Philadelphia head coach Nick Sirianni insists he is not motivated by revenge as he takes on former team Kansas City – and the man who fired him – in Super Bowl LVII.
Sirianni lost his job as Chiefs wide receivers coach when Andy Reid took charge of the side in 2013.
He now has the chance to get one back on Reid, who is interestingly also a former Eagles head coach, on the grandest stage as their teams meet in Sunday’s NFL showpiece in Glendale, Arizona.
Sirianni, however, has played down talk of a personal battle on the sidelines.
“I don’t look at it that way,” Sirianni told reporters. “It’s not about me.
“This is the profession that I chose and you’re going to move around a little bit, you’re going to have to lose your job once in a while.
“He had a wide receivers coach who was also his assistant head coach and I was the wide receivers coach there, and so naturally I was just out.
“But I don’t look at it that way. I actually have a lot of respect for the whole organisation and coach Reid.
“I had a lot of good times both professionally and personally in Kansas City. That’s where I met my wife, so I’ve got a lot of fond memories of Kansas City!”
Sirianni went on to work with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers and the Indianapolis Colts before landing his first head coaching role with the Eagles in 2021.
Built around the strong offensive link between quarterback Jalen Hurts and receiver AJ Brown, Sirianni’s team went 14-3 through the regular season before beating the New York Giants and San Francisco to reach the Super Bowl.
This week has been a busy one with numerous media and promotional commitments but Sirianni is not concerned by the distractions.
The Chiefs boast greater Super Bowl experience with this being their third appearance in four years but the Eagles, champions in 2018, are not overawed.
Sirianni said: “We understand that there is a lot of distractions and there’s a lot of things that aren’t a part of our typical week.
“We have to do our best to make sure that our routine stays the same in the midst of the madness. That’s been our message all week.
“We’ve a lot of guys on this team that have been to the top of the mountain and have won the Super Bowl, have been to national championship games, have won national championship games.
“We have great leaders that carry that message out.”
