A Youthful Mind
The NFL Head Coaching Carousel Is Getting Younger.
Two Of It’s Best to Meet On Sunday Night.
When the Eagles hired 39-year-old Nick Sirianni to replace 52-year-old Super Bowl-winning Head Coach Doug Pederson — his youth was a big talking point.
Whether you like Nick Sirianni or think last year’s Eagles implosion was enough to call for his job — his success is undeniable.
PHOTO: Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images
No other Eagles Head Coach has gone to the NFC Playoffs in their first three years. He also provided us with the closest to a Super Bowl victory, which you can possibly come during a single game (unless you win it all).
Across the sideline from Sirianni, this Sunday will be the youngest Head Coach ever hired in the NFL in 2017.
The then thirty-year-old Sean McVay advanced through the NFC Playoffs to the Super Bowl in 2021, defeating Joe Burrow and Zach Taylor in Super Bowl LVI.
Since that championship run, things haven’t been so smooth for McVay and the Rams. The Rams were 5–12 in 2022, 10–7 in 2023, and so far this season, despite a veteran quarterback in Matthew Stafford, a dynamic runner in Kyren Williams from Notre Dame, and two of the top receivers in the NFL in Puca Nacua and Cooper Kupp — are 5–5.
The shift in the NFL is unmistakable.
The age of steely-eyed old NFL Coaches is over. This modern NFL is full of young men leading their teams, like Demeco Ryans (40,) Mike McDaniel (40,) Brian Callahan (40,) Kevin O’Connell (39,) Jared Mayo (38,) and Shane Steichen (39.) The job that runs 24/7, nearly 365 days a year, and requires a comfortable couch in your office — is now one for young men who haven’t even reached the age requiring a colonoscopy or a prostate exam.
Sunday night’s matchup isn’t just a contest between two talented NFC Teams fighting for the reality of postseason play. It’s a battle of two of the NFL’s youngest minds — and two coaches battling to keep their jobs.
If only for one more season.
PHOTO: Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images
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Categorized:Eagles