New Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon spent two seasons as defensive coordinator under Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni. However, in those two seasons, Sirianni’s attention to detail and accountability led to success that helped get Gannon the Cardinals job. To hear Gannon explain that is a lot funnier, though.

“Truthfully, Nick was way better as a head coach than I thought he’d be,” Gannon said in a profile by The Athletic’s Zak Keefer. “The detail that Nick demands is f***ing nauseating. But I actually needed that in my game. He held my nuts to the fire, where nobody I ever worked for did that.”

Jonathan Gannon was surprised by Nick Sirianni’s success as a head coach because he knew his old boss well from their days together under Frank Reich with the Indianapolis Colts. On those teams, Gannon was the cornerbacks coach and Sirianni the offensive coordinator. In those days, Gannon nicknamed Sirianni “Captain Chaos” because of his fiery temper and blowups at practices.

However, as a head coach, Sirianni became more level-headed and even gave up offensive play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Shane Steichen. Making these changes, Gannon learned some important lessons from Sirianni.

Now that he is on the opposite side of the NFC, Gannon will now have to forge his own path as a head coach. He will get a chance to go up against his mentor, though, this season and show off some of what he’s learned away from Sirianni. The Cardinals and Eagles face off on New Year’s Eve in a Week 17 showdown in Philadelphia.