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PHILADELPHIA — As he enters his sixth season as the head coach of the Eagles, Nick Sirianni knows the importance of evolving his motivational tactics.
Sirianni believes telling the same stories to his players every year could make his message stale. He wants his team to be tough, detail-oriented and unified during difficult moments. The message is always the same, but he tells it differently each year.
Sirianni finds examples of what being tough, detailed and together looks like in other sports or outside of sports, and so far, it has been an effective strategy. He led the Eagles to five playoff appearances and two Super Bowls in his first five seasons as head coach.
In trying to convey that message creatively, he has found a new tool.
“I’ve never thought I would use ChatGPT, whatever it’s called, and I’m using that, “ Sirianni told reporters in June. ”I just typed something in today. I’m like, ‘Give me a [story of] great, relentless effort.’ … I looked up this thing today about this wrestler from the University of Arizona State in 2011 that won a national championship. Oh, he was missing a leg. Now, I’m doing this research on it, and I’m looking at it. I love reading about those types of things.”
The story of Anthony Robles, who was born with one leg and won an NCAA wrestling championship, gave Sirianni fresh material. It’s just one of many stories he tells.
When Sirianni points out the good work his players are doing, he will sometimes compare someone’s work ethic or demeanor to a football legend of the past.
“I told a story about [former Pittsburgh Steelers running back] Franco Harris that [former NFL head coach] Tony Dungy told us,” Sirianni said. “So basically what Dungy said was the act in itself that he caught the ‘Immaculate Reception,’ that may have been lucky, but his habit of being around the football and being there at the right place at the right time was not lucky because that’s who he was. His habits.
“Well, now, I’m thinking about that and the more you’re here, it’s like, ‘Well, that’s [Eagles backup running back] Tank Bigsby.’ He is constantly running to the football. He is constantly doing everything he’s supposed to do. And I’m like, ‘You know what, guys?’ And I was able to hit back the story. ‘I go some of you guys remember the Franco Harris story, blah, blah, blah.’ I’m like, ‘This is Tank.’ And you’re able to show that now.”
Sirianni hopes that one day the stories of his players will be told by other sports coaches as a source of inspiration.
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“We’ve created things that people are looking up on ChatGPT,” Sirianni said. “We have our own stories that we’ve created here, and, man, and what keeps it more fresh than what we’ve done?”
Sirianni will bring new messages to the team when training camp starts next week.
“I look at some of the pictures of my kids and you really can see the change of them,” Sirianni said of the differences in his life that he has noticed since taking the job in 2021. “I have more gray [hair], and I look a little bit more heavy than I was when I first got here. But seeing how my kids have grown here is kind of cool. So it’s a blessing to be at a place for so long in the NFL and look forward to continuing that for years to come.”
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