Rewind back to two years ago. The Eagles, fresh off of firing the Super Bowl winner Doug Pederson, are holding a press conference to announce their new head coach. To the podium comes Nick Sirianni, the former offensive coordinator for the Colts who appears a bit nervous behind the microphone. He stutters a bit and goes into a rant about “systems.” The fans and media roasted him.

Sirianni shows up to camp wearing t-shirts of his players. His team gets off to a slow start at 2-5, and again gets roasted following a presser involving flowers, growth, and nutrients. Then all of a sudden, something changes and the team is winning ballgames. They are running the ball down defenses’ throats and controlling games. Some of the griping, laughter, and doubters who were questioning if the Eagles made the right hire begin to back off.

One of those changes was Nick Sirianni swallowing his pride and allowing his offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen, to call plays. The other was allowing time for his players and staff to trust in him, both in his philosophy and his system. Some criticism came his way this past training camp as well when it was reported that the Eagles practices weren’t as physical as in years past. The Eagles are playing in the Super Bowl with potentially all 22 of their starters healthy. It’s unheard of.

His “antics” on the field upset some of the old-school guys, opposing teammates, and other fanbases. He chest bumps his players. He plays to the crowd. He playfully gestures into the camera. But here, in Philadelphia, it’s exactly what we need. It’s not arrogance as much as it’s confidence, and the Eagles need to carry that type of attitude with them if they want to beat the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

Ironically, there is a lot of mirroring between Sirianni and his predecessor, Doug Pederson. Both coaches are very aggressive with their playcalling. Both are considered likeable by the Eagles faithful, but more importantly both have the respect of the players. Hopefully Sirianni will add something else to his very infant resume that Pederson added to his in 2018.

When Sirianni was hired, there was a lot of talk that he was the perfect “football guy” for the job. Sirianni was considered one of the young up-and-comers who had a fresh mindset and could do special things in the league. Yet for some reason, there seems to be a lack of respect for him around the league. Earlier this week, Giants safety Julian Love basically said that Sirianni has a free ride thanks to the talent that was handed to him.

Now, many of the same fans who playfully wore foam flowers around their heads, mocking their coach, are now defending him.

Sirianni doesn’t get the love that people like Sean McVay or Kellen Moore receive on what seems like a weekly basis. He has a chance to change that, and personally I think he will succeed.

One thing is for certain, no matter the outcome this weekend, the Eagles WERE right in their hiring of Sirianni and the future of the team is in good hands. And for Sirianni, it appears that he made the right choice in joining a franchise that’s a part of a city that he is molded for.

“I put a picture of a flower up, and it’s coming through the ground, and the roots are growing out. The roots are continuing to grow out. Everybody wants to see results. Shoot, nobody wants to see results more than us, right?”

That quote doesn’t seem as silly now, does it?