On Football: Nick Sirianni's success is often overshadowed by self-inflicted distractions

Nick Sirianni has the highest winning percentage among active NFL coaches and the fifth-best in NFL history.

He should be lauded for his accomplishments with the Philadelphia Eagles. Coaches who win as frequently as Sirianni are esteemed.

The four coaches ahead of him on the overall list — Guy Chamberlin, John Madden, Vince Lombardi and George Allen — are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

But Sirianni’s reputation doesn’t match up to his .697 winning percentage. He’s more often ridiculed for his sideline antics than praised for his coaching success.

Many of the critics include former players and coaches now working in the media. The criticism is sometimes over the top and unfair.

ESPN analyst Damien Woody, a two-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, called Sirianni a clown in October for yelling and gesturing at Eagles fans toward the end of a close victory over Cleveland. Sirianni heard “Fire Nick!” chants during that game and reacted emotionally.

Still, he apologized a day later.

“I’m sorry and disappointed about how my energy was directed at the end of the game,” he said. “My energy should be all in on coaching, motivating, and celebrating with our guys. And so, I’ve got to have better wisdom and discernment of when to use that energy, and that wasn’t the time.”

After the Eagles beat Kansas City on the road in a Monday night game last year, Sirianni mocked Chiefs fans as he walked off the field.

Some viewed it as a passionate response to a hard-fought victory against the team that beat Philadelphia 38-35 in the Super Bowl nine months earlier.

Others considered it childish behavior.

Sirianni’s latest incident isn’t debatable. He exchanged words with former Eagles three-time Pro Bowl tight end Zach Ertz after Washington’s comeback win against Philadelphia.

Videos show Ertz gave Sirianni a high-five as they were headed in opposite directions. Sirianni turned to say something to Ertz, who then turned around and walked back toward his former coach.

Reports said Sirianni mocked Ertz for having little impact on the game — he had one catch — after taking exception to the hard hand slap. The two cleared the air this week after Sirianni called Ertz to apologize. Ertz downplayed the exchange on Thursday, saying he has a great relationship with Sirianni and “no ill feelings.”

Ertz caught the go-ahead touchdown pass from Nick Foles when the Eagles beat New England in the Super Bowl. He’s beloved in Philadelphia for his performance on the field during eight-plus seasons with the team and his impact in the community.

Sirianni didn’t endear himself to anyone with this unnecessary spat.

“Sirianni has the vibe of a fan who won a contest to be the team’s head coach for a day,” ProFootballTalk.com posted on X.

Sirianni’s chest-bumping, sideline-prancing, expletive-tossing personality has irked opponents and their fans since the Eagles hired him in 2021. He’s incurred the wrath of the fickle Philly fans plenty of times over the years.

But players respond well to him — outside of last season’s collapse — and he wins (46-20). He’s approachable, engaging and likable to most who aren’t annoyed by his trash-talking. Yet, his success as a coach is often overshadowed by self-inflicted distractions.

It’s on Sirianni to avoid creating more of those.

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Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, left, greets Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin after an NFL football game Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni reacts while talking with side judge Dale Shaw (104) during the second half of an NFL football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni, left, and Washington Commanders head coach Dan Quinn, right, on the field at the end of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni speaks to members of the media after an NFL football game against the Washington Commanders, Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024, in Landover, Md. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)

ALEPPO, Syria (AP) — First responders on Sunday entered a contested neighborhood in Syria’ s northern city of Aleppo after days of deadly clashes between government forces and Kurdish-led forces. Syrian state media said the military was deployed in large numbers.

The clashes broke out Tuesday in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhoods of Sheikh Maqsoud, Achrafieh and Bani Zaid after the government and the Syrian Democratic Forces, the main Kurdish-led force in the country, failed to make progress on how to merge the SDF into the national army. Security forces captured Achrafieh and Bani Zaid.

The fighting between the two sides was the most intense since the fall of then-President Bashar Assad to insurgents in December 2024. At least 23 people were killed in five days of clashes and more than 140,000 were displaced amid shelling and drone strikes.

The U.S.-backed SDF, which have played a key role in combating the Islamic State group in large swaths of eastern Syria, are the largest force yet to be absorbed into Syria's national army. Some of the factions that make up the army, however, were previously Turkish-backed insurgent groups that have a long history of clashing with Kurdish forces.

The Kurdish fighters have now evacuated from the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood to northeastern Syria, which is under the control of the SDF. However, they said in a statement they will continue to fight now that the wounded and civilians have been evacuated, in what they called a “partial ceasefire.”

The neighborhood appeared calm Sunday. The United Nations said it was trying to dispatch more convoys to the neighborhoods with food, fuel, blankets and other urgent supplies.

Government security forces brought journalists to tour the devastated area, showing them the damaged Khalid al-Fajer Hospital and a military position belonging to the SDF’s security forces that government forces had targeted.

The SDF statement accused the government of targeting the hospital “dozens of times” before patients were evacuated. Damascus accused the Kurdish-led group of using the hospital and other civilian facilities as military positions.

On one street, Syrian Red Crescent first responders spoke to a resident surrounded by charred cars and badly damaged residential buildings.

Some residents told The Associated Press that SDF forces did not allow their cars through checkpoints to leave.

“We lived a night of horror. I still cannot believe that I am right here standing on my own two feet,” said Ahmad Shaikho. “So far the situation has been calm. There hasn’t been any gunfire.”

Syrian Civil Defense first responders have been disarming improvised mines that they say were left by the Kurdish forces as booby traps.

Residents who fled are not being allowed back into the neighborhood until all the mines are cleared. Some were reminded of the displacement during Syria’s long civil war.

“I want to go back to my home, I beg you,” said Hoda Alnasiri.

Associated Press journalist Kareem Chehayeb in Beirut contributed to this report.

Sandbag barriers used as fighting positions by Kurdish fighters, left inside a destroyed mosque in the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

People flee the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

A Syrian military police convoy enters the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)

Burned vehicles and ammunitions left at one of the Kurdish fighters positions at the Sheikh Maqsoud neighborhood, where clashes between government forces and Kurdish fighters have been taking place in the northern city of Aleppo, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Ghaith Alsayed)