Eagles Coach Nick Sirianni's Doctorate of Football Coaching

PHILADELPHIA - Before Nick Sirianni, not too many people around the Delaware Valley were familiar with Larry Kehres, the legendary Mount Union coach who won 11 NCAA Division III championships with the Purple Raiders.

For those who have followed the Eagles’ Super Bowl-winning coach, Kehres has become a household name as the mentor for Sirianni, who enters Monday’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers with the highest winning percentage of any active coach (56-24, .700).

Earlier this week, another Kehres protege and a one-time roommate of Sirianni back at Mount Union, former Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, was named the head coach at college blue blood Penn State.

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"I'm really excited for him, really excited for him and the opportunity that he has," Sirianni said before the Eagles’ practice on Saturday. "Well-deserved. Phenomenal, phenomenal football coach, phenomenal person, great family."

During their time together as players under Kehres, Sirianni, who comes from a football-coaching family, and Campbell won three national championships at Mount Union.

Sirianni, a former wide receiver for Kehres, coaced the defensive backs and Campbell, a former defensive lineman, worked as offensive coordinator/offensive line coach.

"I've been an Iowa State fan for the last 10 years," Sirianni said referring to Campbell’s stint in Iowa City. "When you're coaching football yourself, you're not a fan of anybody, really, right? And so you lose that ability to be a fan.

"But you know, [Washington and Jefferson High Schools], I'm checking their score every week for my brother; Mount Union, I've checked them every week. I'll always check my nephew's football team, Southwestern [in Jamestown, N.Y.]. I always check Iowa State and Toledo, but I got to switch Toledo now, too, because Jason Candle [another Mount Union friend] got the job over there at UConn."

Candle helped give the most complete intell possible on star Eagles’ cornerback and former Toledo star Quinyon Mitchell, who has been one of the best cornerbacks in the NFL this season.

Sirianni joked that more of that could be coming with the always-talent filled Penn State roster.

"Really excited to be able to take a drive down there and talk football with him even more," Sirianni said of Campbell. "We can do it on our phones, but now I can go watch a spring practice or something like that — if the rules allow you to, I don't know how that actually is. But looking really forward to watching him. I just think he's a great football coach."

One of Penn State’s most high-profile alums is Saquon Barkley, the Eagles’ All-Pro running back who always keeps a keen eye on what’s going on with his alma mater.

Barkley was very close to former Penn State coach James Franklin but is willing to give the new guy a chance.

"I'm gonna be honest, I don't know too much about it," Barkley told reporters. "I don't know too much about him. I'm excited for him, though. Congratulations to him, and I don't know if he has a family, but if he does, him and his family. It's a great opportunity to be the head coach of Penn State University. It's not a lot of jobs better than that, to be honest."

If Barkley wants to learn about Campbell, he just has to say the magic word at the NovaCare Complex: Kehres.

“I think the guy who probably doesn't get enough credit, now he does from us, is we all went to school at Mount Union for the various degrees that we went for, we didn't know we'd leave in a doctorate degree of football coaching,” Sirianni said. “ So Larry Kehres deserves a lot of credit for all of us being in these positions right now.”

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