'DO ORDINARY BETTER' IS SIRIANNI'S BATTLE CRY IN 2025
- Al Thompson
- Aug 1
- 3 min read
Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni is in an enviable position of having to coach a team coming off a historical Super Bowl run.
Not many head coaches get to do that.
Like winning the who thing, hanging a banner, it’s very tough task.
To his credit, SiriannI has always been willing to listen to many voices in order to keep the path green for his players.
On Monday, beat reporter John Mullin brought up something he saw that was different in practice this year.
He told Sirianni that he’d seen some tweaks in practice…that he saw the team running a little bracket drill where the defenders underneath and over top.
He asked the fifth-year head coach what's behind that and what is it designed to do?
Before I give you Sirianni’s answer and very cool line he Is using this summer, let’s ask AI Overview exactly what is a “bracket drill?”
A football bracket drill, in the context of drills used in American football, refers to a specific setup where players are positioned in a way that simulates a bracket or "lane" formation, often used to train linebackers in pursuit and tackling techniques. It's a training method that involves creating multiple paths or lanes for a player to navigate while engaging with a blocker or pursuing a ball carrier.
“Actually, we were talking about contested catches,” Sirianni said. “DeVonta Smith and I were talking about contested catches, and he brought up a drill that they used to do at Alabama and that was the drill.
“Some of our Alabama guys had some old tape of it. I was able to talk to a couple coaches that had done that. And so, it started as a contested catch drill that really is a good competitive drill to make an open field tackle.
“Whether it's on the sideline, whether it's an angle tackle out in space, we want to do ordinary better than anybody else because those are the things that end up winning football games. I think a lot of people can get enthralled by, 'Look at this, how this play's drawn up and that play's drawn up.'
"That's very important, but at the end of the day, whether it's my son's football team, it's a high school team, whether it's a college team, winning football happens with teams that tackle better, the teams that take care of the football better, the teams that block better, the teams that take the football way better, the teams that block destruct better.”
SIRIANNI SWITCHES GEAR SIN HIS ANSWER
The head coach then came out with his theme line for the camp.
“We focus on doing the ordinary better,” Sirianni said. “And so, we were pretty good in our missed tackles last year, but we wanted to take an even bigger step. I think that drill started off as a thought for contested catch, but also now it's something that we know is going to help us become a better tackling team.
“Again, like I said, all those things are what lead to the spectacular plays that we love and see so much on it, but you can't see-- for instance, Saquon won the ESPY for best play last year. Well, if you watch that, Jalen gets to his fifth read, that's an ordinary thing. The blocking up front, the double-team that's happening on the nose, Lane one-on-one blocking on the outside, all those things contribute to that.
“We understand we just want to do ordinary better and that's always going to be what wins football games.
“We also know that when you tackle as good as we did and take away the football as good as we did, that other teams are going to prepare for that. So, we better be even better at tackling. We better be even better at taking care of the football.
“We better be even better at taking the football away. So those are the designs of all those different drills that we try to do and try to get better at those things and not say, 'Hey, we were a good tackling team, do everything the same.' No, how do we get better at that?
“And if I want our team to continuously strive to get better, even when they're on top like they were last year, then I better be doing the same thing as the coach. Your culture starts with your actions, and they've got to see me doing the same things.” *
Email Al Thompson at al.thompson@footballstories.com
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