Nick Sirianni Has Plan To Keep Eagles Hungry After Winning Super Bowl Title

Hungry dogs do run faster, as the Eagles proved twice in eight years, hoisting Lombardi Trophies in 2018 and earlier this year. Keeping that hunger will now be the trick for this year’s Eagles team.

There’s a long way to go to find that hunger again, but Nick Sirianni was asked about it by reporters gathered at the NFC coach’s breakfast for the NFL Owners Meetings in West Palm Beach, Fla., on Tuesday morning.

The Eagles coach harkened back to his days at Division III Mount Union and winning national championships three straight years while he was there, in 2000, 2001, and 2002, to answer the question.

“You got the taste for what winning was like, and it produced more," he said. "I know it’s a different time – early 2000s, and different level of play with professional football compared to college football – but those guys, again, those young guys, everybody contributed … those guys that didn’t get to play, they’re like, ‘I need to be out there.’ That does something to these guys.”

With the Eagles losing several key pieces to their top-ranked defense and some depth on the offense with reserve tackle Fred Johnson and backup running back Kenny Gainwell leaving, there are opportunities for the guys that didn’t play much to step up. Players such as Kelee Ringo, Sydney Brown, Jalyx Hunt, Tyler Steen, and Will Shipley to name a few.

“We’re to a point now where the celebration is over,” said Sirianni. “The celebration of the Super Bowl is over … but our preparation is here. Celebration is over, preparation is here, and there’s nothing like getting back in there and starting to work again.

“With our team, and the leaders that we have on this football team, if you’re not busting your butt and giving everything you’ve got, you’ll be exposed. That’s why we value these guys so much. Try not to work hard in front of Saquon Barkley or Jalen Hurts, and they’ll be on you.”

The head coach believes it will start where it always does with him, and that is with his culture. Every year, he has to develop that, because there are new players always coming in.

“Just really cool to hear how they talked about each other, how they feel about each other,” he said about last year’s team. “That felt like the most consistent thing was how much these guys cared and appreciated each other and the team that we were. But one thing that I constantly have to think about is how do you recapture that?

“That will be the goal is to recapture that team. ...You have to recapture that each and every year, just like you have to recapture the things on the field and keep schemes fresh and add to it, different things like that. It’s the same thing with your culture. It takes daily work. …it takes daily work and daily preparation.”

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