Nick Sirianni and Rick Tocchet share the same coaching strength. It might be hurting the Eagles and Flyers.
They're both players' coaches, known for creating terrific team culture. But the Eagles and Flyers could each use an edgier, more exacting presence right now.
The Eagles are in a bad way: three consecutive losses, each more infuriating than the last, too many injuries to count, their head coach struggling to find answers. The Flyers are in a worse way: seven games, seven losses, the worst start in franchise history, each effort less competitive than the last, their head coach struggling to find answers.
There’s more linking Nick Sirianni and Rick Tocchet, though, than the lousy stretches that their teams are going through, and their core shared characteristic might account for at least some of their issues. As coaches, the two men have the same style and strength — which, in these circumstances, might actually be a weakness.
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It’s fair to say that Sirianni and Tocchet are players’ coaches. All the clichés about modern team-building apply to them at their best: They get guys to buy in. They create a healthy culture or change a bad one to a good one. They are authentic. Sirianni’s players have routinely cited his authenticity as one of the reasons they like and respect him, and Flyers general manager Danny Brière said in May that free agents would want to sign here because of Tocchet’s presence and personality. Even Sunday night, after another one-sided loss — this time, 4-1, to the Carolina Hurricanes — Flyers forward Trevor Zegras reaffirmed the team’s support for Tocchet.
“Fully, fully behind Toc,” Zegras told reporters. “He’s an amazing person. He’s an amazing coach. He does so many little things for us behind the scenes. We’re a little disappointed with how these games are going. We’ve got the guys in the room to turn this thing around. It’s a great learning experience for the future.”
But it’s also fair to say that aligning a coach’s style and personality with the makeup and developmental stage of a particular team is essential for that team to have success. Consider one example:
In 2001, Larry Bowa’s hard-driving nature was ideal for a Phillies team loaded with young players still learning what it took to win in the majors. That club overachieved, going 86-76 and finishing in second place, just two games behind the Atlanta Braves, in the National League East.
Come 2004, however, the Phillies were veteran-laden, and those experienced players didn’t want or need a manager who had them walking on eggshells every day. What’s more, once Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, and Pat Burrell were patrolling the clubhouse as fully formed leaders, Charlie Manuel’s lighter hand was perfect for guiding the Phillies to five straight division titles and a World Series victory.
Both Sirianni and Tocchet are closer to the Manuel model than the Bowa model. And while I’m not suggesting that the two of them should start unleashing paint-peeling tirades at their players — it’s possible they already are; I’m not in the locker room to know — I am suggesting they might need to be sterner and more punitive than they’re usually inclined to be.
» READ MORE: Nick Sirianni’s anemic Eagles offense is a bigger problem than his game management
Neither one of them have been coaching a team that can be trusted to do the smart or right thing in a game’s most important moments. The Eagles are too shorthanded, and the Flyers are still too young — and probably a little too high on their own supply after their foray into the playoffs last season. Their coaches might have to be harder on them for their own good, to help them reach the highest standard.
To return to the 2007-11 Phillies for another instructive example, in Game 5 of the 2008 World Series, Manuel didn’t advise Utley, Hey, Chase, if the batter happens to hit a tough grounder up the middle that you have to backhand, try faking the throw to first on the off chance that the runner on second turns for home. He didn’t have to advise Utley to do anything. Utley had already prepared himself for every possible scenario and outcome in that situation.
Now, go back to Sunday in London. At the risk of coming down too hard on a rookie in just his fifth NFL game, the most obvious and egregious error during the Eagles’ misbegotten handling of the game’s final minute was committed by wide receiver Makai Lemon. When he caught that second-down pass from Jalen Hurts with 21 seconds left in regulation, Lemon did the one thing he absolutely could not do: He dashed toward the sideline, making it easier for the Jaguars to tackle him out of bounds and stop the clock, which they did. A savvier receiver doesn’t make that mistake, but the Eagles didn’t have such a receiver available, and it falls on the head coach to make absolutely certain that a kid like Lemon knows what to do in that spot.
“If you’re saying, ‘Hey, we’ve got these new guys in, and we’ve got to be even more detailed,’ then I didn’t do my job as good as I possibly could do it prior to that,” Sirianni said Monday. “The parity in this league is so tight. We don’t go play a cupcake game to get ready for another game. That doesn’t happen in the NFL. I think every day and every situation in everything that we do is fourth-and-1. I really do believe that. We’ve got to do that on a daily basis.”
» READ MORE: The winless Flyers are in complete disarray, and the clock is quickly ticking for them to turn it around
Similarly, Zegras’ endorsement of Tocchet isn’t necessarily the good sign it might first seem to be. The Flyers, under Brière, Tocchet, and president Keith Jones, have been laboring to improve the franchise’s image after its decade-plus of dormancy. They want the Flyers to be perceived as an appealing destination, as a great place to play. The word comfortable comes up a lot when describing the atmosphere around the team. But this roster, like the Eagles’ in its current iteration, doesn’t have the talent or accomplishments to have earned or to expect such cushy treatment. This is back-to-the-basics time for both of these teams, and their head coaches shouldn’t waste another minute waiting for them to snap out of it on their own.
