Though his career from this point forward will forever be defined by his tenure with the Philadelphia Eagles, Nick Sirianni would never have caught Jeffrey Lurie's eye if it wasn't for his time in Indianapolis, when he served as Frank Reich's offensive coordinator with the Colts.

A college receiver at Division III Mount Union, Sirianni quickly connected with Frank Reich during their shared tenure in San Diego in 2013, when he was initially hired as an offensive quality control coach before expanding his responsibilities to quarterback and then transitioning over to wide receiver, the position he played in college. When Reich was hired away from the Eagles following their Super Bowl victory to serve as the Colts' new head coach, who but Sirianni was tabbed to serve as his offensive coordinator, a role he filled from 2018-20. Though he didn't call plays, there was something about Sirianni that intrigued Luire, so when he decided to part ways with now-Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Doug Pederson, Sirianni was on the short list of candidates to secure the job and ultimately won out over names like Jim Caldwell and Duce Staley.

Since then, the careers of Sirianni and Reich have gone in opposite directions, with the former making the playoffs after a tough start to the 2021 NFL season, whereas his mentor watched his season fall apart thanks to a few poor showings by Carson Wentz down the stretch. From there, Sirianni's sophomore season blew up in a major way, with his team going 8-1 through the first nine games, whereas Reich didn't even make it to nine games, as the veteran play caller was fired after a tough start and was replaced by first-time head coach – at the professional or college level – Jeff Saturday.

Needless to say, when the Eagles took the field against the Colts, Sirianni had a little extra fire in his belly to secure the win, and when that happened in spectacular fashion, the often animated head coach gave a fiery speech in his post-game presser.

This particular Philadelphia Eagles win means a little more to Nick Sirianni.

Speaking to the media after the game, Sirianni shared his love for his former head coach and even took a little shot at the Colts for firing him before he could take part in a mentor-mentee showdown, as shared in video form by Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94 WIP.

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“And, you know, I'm emotional because I love Frank Reich,” Sirianni said. “I really do, he’s one of the best d*mn football coaches I’ve ever been around. I was hoping he and I would be able to coach against each other in this game but he’s one of mu biggest mentors, I’ve got my dad, I’ve got Larry Kehres, and I’ve got Frank Reich, and Frank’s such a good football coach. Yeah, you don’t want to know what I think of if he should be here or not but you guys can probably imagine what I really think. And I love him and I got a little emotional about that, so it was really good to see the guys I really care about, you know like Quinton Nelson, and Ryan Kelly, and Paris Cambell, I talked to them after the game, and Kenny Moore, so, you know, that means a lot to me when they say some things that are, I’ll obviously keep them to myself but I spent a long time here, my kids, one of my children was born here. I was sweet to come here, especially with everything that has happened over the last couple of weeks, and get the win. We’re leaving Indianapolis with a win.”

Dang, Sirianni is a great quote for sure, but he doesn't usually get this fired up, regardless of the quality of the win. Sure, some may point to the spectacularity of the win, as Jalen Hurts had to march the offense down the field for a big boy, star-making final offensive drive to put his team up 17-16, and then the defense held strong to shut Matt Ryan and company down on their go-ahead drive, but it's clear Indianapolis' decision to can Reich after winning a ton of games over the past five years was taken personally by Sirianni, and he took special pleasure in the win. After dropping their first loss of the season to the Washington Commanders in Week 10 – which looks even worse, considering Tyler Heinicke and company looked bad in Week 11 – this particular Philadelphia Eagles team isn't just going to roll over and die just yet.