10 different ways to measure Nick Sirianni’s success as a head coach originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
As the Eagles prepare for a meaningless game against the Giants in advance of their playoff opener vs. either the Packers or Commanders, we thought this would be a good time to take a step back and assess the first four years of Nick Sirianni’s coaching career from a statistical standpoint.
Love him or hate him, the numbers are incredible.
The Eagles are 47-20 under Sirianni with four straight winning seasons, four straight playoff appearances and three straight seasons with at least 11 wins.
Let’s break it all down in 10 different ways:
1. Sirianni’s 47 wins are tied for 2nd-most in NFL history by a head coach in his first four years. George Seifert of the 49ers won 52 games his first four years from 1989 through 1992, going 14-2, 14-2, 10-6 and 14-2, with a Super Bowl championship his first year. Matt LaFleur with the Packers from 2019 through 2022 went 47-19 and Paul Brown with the Browns from 1946 through 1949 was 47-4-3 with four championships, but those Browns teams played in the old AAFC, whose stats – but not championships – were absorbed by the NFL.
2. Sirianni’s career winning percentage of .702 is 5th-highest in NFL history, behind four Hall of Fame coaches: Guy Chamberlin in the 1920s (.784), John Madden with the Raiders in the 1970s (.759), Vince Lombardi with the Packers (.738) and George Allen with the Rams and Washington in the 1960s and 1970s (.712). Interesting to note that Chamberlin coached the Canton (1922, 1923) and Cleveland (1924) Bulldogs to three straight NFL Championships before becoming head coach of the Frankford Yellow Jackets in 1925 and leading them to the 1926 NFL Championship. The Yellow Jackets played their home games at Frankford Stadium at the corner of Frankford Avenue and Devereaux Street, where there’s currently a Dollar Tree.
3. Sirianni’s .702 winning percentage is 15th-highest ever by a coach in his first four years with a new team, 13th-highest by a coach with his first team and 8th-highest among 1st-time coaches who only coached in the NFL and only coached one team. Here’s what that list looks like:
.837* [41-8] Joe Gibbs, Washington [1981-1984]
.813 [52-12] George Seifert, 49ers [1989-1992]
.795 [44-11-1] Chuck Knox, Rams [1973-1976]
.741* [40-13-3] George Allen, Rams [1966-1968]
.723 [40-15-1] Blanton Collier, Browns [1963-1966]
.712 [47-19] Matt LaFleur, Packers [2019-2022]
.705* [39-16-1] Don Shula, Colts [1963-1966]
.702 [47-20] Nick Sirianni, Eagles [2021-2024]
* – In the Pro Football Hall of Fame
4. Sirianni is one of only three Eagles coaches with four total winning seasons. Greasy Neale – a Phillies outfielder in the 1920s – coached the Eagles to six straight winning seasons from 1944 through 1949 – 7-1-2, 7-3, 6-5, 8-4, 9-2-1 and 11-1. If you count 1943, when he was co-coach of the Steagles with Walt Kiesling, that’s seven in a row. Neale and Kiesling are both Hall of Famers. Andy Reid had nine winning seasons with the Eagles: 2000 through 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
5. The Eagles’ .702 winning percentage since Sirianni became head coach in 2021 is the 3rd-best in franchise history in any non-overlapping four-year period. The best four-year stretch in Eagles history was 2001 through 2004, when they went 48-16 on 11-5, 12-4, 12-4 and 13-3 for a .750 winning percentage. And from 1946 through 1949, they went 6-5, 8-4, 9-2-1 and 11-1 for 34-12-1, a .734 winning percentage with NFL Championships in 1948 and 1949. It’s the best winning percentage in the NFC since 2021, with the Cowboys second at 43-24 for .642. Only the Chiefs (.776) and Bills (.727) have won more games since 2021 than the Eagles.
6. Sirianni joins Dick Vermeil and Andy Reid as the third Eagles coach to reach the postseason at least four times. Vermeil’s teams reached the postseason from 1978 through 1981 and Reid’s made it 2000 through 2004, plus 2006, 2008, 2009 and 2010.
7. Sirianni and Greasy Neale are the only Eagles head coaches whose teams have had multiple single-season winning streaks of at least eight games. The 2022 Eagles won their first eight games and this year’s team won 10 in a row from Week 5 through Week 14. Those are two of the eighth-longest winning streaks in franchise history. Neale’s teams won eight in a row in both championship seasons – 1948 and 1949. Other Eagles coaches whose teams won eight in a row: Buck Shaw nine straight in 1960, Dick Vermeil eight in a row in 1980, Andy Reid nine in a row in 2003 and Doug Pederson nine in a row in 2017. The Eagles and Chiefs are the only teams since 2021 with multiple winning streaks of at least eight games. The Chiefs won eight in a row in 2021 and nine in a row this year.
8. Sirianni’s .702 winning percentage is highest among active NFL coaches, with Jim Harbaugh (.681), Kevin O’Connell (.680), Matt LaFleur (.677) and Sean McDermott (.662) next. Sirianni isn’t just the only Eagles coach over .700, he’s the only Eagles coach over .600. The 2nd-highest winning percentage in Eagles history belongs to Greasy Neale at .590 (63-43-5).
9. Sirianni is the first Eagles head coach who hasn’t had a losing streak of at least four games at any point in his first four years since Jim Trimble, the Eagles’ head coach from 1952 through 1955. Trimble’s longest losing streak was three games in October of 1955. He was fired after the season. The Eagles are one of only four teams that hasn’t had a four-game losing streak over the last four years – and the only NFC team. The others are the Bills, Chiefs and Bengals.
10. Sirianni is only the sixth coach in NFL history to take his first four teams to the playoffs. The first five were Paul Brown of the Browns, who reached the playoffs his first 10 seasons from 1946 through 1955 (the first four in the AAFC), Chuck Knox with the Rams from 1973 through 1977, the Rams’ John Robinson from 1983 through 1986, the Steelers’ Bill Cowher from 1992 through 1997 and the Ravens’ John Harbaugh from 2008 through 2012. Cowher played for the Eagles in 1983 and 1984, and Harbaugh coached here from 1998 through 2007.
Subscribe to Eagle Eye anywhere you get your podcasts:
Apple Podcasts | YouTube Music | Spotify | Stitcher | Simplecast | RSS | Watch on YouTube
This embedded content is not available in your region.
