Yes, I know it was the Philadelphia Eagles who won the Super Bowl, but, for us here at home, the big winner was Nick Sirianni.

“Local boy makes good,” real good!

After the Bills lost to the Chiefs in the playoffs, I sort of lost interest in watching anymore football. But, I will have to admit that I was cheering on the Eagles … primarily because a local guy and graduate of Southwestern Central School was coaching them.

I have never met Nick Sirianni, but you felt like you got to know him with all of the press coverage leading up to the big event. Locally, he will be honored this year as an inductee to the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame, joining his father and two brothers who are already there.

One interesting fact is that Nick Sirianni and Andy Reid, coach of the Chiefs, have at least one thing in common–they have both been head coach of the Eagles. After being fired by the Eagles, Reid went on to his illustrious career at Kansas City. Two years ago, Reid’s team defeated Philadelphia in the Super Bowl…but not this year.

Sirianni appears to have one characteristic that helped him out in getting his team to the Super Bowl–he doesn’t get rattled by bad press. Early in the season, he had actually been booed by some Philadelphia fans because the team had lost two games.

Sirianni didn’t cave…he doubled down. He knew that he had a good team. He reiterated that to his players, and they turned their season around. Getting sports teams to believe in each other is half the battle in winning. That is what good coaches understand.

Of course, locally, there were many stories written about Sirianni, his family and his growing up around here.

I had not known, for example, that he was a childhood friend of Tom Langworthy, the football coach at JHS. There was a terrific story of how Langworthy could beat Sirianni in ping-pong–and, when it happened, Sirianni would slam down his paddle. He didn’t like losing, even at ping-pong.

The winning coach of the Super Bowl also has a large family presence here. His Mom and Dad are long-time residents, his brother coaches football at Southwestern, and his nieces and nephew are student athletes there.

To top it off, it was terrific that a guy born in Jamestown, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, would present the Vince Lombardi Trophy to another guy born and raised around here–Nick Sirianni. It doesn’t get better than that, even if you are a Bill’s fan.

As to the Bills, maybe we “dodged a bullet” in losing to the Chiefs this year in the playoffs. The way the Eagles were playing in the Super Bowl, I doubt that any team could have beaten them… and the Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes at quarterback are not just “any team.”

So, Nick Sirianni, congratulations on your great win! You deserved it, are a credit to your sport, and we are proud that you came from this community and remain close to your family and friends who live here!

Rolland Kidder is a Stow resident.