PHILADELPHIA — It was during OTAs last spring when Eagles coach Nick Sirianni tapped Jordan Mailata on the shoulder as he passed him on the first floor of the practice facility and said, “Hey, come see me in my office when you have time.”
“F—, what did I do wrong?” Mailata thought. Did he slip during practice? Did he say something he shouldn’t have said to the media?
After grabbing himself a plate of food from the cafeteria (“If I get yelled at, I get yelled at to eat,” Mailata joked), he headed upstairs to Sirianni’s office. But Sirianni wasn’t there. Mailata poked his head into the conference room and found Sirianni talking to a bunch of assistants. Mailata sheepishly said he’d be back later and tried to sneak out, but Sirianni insisted on leaving the meeting to talk to the veteran offensive lineman.
“Sit down,” Sirianni said. “I’m not in trouble. Mom just wants to know how you’re doing. How’s Dad?”
“Because he knows about Dad,” Mailata said.
Mailata’s father, Tupa’i, suffered a heart attack on a flight back to Australia after traveling to Arizona to watch his son play in Super Bowl LVII against the Kansas City Chiefs in February 2023. Mailata said there was a time when the family was unsure whether Tupa’i would survive.
Sirianni served as Mailata’s confidant during that time, sitting down with him and creating a safe space for Mailata to “talk and express my feelings.”
“He was very supportive and said if I needed to miss time, I could miss time. That meant a lot to me,” Mailata said. “I love that guy. Honestly, I would do anything for Nick.”
Sirianni can be a difficult public figure. He’s attacked referees, taunted opposing players (including most recently Eagles franchise icon Zach Ertz) and mugd on camera. He’ll bark at fans in the stands—even at home, as he did in a narrow Week 6 win over the Cleveland Browns at Lincoln Financial Field. He’s had a historic collapse in late 2023, a season defined in part by his inability to get on the same page with franchise quarterback Jalen Hurts.
And yet his teams have won at a historic clip. The Eagles have reached 14 regular-season wins twice in their 91-year history, and both came in Sirianni’s four years at the helm—one this season, helping to ease speculation about his job security.
With a 48-20 record, he produced the third-highest winning percentage (.706) by a head coach in the Super Bowl era behind John Madden and George Allen. The only other coaches to reach the postseason in each of their first four seasons are John Harbaugh, Bill Cowher, John Robinson, Chuck Knox and Paul Brown, with Cowher being the only member of that group to reach the Super Bowl during that time.
A talent-rich roster certainly helped the team’s performance. But establishing a culture largely fell to Sirianni, and his ability to connect has been a strength under his stewardship of the Eagles—except for the ’23 collapse. Ensuring strong player-to-coach and player-to-player relationships has become a priority this season as Sirianni ceded control of the offense to coordinator Kellen Moore and took on more of an overall GM role. From handwritten letters that show up in players’ lockers to in-depth conversations about the most delicate matters, nearly everyone on the roster has a moment to point to that illustrates Sirianni’s personal touch, which has helped drive player buy-ins.
“It’s incredible to have a coach like him that cares so much about each individual on the team. Yeah, he’s a special coach,” veteran long snapper Rick Lovato said. “Every team I’ve been on that’s been to the Super Bowl or gone deep into the playoffs, we’ve been the tightest group. And that’s how I feel about this team this year.”
ONE OF THE handwritten letters Mailata received from Sirianni is in his locker at the NovaCare Complex.
It comes after Mailata was voted a team captain by his peers for the first time this season — a source of great pride for the former Australian rugby player, who knew next to nothing about football when he was drafted in the seventh round in 2018 and has since developed into one of the best left tackles in the NFL.
“It just details how I earned it and how no one can take it away from me, the way I lead, the way I practice, the way I am in the locker room,” Mailata said. “It’s pretty cool.”
Cornerback Isaiah Rodgers received the nod ahead of his first start for the Eagles against the Jacksonville Jaguars in early December. Rodgers is suspended for the entire 2023 season for violating the league’s gambling policy. His first chance to play since December 2022 came when Darius Slay Jr. was ruled out with an injury.
Rodgers said he packs the letter in his travel bag and reads it before every game.