PHOENIX – As Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni stood on the Super Bowl Opening Night stage Monday night with his team’s captains, they were joined by Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and his captains.
The meeting brought back memories of another meeting — 10 years ago — when Reid, as the Chiefs’ new head coach, shoved Sirianni, an assistant coach in the old regime, out the door. Sirianni had joined the Chiefs for the 2009 season as head coach Todd Haley’s offensive quality control coach, leaving a wide receiver coaching gig at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
When Reid was hired to rebuild the flailing Chiefs, he sent Sirianni packing in a chat that took only 10 minutes. Little did Sirianni know that he’d call on that experience several years later.
“He brought everybody in and talked to them,” Sirianni said. “Unfortunately, it was the same thing I had to do when I joined the Eagles. I didn’t coach with Andy, but he gave me a good example of what to do because one of the hardest parts of the job is to say, ‘Hey, I have a guy here for this job.’
“He was very complimentary. He knew I would be down, so he gave me strength when I was down, and I appreciated that. That sounds like that’s who he is as a person and as a coach.”
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NFL Network analyst Scott Pioli was the Chiefs’ general manager during Sirianni’s stint, and he liked what he saw from Sirianni, especially his work ethic and passion for the game.
“I think when you meet people that early stage in their career and they’re doing all this other work, it’s really difficult to project what the upside is going to be because they’re so busy with such an enormous workload just trying to keep their head above water,” Pioli said. “When you looked at Nick, he came from an incredible background because he came from a family of coaching. He loved, loved, loved football, and you can tell he still loves it.”
Pioli noticed that Sirianni took every assignment — there was no job too big or too small for him.
“There was nothing that was beneath him because, at the core, Nick absolutely loves and respects the game,” Pioli said. “The best and most successful football people I’ve been around that sustain success usually do that. There’s always a flash in the pan, but the people that sustain it are people who genuinely love and respect the game and not the trappings of the game.”
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Sirianni served in multiple roles on Haley’s staff, serving as the assistant quarterbacks coach in 2010, offensive quality control in 2011, and wide receivers coach in 2012. In those four years, the Chiefs made the playoffs only once and finished 2-14 in 2012, prompting Reid’s hiring. Veteran receivers coach David Culley replaced Sirianni.
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Sirianni found a job with mentor Frank Reich and joined him with the Chargers. Still, Sirianni admitted that he initially had a chip on his shoulder and wanted to prove that Reid had made the wrong decision.
“Did I want to leave Kansas City? No,” Sirianni said. “My future wife was from there. We were engaged at the time, but she was from there, and she had a nice teaching job with all of her friends there. Her mom and dad were a half hour down the road. Of course, I didn’t want to leave there.
“But when I look at it ... I needed to go to San Diego to learn to be at a different spot, to be out of my comfort zone, to meet Frank Reich, to separate there, and then go and be his coordinator in Indianapolis. Everything happens for a reason.”
Sirianni did get a bit of revenge against the Chiefs the season after he was let go. On Sunday, he’ll try to beat the guy who fired him in the biggest game of his life.
“When we beat Kansas City in 2013 [with the Chargers], they started off 9-0, then they lost one, and then we played them. We went to Arrowhead Stadium and we won, 41-38,” Sirianni said. “I remember standing in the press box, and I was so emotional about it. But as time goes on and as you mature and think about it, I needed to go through that, and I needed to be in that situation.”
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Chris Franklin may be reached at cfranklin@njadvancemedia.com.
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