Eagles

NFLPA Report Cards Show Nick Sirianni is a Great Head Coach

By Nick Piccone

Published: Feb 27th, 2026 · 4:21 PM EST

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Despite the NFL winning a grievance against the NFLPA in regard to publishing team report cards, the NFLPA continued to collect the data, which was recently made public by ESPN’s Kalyn Kahler.

As it turns out, the Eagles ranked 20th overall out of the 32 teams. Here’s how they graded out in the categories:

The biggest surprise here to me might be the treatment of families only being a C+. Professional Philadelphia sports teams are generally lauded for their treatment of players’ families. Even Nick Castellanos would have given the Phillies an A+ on that one. Team Travel being an F is wild, too. In 2025, it was also rated an F. Can Jeff and Howie please figure out a way to get that grade higher? On the other hand, the treatment of families grade in 2025 was a C-, so baby steps for each category works best, perhaps.

What’s not a surprise to me, but might be to many others, is the head coach being graded an A. Jalen Hurts and A.J. Brown might be the most polarizing players in the city, but Nick Sirianni is undoubtedly the most polarizing figure above everyone else. I have gone back and forth on my feelings for the guy due to the incredible roller coaster ride the teams under him have gone on the last few years. We give him a pass for 2021 due to first-year margin of error, but a Super Bowl run in 2022 followed by an unnecessarily rocky 2023, another Super Bowl run in 2024 culminating in a championship, and another unnecessary step backward in 2025 provided us with enough excuses to use as to whether we love or hate the guy.

I’ve changed my mind on certain things when more information becomes available, like everyone else. I can’t just hold an opinion and be afraid to change it because it would make me look like a hypocrite – although it is funny using that bit on social media because most people, when presented with their own hypocrisy, like to fight it instead of just swallowing their pride and admitting their shortcomings. Very few admit they simply changed their mind due to newer information.

Me? I don’t think there’s been a sports figure in Philly that I’ve loved and hated more than Sirianni. When I watch the games and see certain plays or decisions, it becomes maddening. But then I hear what the players say about him, and especially Howie Roseman, and it makes me feel like I’m just a prisoner of the moment.

Howie Roseman offered a public defense of Nick Sirianni last month. Why did he do it? The insight is worth thinking with these grade from players:

"I'm kept abreast of what goes on. …And I don't think (the external reputation) is fair. I think that to be a head coach in the… https://t.co/M4RVPtQaF9

— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) February 26, 2026

This tweet by Zach Berman quotes Roseman’s defense of Sirianni last month:

“I’m kept abreast of what goes on. …And I don’t think (the external reputation) is fair. I think that to be a head coach in the National Football League for five years, and to make the playoffs five years and to be in two Super Bowls is hard. I think that a lot of the strength that he has are things that people don’t get to see, that I get to see every day. And I thought it was important to get that out there, to understand what he does. 

“Because I hear it …like, well, if you’re not the offense coordinator, you’re not defensive coordinator, you’re not the special teams coordinator, what do you do with the head coach? And there’s more to being a head coach than just that. ..The things that he does are really a huge part of our success. And I thought it was important that that was (out there).”

Fans think the prototypical NFL coach has to call offensive or defensive plays because that’s been the norm. Sirianni sometimes doesn’t sound like the smartest guy in the room, but he’ll be the first one to take ownership when something goes wrong. I now take the wait-and-see approach – maybe this year week will be better than the last… and when it doesn’t happen, I sit there and think, “What exactly are they doing during the week?” like everyone else. They obviously are trying to be better. It doesn’t always translate, especially if not everyone is on the same page. That comes down to roster construction, which doesn’t fall on Sirianni. We love Roseman, he brought us two championships so far, but maybe some players that are brought in aren’t necessarily equipped to put the team first and buy into Sirianni’s culture, which could throw off everything else. A domino effect, if you will. 

Some argue the best teams don’t allow that stuff to happen, but the the Super Bowl favorites heading into this past season all had issues of their own and didn’t make it to the big game. Seasons like that happen, windows be damned.

In fact, Michael P.S. Hayes of all people made an observation on the latest Six Feet Under with The Undertaker podcast when he compared the insides of the professional wrestling industry to what we think we know about the insides of the way a professional sports team handles their business. (H/T @UtleyYATM)

“I’ll give you a perfect example. Me and the Eagles and their head coach Nick Sirianni. Like, every time I see him on the sideline with a look like he doesn’t know what’s going on, I’m like, ‘Why is this guy a head coach?’ This guy knows a million times more [about] football than I do. But I’m just making my opinions based on what I see and what I want. I don’t know what he knows about how to get this player to do this or what makes that player tick, and all that. And it’s the same thing. People make their opinions based upon what they want. Not what they know.”

No matter how much Sirianni or Roseman or the players say publicly, there will still be those who try to read between the lines. The real issue is whether the front office and head coach and players can tune it out for the greater good of the team. Of course, that’s easier said than done. It just goes to show that sometimes what we think or feel is completely based on immediate emotion instead of actual analysis.