Local ties fuel Eagles Super Bowl run
ALLIANCE, Ohio (WKBN) – The University of Mount Union football team has won 13 NCAA Division III National Championships and now one of their own is leading a Super Bowl team.
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Philadelphia Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni has led the Eagles to the team's second Super Bowl in three seasons. He started his football career playing receiver at Mount Union.
'They're a team that they feel that family and that Sirianni and Italian all the way,' said former Mount Union head coach Larry Kehres. 'They're playing for Nick Sirianni. They're reflecting his comments that he makes with them, a lot when he's in a meeting room with them.'
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The current Eagles head coach played for Legendary Mount Union head football coach Larry Kehres. Kehres notched 11 national championships for the Purple Raiders.
Sirianni was a three-year starter piling up 52 catches for 998 yards and 13 touchdowns his senior year. He was the youngest of the three Sirianni brothers, Mike and Jay, to attend Mount Union.
'I think his mom planted the seed in Mike's mind, let's go visit Mount Union,' said Kehres. 'So every time I think of the family, I say thank you, Mrs. Sirianni.'
The Purple Raider graduate helped lead Mount Union to three straight national championships. Then, in 2004 he joined the Mount Union staff as an assistant and helped lead the Purple Raiders to yet another championship.
'He was the little brother that threw the football outside the locker room, he was an excitable, young ten-year-old,' said Kehres.
Sirianni has coached in the NFL for 16 seasons as he became the Eagles head coach in 2021. In 2023 he led the Eagles to the Super Bowl and lost to the Kansas City Chiefs.
'He's the same guy, I have a picture of Nick getting a haircut. He had the biggest smile on his face because he was with the star of the team getting a haircut after a game,' said Kehres. 'That smile and that happiness, that's still what I see in Nick. I'm really glad that I got to get this haircut, I'm really glad that I'm coaching these Eagles, I'm all in on the haircut and I'm all in on the Eagles.'
The Mount Union star now leads the Eagles in a Super Bowl rematch against the Chiefs.
'You can't not be yourself, you have to be who you are when you're leading other men or they'll all smell phony in a heartbeat,' said Kehres.
The Eagles take on the Chiefs Sunday at 6:30 p.m. on Fox Youngstown.
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