Eagles head coach says he'd need to be a better actor than Joey Tribbiani to tone down his behavior
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni refuses to tone down his intense sideline persona, saying he'd need to out-act Joey Tribbiani from Friends to fake it.
Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is, without question, one of the more "in your face" coaches the NFL has to offer, and by that I mean, he's not afraid to get in your face with you or an opposing fan, or even a Birds fan.
But to his credit, it has worked in his six years with the Eagles, and it sure seems like that's simply his nature.
And, as he said in a new interview, if he wanted to change that, he'd have to be a better actor than Joey Tribbiani from "Friends."
...That is a wild measuring stick for good acting, but let's hear him out.
Sirianni did an interview with The Athletic's Michael Silver, and in it he was asked about the prospect of toning things down a notch, especially after his players had to field questions about his antics.
"F--k that," he said. "You’ve got to be you. Especially in leadership roles. Because otherwise people are going to see through it."
That's true, and it's the kind of attitude that I think goes a long way in Philly. Plus, not being genuine would be a Herculean acting task, according to Sirianni.
One for only the finest of actors, like... wait, seriously?
"I’m (at work) way more than I’m at home," he said. "I can’t possibly carry a façade of being somebody else for going on six years of a job. I’d (have to) be the best actor in the world. I’d be a way better actor than Joey Tribbiani on ‘Friends.’"
I completely understand and appreciate what he's saying. I'm just caught off guard by and still trying to unpack the analogy.
He's not saying he would need to be a better actor than Matt LeBlanc, the fine actor who played Joey on "Friends" and on the ill-fated spin-off "Joey."
He's talking about the character Joey Tribbiani, who was himself an actor, and while I'm more of a "Seinfeld" guy, wasn't part of the goof with Joey that he wasn't a stellar actor?
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Like, he worked, which is more than a lot of people who set out to be actors can say... but he was no Daniel Day-Lewis.
Which is to say, if Nick Sirianni wanted to out-act the fictional character Joey Tribbiani, I think he could with a few weeks at a community theater and a couple of improv classes.
But, hey, why change?
It may not be the most orthodox coaching style, and it comes with some baggage, but it does seem to be working.