Five things we learned about 49ers’ matchup from Eagles coach Nick Sirianni
Philadelphia coach Nick Sirianni met with the local media Monday and gave his thoughts on the matchup in the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers.
Sirianni is in his second season, having guided the Eagles to a 9-8 record in 2021 and going 14-3 this season as the top seed in the NFC. The Eagles beat the New York Giants 38-7 in the divisional round after a first-round bye.
Five things we learned:
Sirianni played in college at Mount Union with Matt Campbell, who was Brock Purdy’s coach at Iowa State.
“He’s a winner. You saw what he did for that program. Matt’s a great coach but he got a great quarterback in Brock Purdy. The common theme we got from them is we got a quarterback who can lead the way and find the right place to go with the football consistently that is just a playmaker. I followed him a lot because of my relationship with the coaches there.”
His thoughts on the coaching and play-calling of 49ers’ coach Kyle Shanahan
“I have close ties with Pierre Garçon, he was a Mount Union guy, and I remember watching all his catches. It was one of my first times to really study Kyle’s offense and I remember coming away with the plays Pierre made. And I had (quarterback) Brian Hoyer as well, who had some meaningful snaps for Kyle in San Francisco. I remember asking him questions about Kyle, what he would do in this scenario or that scenario. I remember how highly Brian thought of Kyle. I don’t know him all that well, just to say hello, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about him.”
The 49ers’ defense under DeMeco Ryans
“One of the most impressive things about coaches is when their guys are just selling out for them and really see that with DeMeco Ryans’ defense. You can see their interactions in games, when you watch on television. Why does a player play really hard for a coach? I think they recognize that the coach cares about them as a person, and they realize the coach is really making them better.”
The 49ers’ personnel
“Man, this is a talented team. I’ve got a lot of respect for (Fred Warner and Dre Greenlaw) and they’ve got good players along the defensive line, led by (Nick) Bosa and (Arik) Armstead. Their corners, the guy that got from Kansas City (Charvarius Ward) I thought was a really good player and their safeties can cause havoc. Not to mention the offensive line and skill players they have, unique players like Deebo (Samuel), (Christian) McCaffrey and (George) Kittle . . . But we’ve got good players too. We’re excited about the matchups, I think you’re going to see a lot of really good matchups in this game, really good on good. There’s a lot of good on good out there and that’s going to be happening in this game. That’s what the NFC Championship Game should be.”
On comparing his quarterback Jalen Hurts to Michael Jordan
“As good as he’s played this year, as well as he’s run the football, as well as he’s thrown the football, reading defenses, accurate throws, the first thing you notice about him is his will to win. HIs competitive drive. The intangibles that he has, it’s at a different level. He wears a chain, `A breed of one” He is a breed of one. He’s unlike anyone I’ve been around in how much he loves this game, how much winning drives him, how much getting better every day drives him. He’s special.”