The damp hallway echoed everything. Carts clattered through heavy traffic. Reporters clung to the wall when the carts passed. The cramped state compounded the chaos of another comeback. A shout then burst from the tunnel. Nick Sirianni, fresh off yelling “see ya!” in a taunt of opposing fans that would go viral, emerged. He turned, saw the reporters and, riding the high of his surging emotions, hollered how he’d proven one of their predictions wrong.

Those sudden outbursts, those snapshots of Sirianni’s psyche after a meaningful win, at first seemed only to be symptoms of arrogance, of hubris hellbound for humiliation. There’s usually a sliver of both pulsing within deeply competitive people. They were both eventually stamped out as a promising season devolved into one of the swiftest collapses in NFL history. But an underlying personality trait was at the time more subtle in Sirianni: an extreme sense of self-criticism considered distinctly valuable by the chief decision-maker who hired him.

Why does Jeffrey Lurie still have faith in Sirianni? The owner of the Philadelphia Eagles, during a half-hour news conference at the NFL’s annual meetings — his first public comments since the 2023 season ended — made it abundantly clear he believes Sirianni has “all the ingredients” to be a successful head coach. Among them are Sirianni’s “ability to be authentic,” his “high football IQ” and “incredible work ethic.” But in what Lurie called a “profession where there’s a lot of comfortability,” he especially values Sirianni’s proactive attempts to fix problems.

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Lurie cited two of Sirianni’s most significant midseason staff modifications, which yielded opposite results. In 2021, Sirianni’s decision to hand play-calling duties to former offensive coordinator Shane Steichen helped spur a surprising playoff run. In 2023, Sirianni’s demotion of former defensive coordinator Sean Desai did nothing to deter the dysfunctions that persisted under promoted assistant Matt Patricia.

“I applaud the aggressiveness and the attempt,” Lurie said of Sirianni’s decision to demote Desai. “I would say, in conclusion, it didn’t work the way it was expected to work.”

It’s notable that Lurie considers proactivity a strength, even if it fails. He fired Doug Pederson after the 2020 season due to a “difference in vision” that included Pederson’s unwillingness to part with certain coaches. That history partly clouded who the driving force was behind this offseason’s staff overhaul. Had Lurie intervened? Had Sirianni, who never fired anyone before, felt a firm grip on his shoulder? Lurie insisted he did not step in at all, that the idea “literally came from Nick,” who “really was adamant about having excellent coordinators.”

Lurie communicated a sense of strong emotion in the description. Adamant. That sounds like Sirianni. And it’s sensible that the source of the coach’s frequent fervor is self-criticism. He’s often manifested signs that he heavily feels the weight of his responsibility. Sirianni was sullen when explaining why he fired former offensive coordinator Brian Johnson; he’d partly handcuffed Johnson within a system Sirianni often reminded reporters was “my offense.” The outbursts in Kansas City could’ve understandably been a cathartic release against two targets. Sirianni was so far down the tunnel when he screamed “see ya!” that he was effectively yelling at himself.

Why does this matter? Lurie values Sirianni foremost as a manager. Sirianni will once again not call plays in 2024. It’s also becoming further clear how much his role in overseeing the offensive system is diminishing after hiring offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. Lurie said Moore, who called plays as a coordinator with the Dallas Cowboys and Los Angeles Chargers, was Sirianni’s “first choice” and that it was “really impressive” how Sirianni wanted to “truly improve who was going to lead in terms of leading the offense and the direction it would go.”

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It’s not important to Lurie that Sirianni doesn’t call plays. Lurie, who’s hired five head coaches since buying the Eagles in 1994, said “I’ve always prioritized … many, many other qualities” when selecting coaches. He noted how Chip Kelly was the only coach who previously called offensive plays. Lurie, who’s long preferred his organization to be on the cutting edge, appreciated the innovative quality of Kelly’s spread system.

“It’s a head coach’s responsibility to have the plays called really well. It doesn’t matter who is calling the plays,” Lurie said. “You want to have an excellent play caller. Does that have to be the head coach? No. … When I look for a head coach, I’m looking for things that have big ramifications beyond the ability to call plays, and they’re all important. But it’s never been the reason I’ve ever hired a head coach.”

Whatever qualities that full list contains — Lurie said the way the team hires coaches is “proprietary” — at the very least it involves a management style that fosters schematic solutions. Play calling is still intrinsically connected to on-field success, and the Eagles largely failed in 2023 because they couldn’t come up with sufficient offensive answers against defenses that collectively found ways to stop them. Sirianni acknowledged their system got stale. By choosing to retain every offensive coach after Steichen’s departure, Sirianni had complicated any opportunity for outside innovation.

Lurie said Philadelphia’s failure to rebound during its 1-6 slide was “the key focal point” of his end-of-year review process. He referenced the rough patches the Chiefs (a 2-4 stretch) and San Francisco 49ers (0-3) overcame during the regular season before playing each other in Super Bowl LVIII. The Eagles plainly “were not able to,” Lurie said. It will therefore be Sirianni’s main objective this offseason to ensure his offensive and defensive systems excel in 2024.

Indeed, a CEO-oriented head coach can accomplish this. The Baltimore Ravens won Super Bowl XLVII and have missed the playoffs just five times in 16 seasons under John Harbaugh, a former special teams coordinator. The Detroit Lions reached last season’s NFC Championship Game under Dan Campbell, a former tight ends coach. Although the spotlight is mostly dominated by play callers — Andy Reid, Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, et al. — they can also doom their teams with obstinacy.

Sirianni knows it’s his responsibility that his team’s systems are filled with fresh ideas. Lurie said Sirianni was “hellbent on making sure we had the best” coordinators, and he made it clear Sirianni has been flush with the funds to get that done. Lurie, who interviewed Moore for the head-coaching job in 2021 before hiring Sirianni, said Moore has “always had a very sort of difficult-to-defend multiple attack.” Vic Fangio, former head coach of the Denver Broncos, is entering his seventh tenure as an NFL defensive coordinator.

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How will Sirianni manage his fourth season as a head coach? And how much more leash will Lurie give him? The owner deflected when asked if Sirianni was entering the season on the hot seat, saying “there’s no coach that’s not feeling pressure to perform.” He restated Sirianni has “shown all the ingredients to have outstanding success.”

“He’s exhibited a lot of growth as a young coach,” Lurie said. “I think he’ll exhibit even more because he is so self-critical, and I look forward to seeing that development.”

(Photo of Nick Sirianni: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)