Super Bowl LVII: Eagles’ Nick Sirianni and Chiefs’ Andy Reid face teams that FIRED them in 2013

According to one of the most famous maxims in sports, coaches are hired to be fired.

The saying speaks of the availability of coaches, but their firings are not the last word on their careers. Often these frequent firings lead to better opportunities elsewhere, as seen in the coaches’ matchup at Super Bowl LVII.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid and his Philadelphia Eagles counterpart Nick Sirianni have been fired by the team they will play Sunday in Glendale, Arizona.

It’s the first time in Super Bowl history that both coaches have gone head-to-head with their former employer, and while it may serve as added motivation, neither Reid, 64, nor Sirianni, 41, harbors ill will toward the franchises. that gave them their big break in the NFL

Not even Sirianni, who was personally fired by Reid in 2013, looks back with regret.

“I didn’t train with Andy, but he gave me a good example of what to do,” Sirianni told reporters earlier this week.

At the time, the Chiefs were coming off a 2-14 season under Romeo Crennel, who was quickly succeeded by Reid, the Eagles’ outgoing coach.

Sirianni had worked as the Chiefs’ receiving coach that season after previously serving as the team’s offensive quality control coach and assistant quarterbacks coach.

His resume had been limited before he got his big break in Kansas City in 2009: Sirianni spent a few seasons at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Division III Mount Union, the small Ohio powerhouse that produced Dom Capers and many other coaches. featured.

Unfortunately for Sirianni, his first experience with NFL football wasn’t particularly good. Years before the Chiefs selected two-time MVP Patrick Mahomes, Matt Cassel was leading the offense, which had ranked 25th, 12th, 27th and 24th during Sirianni’s tenure in Kansas City.

So it wasn’t a surprise when Reid arrived with the intention of cleaning the house.

Only instead of lightly firing the trainers he inherited from the Crennel regime, Reid took the time to talk to them individually, and that impressed the young Sirianni.

“He was very complimentary,” Sirianni said of interacting with Reid in 2013. “He knew I would be down, so he gave me strength when I was down.” And I appreciated that. And it seems that this is how he is as a person and as a coach.

Despite disappointing results in Kansas City, Sirianni would be signed to San Diego in 2013, where he would work with then-Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich.

‘Did I want to leave Kansas City? No,’ Sirianni told reporters.

‘My future wife was from there, we were engaged at the time, she had a good teaching job there, she had all her friends there, her mom and dad were half an hour down the road. Of course, she didn’t want me to leave there. But when I look at it, God has always put me in great positions and guided my paths. I know I don’t say things like that all the time, but I know he has.

Reich would later be hired as the head coach at Indianapolis, where Sirianni was hired as offensive coordinator in 2018.

“I needed to go to San Diego to learn, to be in a different place, to be out of a comfort zone, potentially, to meet Frank Reich,” Sirianni added. ‘To split up there and then go be his coordinator in Indianapolis. Everything happens for a reason.’

Sirianni is now the head coach of an Eagles team that ranked third offensively in 2022, something Philadelphia had accomplished only once since Reid was fired following a 4-12 season in 2012.

“I had a great 14 years there, I loved every minute of it,” Reid told reporters Tuesday of his time in Philadelphia.

Reid came to Philadelphia in 1999 after the firing of Ray Rhodes, with whom he had previously worked in Green Bay.

He had spent six seasons with the Packers, serving as an offensive assistant, coaching Brett Favre, winning a Super Bowl ring and often being mistaken for mustachioed head coach Mike Holmgren.

But in Philadelphia, Reid made a name for himself, first with quarterback Donovan McNabb and then with Michael Vick. He would reach a Super Bowl with the latter in 2005, losing to the New England Patriots, and finished his tenure in eastern Pennsylvania with a 224-130 record.

After going 5-11 in 1999, it was time for Reid to move on, but he didn’t blame the club for the decision.

“It’s a great organization,” he said. ‘I’m still close to the people there. It was great to see the kids that we had recruited who are now veteran players, All-Pro players on that team. I had a chance to give them a hug last night and now we’re going our separate ways and getting ready to play.

The firing turned out to be a positive for both the Eagles and Reid. Philadelphia would win its first Super Bowl under Doug Pederson in 2018, while Reid would win his first the following season.

It has also established Kansas City as one of the preeminent offensive franchises in NFL history.

The Chiefs ranked first in offensive points and yards in 2022, which is the second time Reid, Mahomes & Co. has accomplished the feat.

But despite all the goodwill heading into Sunday’s game, Sirianni admits he still thinks about his firing in Kansas City from time to time.

‘Do you always have this little chip on your shoulder? Sure, yes, you do,’ Sirianni said. “But that’s who I am as a coach and as a person: I want to make sure I’m working hard to be the best I can be.” And sure, you hold on to some of those things.

Reid, however, refused to acknowledge that he is motivated by playing for his old team.

“Not everything lasts forever,” Reid said Monday, as quoted by the Philadelphia Inquirer. ‘So, you know, we all spend our time there.’