Nick Sirianni was a laughing stock when he was initially hired by the Eagles last year. His introductory press conference was… bad, to say the least.
He had his ups and downs throughout the 2021 campaign. After getting off to a rough start, he managed to right the ship and guided the Eagles to a postseason appearance. Granted, the team got pummeled in the first round by the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers, but the fact that Philly was even in the dance was cause for celebration. Especially coming off a 4-11-1 season the year prior and a host of franchise altering decisions that offseason.
Pro Football Focus has been releasing their positional rankings weekly and this week they decided to rank their top head coaches heading into the 2022 season. Sirianni ranked quite favorably, coming in at 14th. PFF’s reasoning:
While Sirianni received deserved praise for how he adjusted to quarterback Jalen Hurts’ limitations throughout the 2021 season, his results were average in his first year as an NFL head coach.”
2022 NFL Head Coach Rankings: Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh and Andy Reid lead the way
Interestingly, Sirianni placed higher than some pretty respectable names. He came in one spot ahead of former Eagles head coach Doug Pederson, followed by Sean McDermott, Lovie Smith, Ron Rivera, and Kevin Stefanski.
For all his blunders during press conferences — something that still creeps in to this day — Sirianni did a great job in his first year as the Eagles head man. PointsBet listed the Eagles over/under win total at 6.5 entering 2021. Notable pundits from around the national sports media landscape all pegged the Eagles as a rebuilding team. The team finished with 9 wins and had the best rushing attack in all of football.
The Eagles overachieved last season, which is the mark of great coaching. Now that the team has legitimate talent on both sides of the ball, the expectations are rightfully high entering this season.
We’re all excited to see the maturation process of players like Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and the rest of the young talent populating the Eagles roster. Along with that, we should also be excited to see what Sirianni can do in his second year as the Eagles head coach.
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