How Nick Sirianni survives as Eagles coach. Think ChatGPT, Vic Fangio

PHILADELPHIA − So there was Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, back for his sixth season, a survivor in every sense of the word.

>Two other coaches have been run out of Philadelphia ever since Andy Reid's 14-year reign ended in 2012. Chip Kelly's innovations ended up wearing out his players − and his welcome − by his third season. Doug Pederson won the franchise's first Super Bowl in the 2017 season, then refused to adapt after the 2020 debacle.

>Sirianni inherited the aftershocks of Pederson's mess, in his first head coaching opportunity, and has since taken the Eagles to the playoffs in each of his five seasons, the Super Bowl twice, winning once.

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>Sirianni's overall winning percentage of .694 is the third highest of any NFL coach through his first five seasons during the Super Bowl era, trailing only Hall of Famers and NFL coaching legends Vince Lombardi and John Madden.

>So why do many pundits call this a make-or-break season for Sirianni as the Eagles begin training camp on July 28? And why has Sirianni had to reinvent himself practically every season, if not to keep his job, at least to keep the Eagles among the NFL's top teams?

>That reinvention, however, is the secret to Sirianni's success. It began midway through his first season, with the Eagles at 2-5. That's when Sirianni gave up play-calling duties to then-offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. The Eagles finished 7-3 and made the playoffs. The next season, with Steichen calling the plays, the Eagles were in the Super Bowl.

>One year after that, Sirianni was nearly fired after the Eagles collapsed in a 1-6 finish, including their first-round playoff exit. The next year, the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Then came last season, when the Eagles again collapsed down the stretch, and the aftermath.

>Sirianni fired his offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo, and hired Sean Mannion, in the process bringing in an entirely new offensive system.

Using A.I. to fuel Eagles' messagePlayers could have easily grown tired of hearing Sirianni's message and tuned him out long ago. Instead, Sirianni has found a way to keep his messaging fresh. He's even using artificial intelligence to give himself new material.

>"I've never thought I would use Chat GP, whatever it's called," Sirianni said in June to a small group of reporters who cover the team, regarding ChatGPT. "And I'm using that. I'm like, give me (an example of) a great, relentless effort.' ... So I look up this thing today about this wrestler from the University of Arizona State in 2011 that won a national championship. 'Oh, he didn't have, he was missing, a leg.'

>"And I'm like, now I'm doing this research on it, and I'm looking at it. And like, I love reading about those types of things."

>Sirianni was referring to Anthony Robles, who won the 125-pound weight class despite being born without a right leg. He has used examples from the Olympics in 1952, Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and many others over the years.

>But it's more than that. Sirianni had to change, too.

>For five seasons, the Eagles mostly thrived in Sirianni's offense. Saquon Barkley ran for 2,005 yards in 2024 when the Eagles won the Super Bowl. Quarterback Jalen Hurts was the MVP of that game. In 2022, Hurts would have been the Super Bowl MVP if not for the last-second loss to the Chiefs. That season, A.J. Brown set a franchise record with 1,496 receiving yards.

>After last season, when the Eagles finished 24th in yards per game and 19th in scoring, the Eagles not only changed offensive coordinators with Mannion replacing Patullo, they changed systems to one modeled by Sean McVay/Kyle Shanahan.

>"This year, it was really apparent to everybody, but especially to our head coach, that we were able, and going to make, some significant offensive changes that would get us back to being a championship level offense," Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie said.

>But it's more than that, too.

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Eagles, Sirianni embracing changesSirianni isn't the only one who has adapted to change.

>Look at his defensive coordinator, the 68-year-old Vic Fangio, who comes across as a curmudgeon with his 40-plus years of coaching experience. Fangio is so old-school that he shows his players clips from generations ago.

>And yet, the Eagles have had a top five NFL defense in each of Fangio's two seasons as a defensive coordinator, despite losing five starters to trades and free agency following the 2024 Super Bowl season and three more after last season.

>"That's football, you have to adapt in-game," Sirianni said. "You have to adapt in-season. You have to adapt to all different styles of how you coach different people ... I always like to think about (Fangio) in this aspect. Yes, we have a new coordinator on the offensive side of the ball. We have the same coordinator for the third year on the defense side of the ball. Like, if Vic just did what he did in his first defensive coordinator job ... and didn't adapt and didn't grow, then he wouldn't be the coordinator that he is today.

>"Like, what people don't get with Vic is, he's constantly ... adapting and then constantly changing. That's the league. That's the world. Like, it constantly changes, and that's why you've been the successful coordinator for as long as he's been. He's constantly adapting. He's constantly keeping up with the times. He's constantly ahead of the curve."

>On defense, that could look any number of ways. Fangio is already moving Cooper DeJean from outside corner in base defense to safety, while keeping him at nickel the rest of the time, where he was named an All Pro.

>Maybe it's blitzing more. Maybe it's dropping edge rusher Jalyx Hunt, who incredibly led the team with 3 interceptions last season, into coverage more.

>Anything and everything is on the table.

>It's the same on offense under Mannion.

>We know Hurts will line up under center more. We know the Eagles will change blocking schemes to favor horizontal spacing more so than just overpowering defenders like in the past. How will that translate, especially now that the Eagles have traded away their top receiver in Brown?

>Remember, we're not talking about a team coming off a few losing seasons. We're talking about one that has been to the playoffs in five straight seasons, that is coming off an 11-win season in 2025 despite all of the warts of what right tackle Lane Johnson called a "predictable" offense.

>And yet, here we are, once again detailing how this could be a make-or-break season for Sirianni. Only five current NFL coaches have served in their jobs longer than Sirianni. Yet Sirianni said if the expectations are high among the passionate Eagles fan base, they're only higher inside the building.

>"(Expletive) yeah it’s high," Sirianni said. "And I think sometimes, and I’ve been guilty of it too, we can be like, ‘Ugh, expectations are high.’ But that’s great that expectations are high. Because of that, your standards are higher.

>"I like it."

>Contact Martin Frank at mfrank@delawareonline.com. Follow on X @Mfranknfl. Sign up for the "Eye On The Eagles" newsletter, emailed to your inbox every Friday morning. Read his coverage of the Eagles’ championship season in “Flying High,” a hardcover coffee-table book from Delaware Online/The News Journal. Details at Fly.ChampsBook.com

>This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: How Nick Sirianni survives as Eagles coach. Think ChatGPT, Vic Fangio