Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni still has a chip on his shoulder for when Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid let Sirianni go when Reid took over as head coach of the Chiefs following the 2012 season.
Sirianni, who was the Chiefs’ wide receivers coach at the time, was appreciative of how Reid handled the situation but admitted that being let go was, and still is, a motivating factor for him, as Sirianni has the Eagles in the Super Bowl.
Ironically, Reid came to the Chiefs from the Eagles, where Siranni is now at the helm, and the two teams are set to square off Sunday in the Super Bowl.
“Do you always have this little chip on your shoulder? Sure, yeah, you do,” Sirianni said, according to ESPN’s Tim McManus. “But that’s who I am as a coach and as a person — I want to make sure I’m working my butt off to get as good as I possibly can. And sure, you hold on to some of those things.”
“Andy came in because we weren’t good enough in Kansas City. And he stepped in and did an unbelievable job,” Sirianni said. “What I appreciated is that he brought everyone in and talked to them.
“I didn’t coach with Andy, but he gave me a good example of what to do with a hard part of the job of: ‘Hey, I got a guy here.’ He was complimentary. He knew I would be down, so he gave me strength when I was down. I appreciated that, and it sounds like that’s who he is as a person and a coach.”
Sirianni would go on to spend five seasons with the San Diego Chargers (prior to their move to Los Angeles), and was then hired as the offensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts when Frank Reich was first hired as head coach.
“Did I want to leave Kansas City? No. My future wife was from there, we were engaged at the time, she had a nice teaching job there, she had all her friends there, her mom and dad were a half-hour down the road. Of course I didn’t want to leave there,” Sirianni said. “But when I look at it, God’s always put me in great positions and guided my paths. I know I don’t say stuff like that all the time, but I know he has.
“And so, I needed to go to San Diego to learn, to be at a different spot, to be out of a comfort zone, potentially, to meet Frank Reich. To separate there and then go be his coordinator in Indianapolis. Everything happens for a reason.”
Sirianni isn’t the only one appreciate of Reid, as Eagles general manager Howie Roseman spoke on how much Reid meant to him.
“I would not be in this position if it wasn’t for Coach Reid,” Roseman said. “I think about the fact that I was this 34-year-old guy and untraditional, and he was willing to have me as the GM and take the time to talk to me and teach me and be patient with this passionate, persistent person. It just means the world. I always root for him.”
