. We were one game short. How do we make our process better again to stay in the moment of where we were? I’m obsessed with talking to the leadership council, talking to our coaching staff, and saying, ‘What can we do better? What did you guys like? What can we do better?’ Boom, now your process is written out and you’re trying to perfect the process and being in that moment. That to me, is what the obsession is about.”

Sirianni has set the table for the summer with every practice scheduled for 10 a.m. with the exception of a single evening practice, set for Aug. 6 at 7 p.m. at Lincoln Financial Field. Over the past seasons, the practice schedule has been noticeably lighter in comparison to past years.

The Eagles have just one back-to-back practice scheduled over the next three weeks with a handful of walk-through sessions sprinkled between full practices. Sirianni’s overall belief is the lighter workload helps lead to a longer, more productive season. It’s difficult to argue with the results; the Eagles have been healthier under Sirianni’s reign as he’s continued to lean on the minds of veterans Jason Kelce, Lane Johnson, Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, and others.

“It’s a long season, right?” Sirianni said. “Everything you do matters, right? It’s not just training camp. It’s the cumulative effect of the entire year. ... It’s the way you practice, whether it’s a high intensity volume day or a lower intensity volume day or a walkthrough day.

“There’s so many things that contribute to that injury prevention. Some of it’s luck, I get that. But there’s so many things that contribute ... that’s a piece of it.”

Aside from a shortlist of position battles (running back, linebacker, safety, reserve cornerback) to watch in camp, Sirianni, Hurts, and the Eagles are primed to begin their quest to repeat as NFC champions. The Eagles are hoping this time around, there are different shades of confetti falling at Allegiant Stadium, site of Super Bowl LVIII.

The team is widely favored to reach the Super Bowl in consecutive seasons, but as Sirianni is quick to point out, the work still remains.

“My job as the head coach, is that when you feel a day where it’s maybe a little down, then they’ve got to feel how excited you are to be there,” Sirianni said. “That can never be misled. They always got to know like how important each day is. It’s through the daily. I’m not hiding any coaching points from them. That’s what you want from myself, that’s what you want as a head coach, and we want from your leaders, as well.”

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