No moral victories, Eagles coach Nick Sirianni plans on using Super Bowl loss as motivation
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GLENDALE, Ariz. — In front of 67,827 fans at State Farm Stadium and millions more watching elsewhere, Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni showed life is not only about the opportunities presented to you. It's also what you make of those opportunities that make the difference.
In only his second year as an NFL head coach, the University of Mount Union graduate accomplished what many dream of by coaching in a Super Bowl. He was one win away from being a Super Bowl champion.
“I’ve dreamed about this since I’ve been 2-years old,” Sirianni said Sunday night following the Eagles' 38-35 loss to the Chiefs in Super Bowl 57. “I said to our guys, ‘Some of you guys have been dreaming about this since you’ve been 2, since you’ve been in pee-wee football. Some of you since high school, college, or even when you (became) pro. But we have all been dreaming of it. Growing up in a family with a dad that’s a football coach and older brothers that played football, this is what you dream of – of being in this moment.”
Social media showed its positive side with overflowing support for Sirianni during the Super Bowl run, including the NCAA Division III family and the Mount Union faithful.
“That means a lot,” Sirianni said when asked what it meant to have so many people and communities pulling for him on Sunday. “There are a lot of people that contribute to not just my journey, but everybody’s journey in that locker room. We all have people. We all have family. We all have teammates, coaches that have contributed to helping us get here.
"We wanted to finish the job for them. It just wasn’t in God’s will today and congratulations to the Chiefs.”
Former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley provided Sirianni his first opportunity in the NFL in 2009 as a quality control coach. Sirianni went on to earn a job only 31 other people in the world can claim at one time. The list of head coaches making it to a Super Bowl is even more exclusive.
Sirianni also is the first alum of one of the most successful college football programs in the nation to lead his team to the Super Bowl as the head coach.
Super Bowl 57 national anthem:Chris Stapleton's mellow Super Bowl national anthem moves Eagles coach Nick Sirianni to tears
One thing Sirianni learned during his time at Mount Union is that there are no moral victories. This loss will be used as fuel to make the team better.
“We’ll use this to motivate us,” Sirianni said. “We’ll use this pain, we’ll use this failure to motivate us so we can make it a strength.”
This article originally appeared on The Repository: Super Bowl loss will only motivate Nick Sirianni, Eagles
