PHILADELPHIA -- Doug Pederson was fired as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2020. Nick Sirianni was his replacement.
Pederson, the only head coach to win a Super Bowl in Philadelphia, could have just sat back and let a first-time head coach in Sirianni figure things out on his own. That's not the person Pederson is.
Pederson helped out Sirianni with the ins-and-outs of the job, making Sirianni's stint much easier thanks to his guidance. Sirianni hopes he can do the same when he ever decides to move on from Philadelphia -- or if the Eagles ever decide to move on from him.
"He was just helpful to me with people on the roster, how the building is. It was everything," Sirianni said ahead of the Eagles' Week 9 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the team Pederson currently coaches. "I just felt like, you know, it was something I've always admired.
"I always try to put myself in that scenario. Would I help? I don't know. I don't know if I have that in me to do that."
Sirianni admitted he was teasing when he said that, but Pederson's direction helped him understand the value of being an NFL head coach. Without Pederson, Sirianni may not be the only coach to take the Eagles to the playoffs in each of his first three seasons or have the highest win percentage in Eagles history (.672).
"I admire people that do [what Pederson did],' Sirianni said. "Hopefully, I can pay that back for other coaches. I think that's what's cool about the coaching fraternity is that, we all got here because of other coaches and the time they put into us to help us get better.
"We need to pay that forward. I'll always admire Doug for that and I'll try to do the same."
The conversations between Sirianni and Pederson remain between them, but it enabled Sirianni to go into his first season with a quarterback he had no hand in selecting. The Eagles drafted Jalen Hurts when Pederson was there.
Sirianni has never wavered on Hurts in his four seasons, watching Hurts grow into a top-10 quarterback as the Eagles won games. Hurts has been playing his best football of late, completing 71.2% of his passes for 614 yards with four touchdowns and zero interceptions and an 127.4 passer rating (third in NFL) over the past three weeks. He also has five rushing touchdowns.
If it wasn't for Pederson, maybe Sirianni would have gone in a different direction with his quarterback.
"I don't want to get to much into that conversation, but I know how Doug feels about Jalen," Sirianni said. "You'll have to ask Doug. I think he thought Jalen was pretty darn good."