The Same Reasons Nick Sirianni Isn’t Taken Seriously Are the Same Reasons John Madden Once Wasn’t
Updated: Jan 1
October 27, 2021 was a misty day filled with clouds and temps pushed 60 in the Philadelphia area. It was the day I turned to my wife and said the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Sirriani, is certifiably insane. I wanted him gone.
Nick Sirianni went on to explain that he had put a picture of a flower in front of the 2021 Philadelphia Eagles, using it as a metaphor for what the team was building. The roots, he said, had to grow outward first, unseen, before anything meaningful could emerge above the surface. The work had to be done quietly, mainly out of the public view, at the NovaCare complex. The foundation had to be strong. And yes, he even mentioned the need of fertilizer before growth. SMH.
I literally wanted to poke my eyes out. And if I felt like that, what the hell were veterans like Fletcher Cox and Brandon Graham thinking? At the time, the Philadelphia Eagles were 2–5, and it looked like the wheels were about to completely fall off the wagon. I couldn’t shake the image of Police Academy, specifically Hightower calmly pruning flowers in the shop, moments before the chaos of the massive riot erupts.
The only difference was this riot wasn’t going to break out within Commandant Eric Lassard’s precinct. It was going to spill into the streets of South Philadelphia.
To my amazement, the Eagles closed out the regular season 7-3 and actually made the playoffs. Even though they lost to the Buccaneers in the first round, a new culture definitely was taking root.
Since that infamous flower speech, the Eagles are 62-23, good for a .729% winning percentage. Let there be no doubt: Nick Sirianni isn’t just Hightower’s boss at the flower shop, he owns the whole flower operation. Nick isn’t only running the shop- he’s supplying the entire Philadelphia Flower Show. And when the chaos spills into the streets, he’s the cranky old looter too, with Big Dom at his side, stealing joy from every organization unfortunate enough to line up across from his team.
Love it or hate it, Nick Sirianni is well on his way to Canton, Ohio. Yes, he’s only five seasons into his head coaching career, but his success cannot be denied, nor can it be taken away.
Sirianni’s .697 career regular-season winning percentage ranks behind only Guy Chamberlain, John Madden, Vince Lombardi, and George Allen in NFL history.
He is also one of only six head coaches to make the playoffs in each of his first four seasons, and the only coach in the modern era to reach two Super Bowls and win one in that span. He joins Joe Gibbs and Mike Tomlin as the only coaches to reach two Super Bowls in their first four seasons.
According to Elias Sports Bureau, Eagles Director of Football Operations, John Gonoude, recently noted that Sirianni has also joined Chuck Knox and Bill Cowher as the only head coaches to win three division titles and make the playoffs five times in their first five seasons.
He also became just the third coach in NFL history to post 11+ wins in four of his first five seasons, joining Tony Dungy and Andy Reid. In Eagles history, only Reid has matched Sirianni with four consecutive 11-win seasons.
Enough with the statistics- they make my head spin. The truth is Sirianni has already plowed his way into an elite class of coaches, even if the respect still hasn’t followed. Zero Coach of the Year awards. Even if Philadelphia goes on to win back-to-back Super Bowls, Nick won't win COY, despite doing nothing but win from the moment he arrived.
Why? He’s boisterous and emotional. The league prefers its leaders stoic, controlled, and perhaps more “in the box.” Nick Sirianni doesn’t hide it, doesn’t tone it down, at times he can be cocky, and usually doesn’t apologize for it. And that alone seems to bother people more than the winning ever impresses them. Add in the fact that the league is more comfortable celebrating coaches who succeed with obvious flaws than ones who preside over complete, well-built rosters.
Another reason his run gets brushed aside is the obsession with “offensive visionaries.” In 2025, greatness is too often equated with offensive scheme. That’s why people gravitate to Sean McVay. Heck, even McVay himself said last February, "I think he's the most disrespected coach in the league for a guy that's making his second Super Bowl appearance."
And finally, the most irritating, and laziest, argument of all: “He has such a great GM and such a loaded roster, a stiff could coach and win.” Well, you’re wrong again. Name one head coach in NFL history who sustained greatness without elite talent in the front office and on the field. It doesn’t exist.
