The Philadelphia Eagles have a former All-Pro at running back, and he made some headlines this week with his comments on his head coach. Saquon Barkley, the former No. 2 overall pick by the Giants, spoke about his impressions of Eagles HC Nick Sirianni when Barkley was still in New York. Apparently, he didn’t like him very much, but that changed when Barkley arrived in Philadelphia.
“Yeah, Bob shared those comments with me,” Sirianni said with a chuckle. “That’s always [appreciated]. I feel the same way about him. And yeah, no I get it. I think if I think back on my past that any teams that are rivals — I don’t know why, they usually don’t like me,” Sirianni said with a wry smile. “And that was when I was in high school, that’s college, whatever. I’m glad that he’s on our team and I’m glad we have the relationship that we do, though.”
Sirianni has a reputation throughout the NFL for his fiery sideline demeanor, but it’s that competitive nature that makes his players and peers in the coaching world respect him so much. Barkley was not a fan when he was on a rival team, but once he got in the building in Philadelphia and worked with Sirianni, he couldn’t help but respect and appreciate him. That kind of reputation carries weight.
Philadelphia Eagles HC Nick Sirianni on Attention to Detail
GettyINGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – DECEMBER 08: Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles runs for a fourth quarter touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium on December 08, 2025 in Inglewood, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images)
“You just try to go about — you’re in this profession to help people,” Sirianni replied to a question on if he’d heard similar sentiments from other Philadelphia players. “Help people accomplish their goals. When you can’t play football anymore — I wish my career would’ve went further, I love playing football — but then you get into it to help other people be the best version of themselves that they can be.”
“And attention to detail is just something, y’know, I can think back to Coach Kehras telling me, back when I was coaching camps when I was still playing [at Mount Union], ‘Hey have a coaching point. There’s either something they did good or something they did bad after every time.’ And how important fundamentals were. Or my dad: I think back to track. I was able to compete in the triple jump, not because I was bigger and faster and stronger than everyone, it was because I had good fundamentals that he was able to teach me.”
“So fundamentals and detail of situations, it helps you go to another level,” Sirianni continued. “And that’s what we focus on, it gets you to another level of your talent, so your talent can shine. That’s something that we constantly focus on so it’s good to hear that. It always comes down to your players and the talent of your players, those players play together with high attention to detail and relentless effort. Which are all things that are part of our core values, and we try and live our core values, not just have them as writings on the wall.”
The Philadelphia Eagles are Playing for Playoff Seeding
With two games to go in the regular season, the Eagles have already locked up the NFC East and punched their ticket to the playoffs. Currently sitting in the NFC’s No. 3 seed, the Eagles could climb even higher, potentially all the way to the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
But a big challenge awaits them on Sunday in Buffalo against a Bills team desperate to overtake the Patriots in the AFC East. It won’t be an easy one for Philadelphia.
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