Four grand narratives for potential KC Chiefs vs. Eagles Super Bowl

Nick Sirianni vs. his old team

One obscure fact about Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is that he was once an offensive assistant in Kansas City from 2009-2012. There aren’t many members of the “Todd Haley coaching tree” (ok, so there’s literally no one else) still in the league, but Sirianni worked his way up from quarterbacks and wide receivers coach in KC, to the same roles in San Diego with the Chargers (and for a year when they moved to LA) before being hired by Frank Reich as the offensive coordinator in Indianapolis.

After three years in that role, the Eagles tapped Sirianni as the successor to Doug Pederson in 2021, and he has led a resurgence in Philadelphia. The 41-year-old has assembled perhaps the most complete team in the NFL, and a Super Bowl ring would cement him as one of the best young coaches in league history.

Sirianni has no remaining ties in Kansas City except for CEO Clark Hunt and President Mark Donovan. The roster and coaching staff from 2012 is gone. But there’s no doubt he has a soft spot for the place where he first got into the coaching profession. Anyone who was a Chiefs fan in 2012 knows that it was a year no one will ever forget.

That’s not the only coach on the Eagles’ staff with ties to the Chiefs. Assistant coach Alex Tanney first entered the league as an undrafted free agent with the Chiefs in 2012. At first, Tanney appeared to be a trick-shot viral video sensation, famous for his remarkable accuracy. But he has slowly earned a legitimate career within the league and is now working his way up the coaching ladder.

There’s still a lot of football left to be played, but the current favorites in each conference have many ties that connect them. While the “woulda shouldas” of the league never seem to matter in the end, it’s impossible to look at these two teams and ignore the ties that tether them from their past. If they ultimately do match up on the game’s biggest stage, it will prove to be an exciting two weeks leading up to a tremendous matchup on the field.