Miami (AFP) - Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni will face the man who fired him from his job with the Kansas City Chiefs nine years ago when the two teams meet in Sunday's Super Bowl.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid had just left the Eagles to take over at the Chiefs and one of his first tasks was to tell Sirianni he was no long required as receivers coach.
Not unusually, Reid had lined up his own assistant David Culley to take that position and so Sirianni found himself surplus to requirements.
It was a 'sliding doors' moment - instead of working under Reid at the Chiefs, Sirianni moved to San Diego to join the Chargers and then became offensive coordinator at the Indianapolis Colts before he was handed his chance as a head coach at the Eagles in 2021.
The Eagles coach has admitted to having a "little chip on his shoulder" about the rejection but as the build-up for the Super Bowl got under way he offered a positive take on his experience with Reid.
"Obviously, we weren't good enough in Kansas City when we left there and that's why coach Reid came in," Sirianni said, reflecting on the dismissal of Romeo Crennel and his staff.
"What I always remember is that, obviously when you're getting let go at a place you're down, right?I've got to move my future wife to San Diego - I guess there is worse places I could go - but you're down in that moment, and I just remember him bringing me in, telling me that his assistant head coach was the wide receivers coach and that he had a guy," he said.
But Reid did more than deliver the bad news, shake hands and leave them to go their separate ways.
"I remember him lifting me up in that moment, telling me good things knowing I would get back on my feet.He gave me strength when I was down and I always admired that," he said.
It also was a moment that Sirianni says has influenced his approach to being a head coach.
"Even though I never got a chance to work with coach Reid...he kind of gave me a good blueprint of what to do when you have to do the tough parts of this job."
Even though the Chiefs stand between Sirianni and a Super Bowl triumph in just his second season as a head coach, he says he has fond memories of his time with the club.
"I learned a lot of football there that helped me develop as a coach, and then, obviously, the best thing to happen to me there was to meet my wife and then starting my family," he said.
