No, his introductory press conference wasn’t great — but his introduction to his new players seems to be going just fine for Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni.
Speaking on NFL Network, Eagles offensive linemen Lane Johnson made it clear he has been very impressed so far with what he has seen from the rookie head coach.
“He’s taken great command of the team early on. I think what I appreciate about him the most is he holds everybody accountable,” Johnson said, via The Liberty Line. “When we go to practice, it doesn’t matter if you’re a veteran or a rookie on the first day. If you’re making mistakes, he’ll push you on the board. Not to call you out, but really to kinda get you better. What that shows, if he can do that with veterans, then the younger guys will come along as well. That’s been my impression early on. It’s been a lot of fun, really a lot of energy. Moving forward, we have a lot to prove.”
Here is the video of Johnson discussing Sirianni:
Johnson is right — coming off of a 4-11-1 season, the Eagles do have a lot to prove.
If Johnson is right about Sirianni, however, chances are the Eagles will be proving a lot of analysts wrong.
As bad and ugly as last season was, there is no denying this Eagles roster has talent.
They have talent across both the offensive and defensive lines, a No. 1 cornerback in Darius Slay, a top-10 pick at receiver in DeVonta Smith, two young talents in Miles Sanders and Dallas Goedert, and an intriguing prospect with a ton of upside at quarterback in Jalen Hurts. Last season, in addition to injuries, sloppy play ruined the Eagles’ season. If Sirianni is able to come in and clean up the Eagles’ self-inflicted wounds from last season there is no reason this team can’t come in and make a run at the playoffs.
Sirianni being hard on the players and being willing to correct their mistakes on the practice field is the first step in doing that, and according to Johnson, it sounds like the new head coach has had no problem calling out any mistakes he sees.
A common concerned about Sirianni when he was hired was whether he would be able to get the respect of his players in the locker room. While that is a fair question to ask, it isn’t like Sirianni is coming from college like Chip Kelly was in 2013. Kelly ended up having issues winning over the locker room. Sirianni, who has been coaching in the NFL since 2009, is far more prepared to win over the support of the locker room than Kelly was coming from Oregon.
Whether Sirianni is a successful head coach will ultimately come down to his ability to scheme up an offensive game plan each week. If he does that, players will continue to enjoy having him as their head coach.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!