'Ohio? ... Seriously?' 5 quick football tales tied to the rise of Eagles coach Nick Sirianni

In just his second season as an NFL head coach, Nick Sirianni has helped the Philadelphia Eagles become the top seed in the NFC. After earning a first-round playoff bye, the Eagles pummeled the New York Giants 38-7 Saturday night to advance to the NFC title game against the 49ers.

Here are five quick anecdotes inspired by the rise of the former Mount Union receiver to leading candidate for NFL Coach of the Year honors.

Ohio? You want me to play football in … Ohio?

Three Sirianna brothers played college football for the Mount Union Purple Raiders. It would be "zero Sirianni brothers" if not for their mom.

Oldest brother Mike paved the way as a receiver on Mount Union's first national championship team, in 1993.

Mount Union did not exist on Mike's radar when he played for his father, Fran, at Southwestern Central High School in Jamestown, New York, a three-hour drive from Alliance, Ohio.

"My mom was at a college fair at St. Bonaventure University, and there was a lady there representing Mount Union," Mike recalls. "Mom liked the lady and told me, 'Why don't you visit?'

"She told me where it was and I said, 'Ohio? Are you kidding me?' But she convinced me to visit, and I liked it. I kind of wound up recruiting them, rather than the other way around."

Mike thrived as a Mount Union player and then spent two years on head coach Larry Kehres' staff. He landed a college head coaching job with the Washington & Jefferson Presidents the year the youngest brother, Nick, enrolled at Mount Union.

Mike is still the "W & J" head coach 20-plus years later. His program scrimmages Mount Union's varsity in addition to facing the Purple Raiders in two junior varsity games.

Middle brother Jay is the tallest of the siblings, at 6-foot-6. He followed Mike to Mount Union with a focus on basketball, although he also had been a quarterback for his dad back home. Midway through his college days, Jay joined the football team, at Kehres' request, as a backup quarterback.

Jay was a member of Mount Union's 1996 national title team. He became Southwestern Central's head football coach and won New York state championships in 2008 and '09.

The experiences of Mike and Jay encouraged Nick to follow them to Mount Union. He starred at receiver as a senior on the 2003 team that reached the national finals after playing on teams that won national titles the previous three years.

"Nick's big burst onto the scene that year was in the opener against Wisconsin-Whitewater," Kehres said. "He scored two touchdowns, and it was the same play both times. I remember it like it was yesterday."

Kevin Stefanski, Bill Belichick and NFL's Coach of the Year

Sirianni inherited a team that went 4-11-1 and turned it into a 9-8 playoff team in 2021. He is an NFL Coach of the Year front-runner after steering the 2022 Eagles to a 14-3 record prior to dismantling the Giants Saturday.

More Nick Sirianni:Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, literally a Canton Legend, owes much to Mount Union's Larry Kehres

The award will be presented Feb. 9 during the NFL Honors Show. Sirianni would join a cross section of recent winners who in some cases are headed to the Hall of Fame and in other instances followed up with backslides.

Tennessee's Mike Vrabel won in 2021. In 2022, the Titans fired general manager Jon Robinson and a few assistant coaches amid a 0-7 closing slump that left them at 7-10.

Kevin Stefanski won as a first-year Cleveland coach in 2020. The Browns are 15-19 since then.

Baltimore's John Harbaugh won in 2019. In 2022, he took the Ravens to the postseason for the 10th time in 15 years but lost at Cincinnati in the first round.

Mike Nagy was in his first year with the Bears when he won in 2018. Nagy got fired after going 8-8, 8-8 and 6-11 the next three seasons. Andy Reid brought him to the Chiefs as a "senior assistant" this year.

Sean McVay won in 2017, his first year with the Rams. His team reached Super Bowls capping the 2018 and 2021 season, winning it a year ago over the Bengals. But his 2022 Rams slumped to 5-12.

Other recent winners include Jason Garrett (2016), Ron Rivera (2015 and 2013), Bruce Arians (2014), Jim Harbaugh (2011), Bill Belichick (2010, 2007 and 2003) and Marvin Lewis (2009).

Mount Union's Dom Capers twice an NFL head coach

This isn't the first time a former Mount Union player made a splash in his second year as an NFL head coach.

Dom Capers was 45 when he took over the expansion Carolina Panthers in 1995. He was NFL Coach of the Year in 1996 after taking the second-year expansion team to the NFC championship game after a 12-4 regular season.

Capers and Larry Kehres were roommates and teammates at Mount Union. Kehres was a regular guest at Capers' Carolina training camps.

Capers is an example of what "a long time" means in coaching years.

In a 50-year run, his longest stay was nine years (2009-17) in Green Bay, where he was defensive coordinator of the Packers' 2010 Super Bowl champion. His second-longest stint was six seasons (1986-91) as a defensive coach with the New Orleans Saints.

As a head coach, he lasted four years (1995-98) with the Carolina Panthers and four years with the Houston Texans (2002-05). He has been with a different team (Jaguars, Vikings, Lions, Broncos) in each of the last four years.

Blowout vs. Browns, bad news from Andy Reid

Browns fans had high hopes for Romeo Crennel when his 2007 team went 10-6, but the ride ended too soon, and by 2011, Crennel was interim head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.

When Crennel became full-fledged head coach in 2012, Sirianni, 30, was promoted to receivers coach. Sirianni first joined the Chiefs as an entry-level assistant under head coach Todd Haley in 2009.

A Dec. 12 game at Cleveland was typical of the Chiefs' ill-fated 2012 campaign. Two ex-Browns, quarterback Brady Quinn and running Peyton Hills, couldn't help Kansas City's offense get untracked. Nor could Sirianni's best receiver, Dwayne Bowe.

The Browns arrived with a 4-8 record behind head coach Pat Shurmur and quarterback Brandon Weeden, but they blew out the Chiefs 30-7, dropping Kansas City to 2-11.

Crennel soon got fired and replaced by Andy Reid. Sirianni was not retained, but he gained a lasting respect because Reid told him so face to face.

You're not in Cleveland, Nick

Since returning as an expansion team in 1999, the Browns have used 12 head coaches, including interim replacements. Prior to Kevin Stefanski (27-25), the only one to post a winning record was Gregg Williams, who went 5-3 in 2018 after Hue Jackson got fired.

Sirianni works in a different world. Philadelphia's head coaches since 1999, before Sirianni, all compiled winning records.

Andy Reid was 104-102-1 from 1999-2012. Chip Kelly was 26-22 from 2013-15. Doug Pederson was 46-39-1 from 2016-20.

Mount Union football's 'Class of 55'

Sirianni played at Mount Union during an epic 55-game winning streak, which ended in his final game, a loss in the 2003 national finals.

Teammates who also played in parts of the 55-game streak included Matt Campbell and Jason Candle.

Campbell is coming off a tough year as head coach at Iowa State, but prior to a 4-8 finish, he piloted the Cyclones to five straight winning seasons. Iowa State was 8-28 in the three years before he arrived.

Campbell's overall record in seven years at Iowa State is 46-42. He posted a 35-15 record in five years at Toledo. His last game as a Mount Union defensive end was a 48-7 rout of Trinity (Texas) in the 2002 NCAA Division III championship game.

Candle spent seven years on Mount Union's coaching staff before joining Campbell at Toledo in 2009. He was promoted to head coach in 2016 when Campbell left for Iowa State. A 9-5 finish in 2022 put his overall record at 54-32.

Reach Steve at steve.doerschuk@cantonrep.com

On Twitter: @sdoerschukREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: NFL Coach of Year favorite Nck Sirianni follows Belichick, Vrabel