With the Philadelphia Eagles' Week 15 showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers rapidly approaching, fans, players, and pundits alike have been keying in on the uniqueness of the clash between Nick Sirianni and Mike Tomlin.
Now, sure, technically, this is the Battle of Pennsylvania, which is always a good time, but it's also a contest between two head coaches who have never had a losing season in the NFL, with Sirianni at four and Tomlin locked into his 18th with a 10-3 record. Asked about Tomlin's longevity in the NFL, Sirianni celebrated the Steelers' head coach for his ability to remain good for a very long time, especially since that sort of long-term success can create a legion of haters.
“Man, 18 years. Four years, 18 years, obviously a big, big difference. Consistency and teams that are able to sustain success, I think that’s so impressive. You see it in this league all the time. Hey, this team came out of nowhere, had a big year, and don’t have another good year. Or whatever it is, right? And I think that you get that appreciation when you have been a part of something. Being at Mount Union and the sustained success of Mount Union always taught me, ‘No, I’m going to root for teams like that’ when I was younger,” Nick Sirianni told reporters.
“Everyone when I was growing up hated the Yankees because they won all the time. Or they hated Mount Union because they won all the time. I think being a part of that, I ended up admiring that and not rooting against those teams. Until obviously you get into the here and you don’t root for one team or the other. It just taught me [to] admire the success and sustained success because that is a difficult, difficult thing. Especially in this league, especially the way the rules are written up, and how the draft status goes, and the way the schedule goes.
“This is a hard business to have sustained success [in]. So, man, I can’t say enough. Any time I’ve ever had a conversation with Coach Tomlin, admire the heck out of him. Can see his passion for the game and how he coaches. You get to watch it on television. And then you get to see the sustained success and how his teams play football. You can tell his teams play football tough. They take care of the ball. They take the ball away. The fundamentals, the details. So I always admire that.”
While this game won't ruin either head coach's winning streak, as both teams already have double-digit wins on the season, it will be a very interesting showdown all the same, as it is the most challenging game left on either team's schedule. If the Eagles are going to prove they are among the best teams in the NFL, beating up on a team as talented and well-coached as the Steelers would serve as one heck of a feather in their cap.
