Coming into Eagles training camp one of the main questions was what kind of head coach Nick Sirianni would be?
Would he be hands off like Chip Kelly? Would he be laid back like Doug Pederson?
So far the answer to both is no.
The Eagles took the field on Wednesday for their seventh practice of training camp, and the just over one-hour session was a great look at the kind of emotional, hands-on head coach Sirianni appears to be -- and it might be exactly what this team needs.
One moment that particularly stood out was between Sirianni and receiver Jalen Reagor.
The team was running an 11-on-11 drill and the play was a run right up the middle. At the end of the play Reagor was jogging back to the huddle when Sirianni came up to him and made it very clear he wasn’t happy with the second-year receiver about what he saw from him during the play. Reagor wasn’t in with the first-team offense on the next set of plays but did eventually return.
After the drill was over Sirianni went up to Reagor and had a much less intense conversation with him, explaining what he wanted on the snap. The two seemed to end the conversation on good terms and practice resumed.
The sequence seemed to be exactly what Sirianni is all about — hard love after a mistake, but making sure any tension that might emerge is squashed instantly.
Sirianni getting emotional after a play is not a rare occurrence.
After one snap during an 1-on-1 drill earlier in camp between the receivers and defensive backs Sirianni made it clear to John Hightower that he was too talented to make the small mistake he had just made. Later on Hightower made a great catch and Sirianni was extremely excited by it, making it clear to Hightower he saw the play and was impressed.
Through seven practices a few things are obvious about Sirianni.
He very obviously loves to coach football and very much enjoys getting hands on with his players, showing them what he wants and correcting mistakes they made. He is very passionate and gets joy out of the offense making a great play. He is very willing to point out mistakes, and at times, has pulled the full team together to give them a mid-practice message.
Whether Sirianni is a successful coach will ultimately be decided by his ability to gameplan and call play, something we won’t start to get the answer to for weeks.
What is clear is that for a team that looked sloppy far too often last season, Sirianni’s hands on, hard love approach might be exactly what they need.
You can reach Eliot Shorr-Parks on Twitter at @EliotShorrParks or email him at esp@94wip.com!