Sirianni hopes to bring success to the Eagles for years to come - ESPN
Legendary UConn women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma was in his New York City hotel room in mid-April getting ready for the WNBA Draft when he received a call from Eagles coach Nick Sirianni.
They established a connection when Sirianni sent Auriemma a congratulatory text «kind of out of the blue» following one of the Huskies' wins last season. Being a Philadelphia area native and a «typical, die-hard Eagles fan,» Auriemma made sure to stay in touch in the ensuing weeks as Philly made its Super Bowl push.
The Huskies went on to win the national championship — their 12th under Auriemma, the most by any coach in NCAA Division I history. The Eagles' 40-22 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, meanwhile, marked the first time Sirianni had led a team to the top, and he wanted to know the keys to making a return trip.
«The sense that I got was that he was concerned, not in a bad way, but like most coaches are after your greatest success,» Auriemma told ESPN. «I remember Bob Knight said one time, 'Be most attentive after your greatest successes.' That's when things can kind of slip away from you. So I think, in a good way, he was curious about, where does the message go from here when you've reached the goal...where do you go after that happens?»
It was part of Sirianni's broader offseason mission to learn about sustained success. He spoke with a number of high-profile figures including former Alabama football coach Nick Saban, South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley, Auriemma and four-time Olympic gold medalist Michael Johnson to help him ready for a challenging second act, which continues Sunday in a Super Bowl LIX rematch against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox).
«There's a lot of different