Legendary Green Bay Packers head coach Vince Lombardi famously said that “winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all-time thing,” which is a refrain Nick Sirianni may need to play on repeat.
With an estimated $6–7 million annual salary, the controversial head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles burst onto the scene in 2021, guiding the Eagles to a 9–8 season and a Wild Card playoff slot his first year and a 14–3 record the next, resulting in an appearance at Superbowl LVII (although the Eagles would ultimately be defeated, 38–35, by the Kansas City Chiefs).
Yet just one season later, Sirianni watched as his team unraveled in the second half of their season, losing six of their final seven games — including a Wild Card playoff upset to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Sirianni’s coaching record is 34–17 since he joined the Eagles in 2021, yet many fans have called for his ouster.
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That loss stung particularly because, at 10–1, the Eagles had held the NFL’s best record for the first half of the season, leading many to wonder not only what happened but whether Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie would be putting Sirianni, whose star had once shone so brightly, on the chopping block.
However, in a January 25, 2024, press conference, Sirianni confirmed he would remain the Eagles’ head coach and promised that he’d be “attacking” the offseason and would “prove himself” again to his team and the city of Philadelphia.
“My job is to be the head coach of the team. Not the head coach of the offense, not the head coach of the defense, not the head coach of the special teams, but be the head coach of the football team.” —Nick Sirianni, Jan. 25, 2024
What is Nick Sirianni’s net worth?
NFL coaching salaries aren’t made public the way that players’ are, so there’s some mystery surrounding Sirianni’s salary. However, several online sources, such as The Sporting News, reported that when he was hired as head coach of the Eagles in 2021, Sirianni signed a five-year contract to the tune of $6–$7 million a year. That means that by 2026, he could be worth as much as $35 million.
That figure comes in at the low end of the payment spectrum for NFL coaches. The starting rate for an NFL coach is estimated to be around $6.6 million, while sources say the highest-paid coach in the league, former Patriots coach Bill Belichick, pockets around $20 million a year.
But he has six Super Bowl rings to show for it.
Until Sirianni can turn things around, Philadelphia fans are hoping that his seven-figure paychecks will be worth it.
What is Nick Sirianni’s background?
Nicholas John Sirianni was born on June 15, 1981, in Jamestown, NY. Coaching is in his blood: His dad, Fran, was the head coach at Southwestern Central High School, which he later attended, and his two older brothers, Jay and Mike, have also held head coaching positions at Southwestern Central High School and Washington & Jefferson College, respectively.
Related: Lamar Jackson’s net worth: How the Ravens’ QB became the NFL’s highest-paid player
At 6’2″, Sirianni was the perfect height for a wide receiver, and he played the position while attending the University of Mount Union, a Division III school, helping his team win the national title from 2000–2002. In his senior year, he rushed for 998 yards and scored 13 touchdowns, but during their game against Wilmington, he actually left the end zone after scoring to give his brother a hug — and gained a personal foul in the process.
“It’s a story I’ve told my players often because it really is a great example that details matter, poise matters,” Sirianni told The Athletic, “Don’t do something stupid because that becomes a habit — and 15, 20 years later you might still be thinking about it.”
Sirianni’s volatile sideline behavior generates even more attention than his coaching style.
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Where did Nick Sirianni coach before the Eagles?
At age 23, Sirianni was hired to coach the defensive backs at Mount Union. It’s estimated he made just $20,000 a year in the role.
Sirianni worked under his former coach, Larry Kehres, who had a record of 332–24–3, eleven NCAA Division III national championships under his belt, and an eventual election to the College Football Hall of Fame, so you could say Sirianni may not have been amassing wealth in his early years, but he was gaining wisdom.
That didn’t mean he kept his mouth shut, however. The famously candid Sirianni shared his opinions about the way the team should be running their defense, even though it was ranked in the top 10. Regardless of whether his advice was heeded, the team failed to win the championship that year, a loss that Sirianni says still haunts him.
In 2004, Sirianni was promoted to assistant coach for one season, after which he left to play in the American Football League as a wide receiver for the Canton Legends. In 2006, Sirianni returned to the sidelines, this time obtaining a coaching position with Indiana University of Pennsylvania, a Division II school, where he stayed for three years.
In 2009, the Kansas City Chiefs hired Sirianni as an offensive coach, and after three years in that role, he was promoted to wide receivers’ coach. But when Andy Reid was hired as the Chiefs’ head coach in 2013, he eliminated all previous coaching staff, including Sirianni, who was 30 years old at the time.
The two would meet again a few years later at State Farm Stadium for Superbowl LVII, where Sirianni assured everyone there were no hard feelings.
Reid, in turn, has commended Sirianni’s evolution through the years, telling the Delaware News Journal that “[Sirianni]’s got a fire to him that you appreciate, and the players appreciate.”
“I think he’s perfect for Philadelphia,” he added, “That’s a tough place and he’s a tough kid, and he relates well to those people there.”
Those are wise words coming from someone who also had coached for the City of Brotherly Love — and was fired himself — in 2012.
Sirianni moved on from St. Louis to take a coaching position with the then-San Diego Chargers in 2013. He was hired as an offensive quality control coach, then ascended the ranks to become quarterbacks coach, and later, wide receivers coach.
