Less than two years on from his underwhelming introductory press conference, Nick Sirianni is just one win away from delivering an NFL Championship.
| What | Kansas City Chiefs v Philadelphia Eagles, NFL Championship 2023 |
| Where | State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona |
| When | 6:30pm ET, Sunday, February 12th, 2023 |
| How to watch | Fox Sports & NFL+ app |
| Odds | KC Chiefs +105, PHI Eagles -125 |
It's fair to surmise that the head coach didn't initially win the majority of the Philadelphia Eagles fan base over with his stumbling, nervy performance in front of the microphone, although he has them eating out of the palm of his hand now.
But who is the 41-year-old ex-Kansas City Chiefs position coach and how did he get to the point where he will lead the NFL Championship favorites in a mouthwatering clash against his former team on Sunday?
Any internet search for the footage - or the articles that reported on Sirianni's first press conference as Eagles head coach - would have put doubts in the minds of fans and maybe a few players who were not so familiar with the man brought in to succeed NFL Championship-winner Doug Pederson.
The Eagles had interviewed several candidates, including experienced former head coaches Todd Bowles and Dennis Allen, before Sirianni even entered the process and it looked like the then-New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was in pole position for the lead role.
But the Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator reportedly blew the panel away with his "energy, intelligence and edge", according to the Philadelphia Eagles' website which dropped in a couple of mentions of ex-Eagles OC Frank Reich later in the piece as a clue to who may have been vouching for Sirianni.
Things got off to an interesting start for the rookie head coach as Philly traded away inconsistent starting QB Carson Wentz in the spring and then failed to win any of their three preseason games.
Nobody really cared about the preseason stuff, but the losses began to bleed into the regular season campaign as the Eagles went 1-3, then 2-5 before posting a dismal 3-6 record at the half-way mark.
Right in the middle of that difficult debut year, Sirianni explained a theory to the assembled media in which he compared his team to a delicate flower and insisted "there's growth under the soil".
The Eagles beat the Detroit Lions 44-6 in their very next game at Ford Field and finished the season with seven wins from their last 10 games to sneak into the playoffs.
But Jalen Hurts, -110 to have over 239.5 passing yards, and the Eagles' offense were awful in the 31-15 Wild Card game defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The second-year QB too often fled a good pocket and missed open receivers while he also threw two interceptions.
Sirianni backed his franchise starter in the aftermath, declaring himself pleased with Hurts' progress over the season as a whole.
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And that key relationship between head coach and quarterback continued to develop through offseason meetings, film study and one-on-one sessions.
"We've built a great relationship in just a short time," Hurts told NBC Sports in the days leading up to the Eagles' opening game of the 2022 season.
"We're very similar in many ways. Very competitive. Have a sense of humor. Just cool people. He's a good guy."
That competitive streak does not stay under wraps on the sideline as there have been numerous examples of Sirianni in a worked-up state and occasionally getting shirty with officials this season.
He gave the Dallas Cowboys players an earful after a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty sealed Philadelphia's Week 6 win over their NFC East division rivals and clearly enjoyed the victory on his walk back to the locker rooms.
In moments like those, it is possible to see how NFL players would not hesitate to follow a leader like Sirianni into battle.
He's got their backs as much as they have got his, as he explained in his post-game interview.
"I love these guys," he said, via New York Post. "This is my family. I've got a great family at home. I've got great parents, I've got a great wife, I've got great kids, I've got great brothers. But this is my other family."
Sirianni's family, well at least his three children, have been making some memorable appearances in front of the microphone during the Eagles' run to the NFL Championship game and a clash with a family that he used to belong to - the Chiefs.
This week, the Eagles head coach admitted to having a chip on his shoulder after he was let go from his position coaching role when Andy Reid took over at Arrowhead Stadium after the 2012 season.
He revealed: "As time goes on and you mature and you think about it, 'Hey, I needed to go through that, I needed to be in this situation.' In a sense, you thank God for the things you had to go through because it makes you who you are today."
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