The Josh Innes Show - Sirianni Scrutiny

Episode Date: November 20, 2025

ESPN has a front page story about Nick Sirianni being the most scrutinized good coach in the NFL. Now that they mention it, that's probably true. The question they ask is why. The author lays out 8 reasons. I don't need 8.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

So here's a headline from ESPN. The headline reads, is Nick Siriani the most scrutinized good coach in the NFL? But the first headline for this, which is on the dynamic lead, this is the front page of ESPN.com. Why is Nick Siriani seen differently than any other successful NFL coach, sizing up eight arguments? I don't need eight arguments. I'll give you one argument. All right, I'll do that. Let me play a couple commercials.

And I'll give you one argument for why Nick Siriani does. doesn't get treated like a lot of other coaches. Here's the number one argument. He's a toolbox. That's it. Like he is an unlikable. He's got a punchable faces. I want to see these eight arguments.

Because I can lay out, I'll try to lay out eight arguments on my own without looking at their eight arguments. Number one, he comes off as a hard on. Two, he's got a punchable face. Three, big dom. Four, the like wearing all the wacky Philadelphia. a shit. He comes off as kind of contrived and hokey.

You know, what am I at? Four, five, wherever I'm at now. His quarterback continues to find ways to win despite the fact their offense stinks. Six, the tush push. Seven, the crying during the National Anthem, whether that's fair or not. Like, you can, like, that is why. That is why. Guys, been to two Super Bowls. There are guys who will never go to any Super Bowls who are going to be considered greater

than Nick Siriani because Nick Siriani is just a dude. That's not fair, unfair, whatever. It's reality. Nick Siriani is a douche. He comes off as a douche. He comes off as a hard on. Like, that's all this is. That is why.

If you gave his resume to someone that people liked and was kind of like a more likable character, and I'm trying to think of an example of someone who's a more likable character, like if you put the results of Nick Siriani in the body of Marvin Lewis. I know it's a random one, but like Marvin Lewis. Just kind of a stoic dude, if you put his results in the body of Marvin Lewis, then he would be considered beloved. I'm trying to think of another guy that's more of an even keel coach, right, that doesn't come off as totally douchey. I'm trying to think of an example.

Marvin Lewis just never came off as douchey because Marvin Lewis is just a very stoic, likable guy. So Marvin Lewis is just the first name that came up. or, I don't know, you put his results in the body of Todd Bowles, or you put his, and I just keep naming black guys, but like, you know, a guy that people genuinely like and a guy that people want to root for, which I guess in the NFL are hard to find, because you can always find something to hate about a bunch of coaches. But if you put him in the body of a more likable guy, a lot of it is he's giffable. He's memeable.

And it's not memeable for the right reasons. And I don't know if there are right reasons to be. memeable, but he is memeable for the wrong reasons. And like, you know, doing the thing where he looks at the camera and then they compare him wearing his hat to the kid and elf and all of these other things, right? Like, that's how, that's why. Like, that is why people dislike him. That is why he doesn't get the same respect.

But if you really think about it, the Eagles are one of the most disrespected teams because of the fact that their quarterback wins a ton, but people are always looking to bench him. His teammates are looking to bench him. And then the coach wins a shit ton and people look for reasons why the coach suck. It is fascinating. But now I'm curious. I laid out the main reason. The 1A and 1, 2, 3, 4, 8 is that he's a toolbox.

The guy's a hard on. He is the definition of a hard on. But now I'm curious. What are these eight reasons why Nick Siriani is the most scrutinized good coach? Notably, because he is the coach of a very good football team that wins a lot. And he's in Philadelphia where even your own will eat you. If Nick Siriani were doing this same stuff in a more. passive city. If he were doing this in Kansas City, I don't think the scrutiny would be the

same because the scrutiny originates from home. Right? And Philadelphia loves to eat its own. That's just a Philly thing. They love to. As much as they want to build you up, they are the first people looking to tear you down for anything. It's not a knock. It's reality. They'll spin it as well. We hold you super accountable and we expect great. And that's all well and good. Fine. Philly and the Philly Media. The Philly Media is the most aggressive media, sports media, probably in the country. You could argue New York, but I wouldn't. There's a no question. I lived in Houston. The sports media is, no one gives a shit. Missouri, I lived in St. Louis. Sports media, no one gives a shit. You go to Philadelphia, they look for drama consistently. It is a city

and a sports media and a world built around drama. And they're looking for it because I got to sell papers. They've got to get radio ratings. They got to get you to watch the TV. It's just the nature of the city. It's a drama-filled city. It always has been. It always will be. So it starts at home. So if you're Siriani and you're getting shit from your own people on a consistent basis, the national picks up on that and they go with it. But anyway, so Nick Siriani, the most scrutinized good coach in the NFL. Well, let's try to think of anybody else. Let's look at Sean Payton. Sean Payton's an asshole and he comes off as an asshole, but he gets none of the criticism that Siriani gets. Now, granted, he's been doing it

for 20 years, so he's a different animal. But I'm trying to think of other coaches that are scrutinized. Whoever the coaches of the Cowboys in a given year will get that. Actually, you know what, Matt LaFleur. Matt LaFleur gets a lot of shit, but Matt LaFleur doesn't have close to the skins on the wall that Siriani does. But LaFleur is a great example of a guy that gets a lot of shit. He gets a ton of shit. And they're talking about firing the guy. While he doesn't have the skins on the wall of Siriani. He's accomplished and wouldn't fire the guy. But he takes a lot of shit.

