PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Who woulda thunk? Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni strutting onto the Caesars Superdome field side by side in New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX’s opening night.
This time a year ago, the idea that the Philadelphia Eagles owner, general manager and head coach would once again find themselves on the NFL’s championship stage so soon seemed implausible.
Last January, the Eagles had just put the finishing touches on an epic collapse, devolving from a team that grinded out a 10-1 start to an uninspired lot that got embarrassed in the first round of the playoffs.
Last January, Sirianni sat in limbo for nearly a week as Lurie mulled his fate.
Last January, there were serious questions about whether the Eagles had the right pieces in place for sustained success, and if their Super Bowl run the previous year in 2022 had been nothing more than a flash in the pan.
This January, the Eagles finished strong, winning 15 of their last 16 games, a surge punctuated by a historic blowout victory in the NFC title game.
This January, Sirianni earned himself at least a last chuckle — if not quite yet a last laugh — having navigated coaching changes, intense scrutiny and pressure, and in-season injuries to turn the Eagles around.
This January, there seems to be little doubt that, regardless of Sunday’s outcome in a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles are positioned to contend for the foreseeable future.
Instead of sitting next to each other awkwardly on the dais at the NovaCare Complex — as they did last year, facing a barrage of peppered questions from the media at the end of the season — Roseman and Sirianni are holding their heads high with one more game to play.
The vision was spot on. The patience paid off. Their efforts, collectively and individually, worked. Roseman and Sirianni, in just two years, got the Eagles back.
“I’m very confident in our process,” Roseman said before the Eagles flew to New Orleans. “Nobody is perfect, [but] I like our batting average.”
As he should. Roseman nailed just about every move in a pivotal offseason, from signing Saquon Barkley to mining diamond-in-the-rough free agents.
Sirianni, of course, was the target of the most external criticism following the Eagles’ 2023 slide. By resetting his coaching staff, ceding some control, and dialing back the volatile parts of his personality (for the most part), the 49-year-old proved to be an effective leader. He reached his players, empowered assistants, and consistently knew what the Eagles needed at key junctures of the season.
“I have no doubt that I am different than other head coaches, but I am myself,” said Sirianni, who, with Roseman, addressed a select group of local reporters, including The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, before leaving for New Orleans. “I don’t try to conform to anything other than who I actually am. The only people I’m trying to lead is this football team.”
🎧 ▶️ unCovering the Birds
In the latest episode of “unCovering the Birds,” McLane checks in from the Big Easy and gives listeners a press pass to Roseman and Sirianni’s recently embargoed media sessions, detailing their insights on factors that shaped the Eagles’ season.
Plus, in a followup to a previous story on the podcast, McLane talks to some of the people closest to Vic Fangio in both his professional and personal lives, and gets a better sense of what makes the 66-year-old defensive coordinator tick (and also, why he doesn’t laugh).
There’s also an interview with Eagles radio play-by-play announcer Merrill Reese, who tells McLane how he’s getting ready to call his fifth Super Bowl.
In this episode:
00:00 ▶️ Howie Roseman and Nick Sirianni reflect
15:52 ▶️ Inside the mind of Vic Fangio
29:30 ▶️ Merrill Reese preps for another Super Bowl
unCovering the Birds is a production of The Philadelphia Inquirer and KYW Newsradio Original Podcasts. Look for new episodes each week during the regular season. Follow on the free Audacy app, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever else you listen to podcasts.