Although the 49ers and Eagles have one of the most intense rivalries in the NFL, Philadelphia’s head coach, Nick Sirianni, praised Brock Purdy and Kyle Shanahan.
Sirianni went into detail about Purdy’s performance in the NFL, disclosing a personal link to Matt Campbell, the 49ers quarterback’s head coach at Iowa State.
“I think he’s a winner, and that goes back to — obviously, I played with his college coach and a bunch of guys who were on that staff,” Sirianni told reporters on Wednesday. We were all at Mount Union at the same time, and they’d been talking about this person for quite some time. He escorted them to Fiesta Bowl. He’s a winner who just keeps winning. I believe you witnessed it all last year, as well as what he’s doing this year.
“I believe he has good athleticism, believes he knows where to go with the football in a timely manner, and believes he is accurate going there.” That is what you want in a quarterback, so kudos to him, Kyle, and their staff for placing him in favorable situations and continuing to develop this guy.
“Again, I just think the guy is a winner, and I have a lot of respect for him, and you can see that on tape.”
While Purdy has led the 49ers offense to elite status, Shanahan’s scheme has effectively served as the engine for one of the NFL’s most potent units during his tenure in San Francisco.
The Eagles coach went into detail about what makes Shanahan such an excellent offensive mind, complimenting the 49ers coach’s ability to blend multiple concepts to keep opposing teams on their heels.
“He’s been really good at it for a long time,” Sirianni says. “As I watch, I believe he does an excellent job of integrating his system.” There are things that look alike — you know, one thing looks like this and it’s a play-action pass, shot, or run, and they all marriage together pretty well.”
Sirianni also mentioned Shanahan’s expertise at many positions, as well as the immense regard that former players have for the 49ers coach.
“I think you’ve always seen his quarterbacks play well,” Sirianni explained. “I believe you see that as well — I always admire how his receivers play.” He clearly has a background in receiver play. Obviously, I know a couple of guys. Julio [Jones], I’ll let him say what he thinks of him, but I know he admires him. Pierre Garcon, someone I know, played for him, and Pierre had some of his best years with him, so I like that as well.”
“He’s a fantastic coach.” Another thing I do is look at myself. I grew up attending football workouts. I’m sure he did, and he’s been involved in this sport for a long time. So, just a huge amount of admiration for him and the work he’s done and continues to do over there.”
Over the last two seasons, no club in the NFC has won more games than the 49ers and Eagles, who now hold the top two slots in the conference’s postseason seeding.
While the players compete on the field on Sunday, the extremely successful head coaches on either sideline will show lots of mutual respect.