He moved to Indianapolis in 2018, where he was offered the position of Colts’ offensive coordinator, although head coach Frank Reich retained the responsibility of calling the plays in addition to determining the team’s overall strategy.
Nevertheless, the position of NFL offensive coordinator came with an average paycheck of around $1 million, and so Sirianni was finally on his way to building his wealth. Sirianni would remain with the Colts until he was hired by the Eagles in 2021.
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How long has Nick Sirianni been coaching the Eagles?
Sirianni has been coaching the Eagles since their previous coach, Doug Pederson, was fired in January 2021.
At the outset, Sirianni declared he would be calling plays — even though he hadn’t previously done so — but seven games into his job, he handed the task off to his offensive coordinator, Shane Steichen, whom he had worked with at the Chargers. “I felt like I needed to make a change in the sense of how to free me up to be a better head coach, and I had a good assistant to call the plays, and so that’s what I went with,” He told NBCSports Philadelphia.
You could say Sirianni had an even bigger issue on his hands, and that was shoring up the team’s quarterback. Carson Wentz had been the Eagles’ first-round draft pick in 2016 after his two championship-winning performances at North Dakota, but despite strong performances in 2016 and in the 2017 regular season, Wentz tore his ACL in week 14 and watched from the sidelines as his team went on to win Super Bowl LII. In subsequent years, Wentz’s performance received mixed reviews as he was plagued by yet more injuries, including a concussion, and by 2020 was rated among the worst quarterbacks in the NFL.
It was a situation Sirianni was familiar with. During his tenure as offensive coordinator with the Colts, the team rotated through three different starting quarterbacks. The Eagles started Jalen Hurts, their No. 2 pick in the 2020 draft, and in his first game Hurts led the team to a 24–21 win over the New Orleans Saints in December 2020.
Two weeks later, against the Dallas Cowboys, Hurts threw for 342 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions, and even though they lost that game, Hurts more than proved he deserved the starting job.
The Eagles traded Wentz to Indianapolis, and Hurts’ career took off — as of January 2024, Hurts had a franchise-record 63% pass completion rate. In addition, he led the Eagles to Super Bowl LVII where he threw for 304 yards and a touchdown, rushed for 70 yards and three touchdowns, and generated the 2-point conversion that had tied the game in its nailbiter of a finish, although it ultimately ended in defeat.
Just two days after Super Bowl LVII, Sirianni was dealt another curve ball as both Steichen and Jonathan Gannon, their defensive coordinator, accepted head coaching job offers of their own: Steichen went to the Indianapolis Colts, and Gannon became the top coach of the Arizona Cardinals.
Sirianni began his third year on the job with the Eagles with a combined 23–11 record, a franchise best, but fans blamed much of the Eagles’ end-of-2023 season slump on Steichen’s and Gannon’s departures. And while Sirianni got to keep his job, Brian Johnson, who was promoted from quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator, and Sean Desai, who was hired to replace Gannon, were both cut in early 2024.
Is Nick Sirianni asking Pete Carroll “what are you doing??” 😨🤔😳 pic.twitter.com/YzXK4AnHEB
— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) December 19, 2023
Nick Sirianni’s controversies
Sirianni is known for not holding back — on the field and off. He received criticism for yelling at Pete Carroll, the veteran coach of the Seattle Seahawks, after the Eagles succumbed to them in December 2023.
Sirianni also taunted Chiefs fans after the Eagles’ 21–17 win in November 2023, and seemingly did the same at television cameras during the Eagles’ 38–7 win over the New York Giants in January 2023, which unleashed vitriol over social media channels.
“I don’t apologize for having fun,” Sirianni told The Washington Post. “This is too hard not to have fun, and I do this because I love it … I loved playing football, and I love coaching it. I’m not going to hide my emotions at any point.”
He also generated controversy with his own fans by apparently lying about what call was made during a critical play in their game against the Seahawks in December 2023. In the play, Hurts threw a long pass to A.J. Brown, but the Seahawks’ Julian Love intercepted it. Sirianni said his team was trying to get a pass interference call when in fact Hurts and Brown went off-script, trying to create some momentum on their own. So you could say that Sirianni’s sideline antics may enrage his opponents, but they inspire devotion from this team.
“I have nothing but respect for him because not all coaches do that,” Brown told NBCSports Philadelphia. “He takes up for us when it has nothing to do with him and he gets the blame.”
Sirianni met his wife, Brett Ashley, while working for the Kansas City Chiefs. They are pictured here with their children before Super Bowl LVII.
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Who is Nick Sirianni’s family? Where do they live?
Sirianni, his wife, Brett Ashley Sirianni, and their three children live across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, in the New Jersey suburb of Haddonfield. He paid $2.3 million for a newly built, six-bedroom mansion that features a finished basement and chef’s kitchen.
Sirianni made headlines for another $2.3 million home he purchased after Super Bowl XLII in nearby Moorestown — but its price had nothing to do with it. The sellers of the 7,800-square-foot mansion did not disclose an important “first right of refusal” clause when the sale was made, which obligated Sirianni to offer the property to the former owners’ family or family trust before he could put it back on the market.
Sirianni backed out of the deal, sued the sellers, and won. He got his $100,000 deposit back along with reimbursements for fees, and according to Forbes, he may have set a national real estate precedent in the process.
