Many Philadelphia Eagles fans weren’t ecstatic when Nick Sirianni was named the team’s head coach, replacing Super Bowl-winning coach Doug Pedersen.

It’s safe to say the Jamestown native has converted those doubters with the job he has done over the last two years. On Sunday, Sirianni led his Eagles team to a 31-7 victory over San Francisco in the NFC championship game to secure a Super Bowl berth of his own. Philadelphia will take on Kansas City on Feb. 12 in Glendale, Ariz.

They’ve discovered what many in Chautauqua County have long known — the Sirianni family knows a thing or two about football.

The last in a line of football players following his father Fran and brothers Jay and Mike, Nick Sirianni followed his father and brothers into coaching. After a long, steady climb, Nick Sirianni has nearly reached the pinnacle of success as an NFL coach.

Sirianni starred at Southwestern before graduating in 1999 before moving on to storied Division 3 powerhouse Mount Union University. The youngest Sirianni started his coaching career at Division II Indiana University-Pennsylvania before joining the Kansas City Chiefs’ staff under head coach Todd Haley in 2009. After Haley was fired by Kansas City near the end of the 2011 season, Sirianni remained with the Chiefs and was named wide receivers coach in 2012 for coach Romeo Crennel, the only holdover from Haley’s staff to earn a promotion. When Kansas City ownership made another head coaching change after 2012, Sirianni landed with the Chargers as their quality control coach under head coach Mike McCoy. After the Chargers made an improbable postseason run in 2013 that included a victory at Cincinnati in the AFC Divisional playoffs, Sirianni was promoted to quarterbacks coach. A couple of years later, Sirianni was named the offensive coordinator of the Indianapolis Colts, completing his rise to NFL head coach in 2021.

Sirianni’s story is already an amazing one. Winning the Super Bowl would be a fitting coda to a true masterpiece. As they have been all season, football fans throughout Chautauqua County will be watching — and rooting — for Sirianni’s success to continue.