Super Bowl: Eagles' Nick Sirianni goes right from coaching hot seat to a championship

NEW ORLEANS — Not long into the second half of Super Bowl LIX, it was 34-0 and it was very clear that the Philadelphia Eagles were on their way to a championship on Sunday night. Nick Sirianni got his Gatorade bath long before the two-minute warning, perhaps the earliest a coach has gotten that treatment in a Super Bowl.

A scene like that seemed impossible early this season. When the Eagles started 2-2 in September, it seemed like Sirianni was in trouble.

Part of that is the Philadelphia market, which isn't easy on anyone. But it wasn't hard to find critics of the Eagles head coach and those who wondered how hot his seat was. The 2023 season had ended in a massive collapse, and Sirianni's job was in jeopardy then. The Eagles reportedly were at least considering Bill Belichick. Sirianni came back, but had to give up his role calling the offense.

That wasn't long ago. Neither was the end of September, or Week 6 when Sirianni took heat for yelling back at Philly fans near the end of an unimpressive win over the Cleveland Browns.

And then on Sunday, Sirianni led one of the most impressive Super Bowl performances of all time as the Eagles destroyed the back-to-back reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs, 40-22. It was a long, long way from that 2-2 start to the season that had people wondering when Sirianni would be fired.

"Just because the outside world tells you to feel a certain way doesn't mean that we were feeling that way," Sirianni said. "We knew we had a special team."

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gets mentioned as possibly the greatest head coach in NFL history. Sirianni and his staff won that matchup decisively in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday night.

"They coached better, starts with me, and played better," Reid said.

The Eagles won 16 of their past 17 games on the way to this title, and a lot of that was because the coach who is often seen through the lens of his emotions stayed the course when things didn't look so great.

Nick Sirianni leads Eagles through adversity

Sirianni said he understood what the Eagles had after a strong offseason. Perhaps others did as well, which made the slow start to 2024 so frustrating.

"At 2-2, the outside world had opinions on what was going on, but we stuck to our process and got better from it," Sirianni said. "At the end of the day you saw this team embrace adversity throughout the entire year. It's hard to say that after you won 16 of your last 17, but there was adversity. There's adversity constantly."

Those hurdles are especially omnipresent in Philadelphia, where every comment is blown up and winning provides only a quick respite from the next controversy. Sirianni had major questions about his job security less than 12 months after losing by three points to the Chiefs in a Super Bowl, then starting 10-1 the following season.

When the Eagles put everything together this season, it was impressive. The offense had many ways to win, choosing an old-school path of running the football but with the ability to win through quarterback Jalen Hurts' passing if needed, like Philadelphia did in Super Bowl LIX. The defense became the best in the NFL, with coordinator Vic Fangio leading the way. Philadelphia turned Patrick Mahomes into a shell of himself in the Super Bowl. The Eagles amazingly never blitzed once in the game, according to Next Gen Stats, but still got 16 pressures and six sacks.

Sirianni helped put it all together, keeping his team focused and motivated through whatever the season threw at it.

"You can't be great without the greatness of others," Sirianni said, a catchphrase he used about five times during his postgame media conference.

Super Bowl redemption for Eagles, Sirianni

The first time the Eagles went to the Super Bowl with Sirianni, they lost in the final seconds to the Chiefs after leading 24-14 at halftime. Sirianni talked after Sunday's game about how he felt the Eagles responded this time around, with a more muted celebration of the NFC championship as they were mindful about finishing the job in the Super Bowl.

"In the end, things come right on time," said Hurts, who was great in that Super Bowl loss two years ago and won Super Bowl MVP on Sunday. "The last time, it wasn't the right time. Sometimes you have to wait your turn."

This Super Bowl, the Eagles didn't leave the door open for a comeback. They led 24-0 at halftime. Sirianni said he told the team to keep attention on any exotic plays the Chiefs might use, to protect the football and keep the Chiefs from hitting long plays that could get them back in the game quickly.

"The guys were focused," Sirianni said. "The guys were locked in."

That's two Super Bowl titles for the Eagles. Sirianni is the second coach in Eagles history to win one, joining Doug Pederson. Not long after the game, he was embracing his family and talking about his "happy tears" as Fox interviewed him on the field.

"We didn't ever really care about what anyone thought about how we won or their opinions," Sirianni told Fox. "All we wanted to do was win."

The next bit of controversy is just a losing streak away, but Sirianni sounded ready to enjoy reaching the pinnacle of his profession for a little bit.

"We're going to enjoy this tonight, enjoy it tomorrow, enjoy it the next day — I don't have to get ready for another game," Sirianni said. "You can't wait to celebrate this with the guys, celebrate this with my family. It takes a lot of people to get to be in this spot. I love this team. I love these guys."