Nick Sirianni is typically a perky individual, a teacher who loves to coach and talk about football. Sirianni had some extra pep in his step when the New England Patriots came to the NovaCare Complex this week, mostly due to the opportunity to be on the same field with NFL-legend Bill Belichick.
Prior to this week, Sirianni never met Belichick. He certainly wanted to pick Belichick's brain on how a championship organization is run. Hard to blame Sirianni when Belichick has eight Super Bowl rings (six as a head coach, two as a defensive coordinator).
"I think you learn just from being around them, people that are really good at their job," Sirianni said to reporters prior to the Philadelphia Eagles joint practice with the Patriots on Tuesday. "I'm not looking for something in particular, but I'm always observing, right. I'm always observing guys that are good at those things.
"So I just admire the way he prepares. I admire the way he gets his guys ready, how he motivates his guys. Those are things -- you see little things like that, so it's good to be around him. Most of my attention, obviously, it better be, right, is around our football team, but you still get to learn from guys that you're around."
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Sirianni has certainly learned the concept of efficiency and discipline through Belichick. The Eagles' first-team unit didn't commit a penalty in the first preseason game and were fundamentally sound in the exhibition opener, similar toward how they looked in training camp practices over the first three weeks.
Belichick also noticed another reputation the Eagles are developing under Sirianni.
"I think an important part of developing your team is learning how to practice and practicing so that you get better, the guy you're working against gets better, both sides of the ball get better," Belichick said. "It's not a full-speed level, but it's a level where we can work and improve and try to minimize the risk to having a lot of guys on the ground and having piles and things like that. That's how we practice. It's obvious that's how the Eagles practice."
The Eagles continue Sirianni's mantra of getting 1% better every day. The concept is Belichick-esque, as the Eagles seek to be a team that gets the most out of every player on its roster.
"This is the best in the business ever, ever to coach. I mean, this is the best NFL coach ever," Sirianni said. "So really look forward to learning from him. Just like we watch tape of guys, just like we throw on the tape and say, 'Hey, look how you watch this guy run this route, look how to read this play' of players in the NFL. I'll do the same thing here with Coach Belichick."
