How Nick Sirianni erased the memory of last year's Eagles collapse

This time last year?

Nick Sirianni was waiting to find out if he was getting fired.

After last year’s collapse, it took Jeff Lurie and Howie Roseman nearly two weeks to make it clear that Sirianni would be back in 2024 for a fourth year as head coach.

But after the way 2024 ended, the challenge for Sirianni was clear. Restructure the coaching staff, redefine his own role, rebuild the team’s confidence and restore a winning culture with a new roster.

That’s a lot.

The biggest narrative coming into this season was could the Eagles bounce back from last year’s historic collapse. Could Sirianni bounce back? Would his players still buy in? Did Sirianni have what it takes to erase the losing mentality of the 2023 team and rediscover a winning formula? 

So far, so good. With Howie Roseman providing him an upgradeed roster, Sirianni has answered every question raised during the offseason and brought the Eagles back to the NFL elite as the playoffs approach. 

What’s the biggest difference between this year and last year?

“I think the hunger,” Jordan Mailata said. “I'll be honest, the hunger is there. For sure. A lot more to prove. I think the chip on the shoulder. That was pretty embarrassing for those who were a part of it. So that carried on to this year. Make sure that 2023 never repeats itself. 

“But I think the young guys have showed that same hunger too. They want to get better every week. And I think that comes down to the coaching and the culture that we've built this year. And I guess what the difference is, man, chip on your shoulder.”

After the 2023 Eagles lost six of their last seven games - including four blowouts and two blown double-digit leads - this year’s team went 14-3, tied the franchise record for wins, earned the No. 2 seed in the NFC, went 6-2 vs. winning teams and 8-1 at home and set a franchise record with a 10-game winning streak along the way.

And Sirianni deserves a ton of credit for guiding his team beyond a truly nightmarish finish last year, a finish that would have destroyed a lot of coaches and a lot of teams.

“I just think with everything (he’s) always been a great communicator, whether we're in a good situation or bad and so even the issues that we had, we talked about it,” Lane Johnson said. “We discussed it like family and then we go back to work. 

“He does a great job of not avoiding things. Really good motivator and I think he preaches on important stuff. I think he's more open than a lot of coaches. He's honest.”

From the first day of training camp, Sirianni emphasized the things that were missing at the end of last year. Toughness. Physicality. Resilience. 

Training camp practices grew longer and harder, and with each hit under the blazing sun it seemed like the Eagles were bludgeoning the memory of last year.

It took a few weeks, but what eventually emerged was a younger, faster, tougher, more confident and certainly more talented team. One hasn’t lost a game with Jalen Hurts at quarterback since Week 4.

“Nick does a good job of adapting and changing things, but also not changing who we are fundamentally and what our core values are as a team,” Grant Calcaterra said. “I feel like he always sticks to his ways and it's proven to work.

“So he just kind of stuck to who he was. It‘s football and sometimes you're going to win games, sometimes you’re going to lose games, but no matter what, he’s just been really consistent to who he is.”

And sitting here in January, it’s clear that Sirianni’s greatest achievement this year has been transforming the Eagles from the laughing stock of the NFL a year ago into one of the NFL’s most dangerous teams heading into the postseason. 

His job depended on it.

“We were all frustrated last year, and it wasn't the way we wanted the season to go,” Johnson said. “So coming into this year we were really motivated. He always preaches how we can't control the outcome until we get there, so really just focus on the day. So he just preaches about our habits and what we do in the building and how all that shows up on game day.

“But his best trait is definitely how open he is, a communicator. Remember his press conference on Day 1 (in 2021)? He came in and told us, like, ‘Guys, that was a terrible first press conference.’ So I like that he's vulnerable like that and he’s a great communicator, and the guys respond to that. That's the best thing I can say.”

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