Did Bill Walsh, and later George Seifert, not coach Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Ronnie Lott, Deion Sanders, Charles Haley, Roger Craig, Dwight Clark...and the list goes on? Great coaches don’t win despite talent. They win because they know how to lead it, manage it, and maximize it. Dismissing Nick Sirianni because the roster is strong feels cheap and it dismisses history to fit a lazy argument.
Now, Walsh was clearly an offensive visionary who created the West Coast offense. He was a different kind of head coach than Sirianni, closer in style to a modern Sean McVay. But when you pull back and look at the elite class Sirianni has joined in just five seasons, the more natural comparison might just be John Madden.
Madden was the ultimate player’s coach, and there’s little question what type of coach Sirianni is. He’s cut from the same cloth. Sirianni is a master at keeping a locker room tight and pushing the right buttons. You don’t navigate high-profile personalities and competitive tension by accident, yet Nick has done it again, steering the Philadelphia Eagles through the A.J. Brown / Jalen Hurts dynamic without the season falling apart.
The parallels go deeper. John Madden had a degree in education. So does Nick Sirianni. Madden coached life, not just players on a football field, and Sirianni does the same today. Madden taught accountability and built genuine connections with his men, and that’s why players played for Madden, just as they play for Sirianni now.
From the outside, John Madden carried a perception that irritated opposing players and fan bases alike. Nick Sirianni draws the same attention. Madden was emotional, highly visible on the sidelines, and charismatic. Nick Sirianni is all of those things, and that authenticity can read as arrogance or antagonism if you’re not inside the room.
If you want proof, look no further than Saquon Barkley’s recent comments of Sirianni earlier in his career: "I couldn't stand that motherf$@^@!. I could not."
Whatever Nick Sirianni is doing on the sidelines today to provoke opponents echoes the same emotion that surfaced in 1977, when Tom Jackson famously yelled at John Madden, “It’s all over, Fat Man,” after the Denver Broncos sealed a big win over their hated rivals.
On the sidelines, John Madden wore his emotions on his sleeve. He let referees have it when he felt they deserved it, sometimes getting right in their face. Nick Sirianni works the officials pretty well too.
John Madden’s teams were known for playing dirty, certainly more so than the current Philadelphia Eagles, but it was a different era. Still, there’s little doubt that the physical, relentless, and dirty style of Jalen Carter, which includes a recent incident against the Buffalo Bills, would have fit right in with the 1970s Madden Raiders. While Nick can only do so much to rein in an athlete like Carter, a player’s actions on the field inevitably become a reflection of the head coach…even when the coach doesn’t endorse the style.
There may also be a parallel in perception. John Madden was sometimes unfairly viewed as a pawn under Al Davis, perhaps much like Nick Sirianni can be unfairly viewed as an extension of Howie Roseman’s legendary roster-building rather than a leader in his own right. To be clear, this is not a comparison between Howie Roseman and Al Davis. Howie is far more lovable and a God in Philly.
Madden finished his 10 year career with a 112-39-7 record, good for a .731 winning percentage- the highest in NFL history among coaches with at least 100 games coached. He lead the Raiders to 8 playoff appearances, 7 AFC Championships (1-6 record), 1 Super Bowl win, and he never won Coach of the Year. I would be shocked if Sirianni catches that win percentage, but stranger things have happened.
In some ways, Nick Sirianni has already surpassed John Madden through five seasons. Sirianni has led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 64–28–0 record, good for a .696 winning percentage. He is undefeated in NFC Championship Games (2–0) and 1–1 in Super Bowls.
That said, the parallels end there.
There will never be another John Madden. Beyond his coaching success, his image transformed after he stepped into the broadcast booth, where a generation came to know him not as the lively sideline character, but as the most beloved NFL commentator and football icon the sport has ever known- even beyond Vince Lombardi.
But for Nick Sirianni, at some point, the wins always drown out the questions. If he somehow leads the Philadelphia Eagles to four more wins this season, through all the offensive questions, it will mark his third Super Bowl appearance and second Super Bowl victory. At that point, Nick Sirianni joins football immortality, his flower included.