Most scre. I mean, but then there's guys like, I mean, you're talking about scrutinized good coaches. Like, there's a lot of shitty coaches who get scrutinized, you know. Then there are guys who get zero. Like, nobody's critical of D'Amico Ryan's. And part of it's because he's in Houston and he's out of sight out of mind. Nobody outside of Houston gives a shit. And let's be real, no one in Houston gives a shit.

So, like, there's not a ton of criticism for, let's see, Shannahan, Kyle Shanahan doesn't get a lot of shit. McVay doesn't get any shit. These are all successful coaches. Neither one of them gets any shit from anybody, really. And I think, again, part of it is look at where they are. One's in L.A., one's in San Francisco. It's just not the world that Philly is.

Phillies are weird Like could you argue that Mike McDaniel Obviously nowhere near the skins on the wall Mike McDaniel's had some success up and down He gets a lot of shit But like he's not even close to Siriani so I wouldn't put him in there Nobody in the NFC south really

Nobody in the NFC or the AFC South Nobody really in the AEP maybe homeboy Up in Buffalo Maybe a little bit I mean he gets a lot of scrutiny But his biggest downfall is he can't beat Patrick Mahomes?

But I don't even think, but like, does anybody really look at him and give him scrutiny? You know, like, they almost give him a pass. They're like, I can't beat Pat Mahomes, but who can, you know? You know, who's that? That's, who the hell I'm at? Sean McDermott? So, like, I don't know. Like, he is.

Like, it is true. He is the most success or the most scrutinized good coach. But let's see. What are the reasons why this guy is the most scrutinized? Like, what are the reasons? argument one it's all how we wrote okay so that that's one of your arguments that it's all about the talent news flash there are no teams winning in the NFL that aren't doing it like you're not winning with shitty players so give the GM all the credit and how he gets all that credit that's

great and maybe I could coach these teams sometimes but that's the way it is guys pick the groceries they get the players get good players you win you know Sean Peyton if he didn't have the good players, like he's not going to turn those guys in Denver into great players if they're not good players. Now, you can take medium players and slightly above players and turn them into better, but if you've got shitty players, you're not going to win. This isn't difficult. Let's see, that's argument one.

Argument two, anyone can win with this much talent. Well, shouldn't that fall into the Howie Roseman category? That seems like you're stretching here. I'm not going to waste my time responding to that. Argument three, it's the other coaches. Literally every other coach is probably going to get that as well. Like, that argument's null. Like, yes, some of the other coaches are great.

But that's, anyway, Andy Reid has had so many great coaches around him, and they all go on to be NFL head coaches. That happens. So, whatever. Argument four, we're not really sure what he does here. That's a lot of coaches. Argument five, he's wild on fourth down. Is he?

Is he nearly as wild as I don't know? Dan Campbell? You know, is he? Dan Campbell's another good example. Like, Dan Campbell, though, doesn't get the scrutiny that Siriani does. But part of that's because Siriani went to a team that had won a Super Bowl. The Lions have never done it. The city is just glad to be good at football here in Detroit. So, like, Campbell gets scrutinized, but not nearly as much. Argument number six, the Eagles

aren't as impressive as they should be. I mean, that's fair, but they're eight and two. They're winning the games. Argument seven, when they were bad, it poisoned the well of public opinion. That could be. And number eight, his sideline demeanor is bad. Well, he's a douche. To me, the number one thing is that he's douchy. Like, like, let's put it this way. I don't view, I was trying to find a current coach that if you took his record and put it in this coach's body, he'd be viewed totally different. And I brought up Dan Campbell. I think Dan Campbell's a great example. But Dan Campbell's already a successful coach.

But if you put Dan Campbell in a situation where he went to two Super Bowls with the way he is Dan Campbell with the demeanor of Dan Campbell, then I think he'd be viewed differently. But Siriani is a toolbox. That's the easiest way to put it. He is unlikable, you know, and he's got his big dom. He's doing the dumb things into the camera. But none of that matters. The guy wins. They're eight and two.

It is a fascinating world for the Eagles. You'll never see a situation like this again, where the quarterback just wins 66% of his games, been to two Super Bowls, and we're like, is he even any good? The coach wins the majority of his games also been to two Super Bowls, and we're like, hey, is he any good? It is a wild world with this. You will never see a situation like this again And part of it I say a big part of it is because it's in Philly If this same team were in Jacksonville

It wouldn't be the same If the same team were in New Orleans It wouldn't be the same If this team were in Houston it wouldn't be the same New York it wouldn't be the same I mean look they blow Eli Manning in New York It's just a different universe man Anyway more to come