PFF’s Absurd Ranking of Nick Sirianni Proves Winning Still Isn’t Enough for Some

It never ceases to amaze me how some supposed intelligent people find new ways to embarrass themselves by their own pen.  Apparently, winning a Super Bowl and making two appearances in three seasons in the title game while fielding one of the most dominant teams in recent memory still isn’t enough to earn respect in some NFL circles.  Personally, I don’t get offended as most fan bases do when their team, quarterback or coach gets slighted in some random poll that carries as much weight as a pre-season box score.

The latest “expert” to self-implode with his opinion of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is Dalton Wasserman of Pro Football Focus.  Apparently he only thinks that the Birds’ head man only deserves to be ranked as the eighth-best coach in the game today.  The reason I don’t get too involved in conversations like these is because it’s all opinion-based.  These rankings can get debated all the live-long day but at the end of said day there’s no definitive right or wrong answer for the most part.  But some opions are truly head scratchers.  Wasserman’s is one of them. 

Yes. Eighth. I’m not making this up.  Let’s pause and repeat that slowly for the folks in the back.  The head coach with a .706 career winning percentage – fifth-best all-time and a Super Bowl ring is ranked behind seven other guys, most haven’t accomplished half as much in much less time.

Wasserman’s assessment is this:

“Sirianni is often the target of criticism when the Eagles lose, but credit needs to be given when it’s due. He’s an outstanding 48-20 in the regular season as Philadelphia’s head coach and has made the playoffs in each of his first four seasons. The Eagles emphatically proved they were the best team in football last season. They were the NFL’s highest-graded team and lost just one game after Week 4.

Philadelphia’s commitment to the run game in 2024 was its biggest adjustment from a confounding 2023. The offense ranked just 13th in run-play percentage in 2023 but led the NFL with a 51.2% clip last season. The Eagles were the only team to run the ball more than throw it. Of course, it helps to have Saquon Barkley, who racked up more than 2,500 rushing yards last year, including the postseason. Sirianni and the Eagles committed to an old-school style of football, and it paid off with a championship.”

Yet he still ranks Sirianni as the 8 seed, behind Jim Harbaugh, Mike Tomlin and Kyle Shanahan.  Um, what?

Wasserman does acknowledge that Sirianni takes a lot of heat, but still wins. It’s questionable, though, as to why Sirianni is still a mediocre eighth behind the aforementioned coaches.

Shanahan and Harbaugh have never won a Super Bowl as head coaches, and Sirianni has had better starts to his career than they have. Tomlin did win a Super Bowl, but that was over a decade ago, and now his Pittsburgh Steelers team has the reputation of barely scraping together an above .500 record and usually come up small in the post-season.

Other coaches ahead of Sirianni include Andy Reid, Sean Payton, Sean McVay, and John Harbaugh. These are all Super Bowl-winning coaches, and it can be understood, but looking at the present, Sirianni trumps them all.  Yep, you heard me.

Sirianni’s 48 wins in his first four years are the second-highest in NFL history, behind former San Francisco 49ers head coach George Seifert’s 52. Adding to that, Sirianni is only the second head coach in NFL history to win six postseason games in his first four years.

People are going to let their personal feelings get in the way of their opinion on Sirianni, but the scoreboard never lies.  Sirianni is an elite head coach and his numbers bear that out.

I’m Embarrassed

This ranking isn’t just biased, it’s comical and somewhat embarrassing.

Sirianni is 28 wins over .500 in just four seasons.  His team has won 14 games in the regular season twice.  The only names ahead of him in career winning percentage are Guy Chamberlin, John Madden, Vince Lombardi, and George Allen. That’s not a stat you back into. That’s elite company.  That’s Hall of Fame company.

But go ahead, throw him in the same tier as coaches still trying to make their first conference championship game.  You’re only indicting yourself as a football analyst.  

The Scoreboard Never Lies

Let’s review the actual resume. Sirianni has:

• Never missed the playoffs in his four seasons as the Eagles’ head coach
• Won a Super Bowl by dismantling the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs
• Rebuilt the Eagles’ identity with a commitment to old-school smashmouth football
• Managed egos, media pressure, and injuries like a seasoned vet and he’s only been an NFL head coach for just four seasons.
• And, oh yeah, he led a team to two Super Bowl appearances in the last three seasons, winning one of them after taking over a 4-11-1 team just a few short years ago. 

But somehow, the league’s leader in wins since 2022 is still treated like a placeholder coach with a fancy roster.

Maybe it’s the forged Philly accent or the goofy t-shirts. Maybe it’s the no-nonsense energy. Or maybe it’s the fact that Sirianni doesn’t feed the national media machine the way others do.  He’s definitely not cookie-cutter.  He’s authentic, like it or not.  Whatever it is, the ranking doesn’t match the results.

Let’s be clear – you don’t luck your way to two Super Bowls in three seasons and you don’t “accidentally” out-coach Andy Reid in the big game while the whole world is watching.

This isn’t a team that wins in spite of Sirianni. It wins because of him, specifically the culture, consistency, and edge he brings to the locker room every single week.  They win because he connects with his players.

So go ahead and keep underrating him, much like is done with his quarterback.  Philly will keep stacking wins and rings while everyone else adjusts their top-10 lists at the end of the season.  For whatever it’s worth it makes for good comedy what some “experts” value in a strictly results oriented business.  

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