Best call in the NFC championship game?
It didn’t happen on the field.
No, it was when coach Nick Sirianni was driving home after his Philadelphia Eagles beat Washington to reach the Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons.
Sirianni dialed his college coach from University of Mount Union to bask in the excitement of the moment and invite him to Super Bowl LIX.
Larry Kehres, who retired in 2012 with a winning percentage of .929 — the highest in college football history — opted to watch from the comfort of home in Alliance, Ohio. He’s getting older, and he and his wife don’t travel as much as when they did so for games, coaching conventions and the like.
“Getting asked to go by Nick probably is more significant than actually going,” said Kehres, 75, who coached three of the Sirianni brothers in his 27 seasons. His teams were a combined 333-24 and won 11 national championships.
Sirianni had praised his old coach after that NFC championship win, but Kehres only heard about the news conference. He was too busy rewinding to break down the key moments.
“I watch every play on my TV,” said Kehres, whose last name is pronounced CARE-ess. “I put it in slo-mo so I can understand the play a little better. That sounds silly, but as a coach they don’t give you the big view, the all 22, so I have to watch the 15 or 16 players you can see so it’s, ‘OK, now I have a feel for what they’re doing.’ By the time I was done, the other game had started.”
Once a coach, always a coach. To Sirianni, Kehres was much more than a guy with a whistle, or someone who could draw up Xs and O’s. He has been a lifelong friend and mentor.
Mount Union receiver Nick Sirianna runs for yardage after a catch.
(Courtesy of Mount Union)
“I have great parents who have taught me so much, then you go away from home for the first time, away from those strong parents that I have, and [Kehres] is like a dad away from home there,” said Sirianni, 43, a onetime standout receiver at the school.
“One of the big things I learned from him was that connection, just caring about his players. He was always trying to get me better. … I have a lot of stories of how many times I got yelled at as well. Just because he cares for me doesn’t mean he’s not extremely demanding.”
In an incident chronicled in an NFL Films feature on Kehres, Sirianni was flagged for excessive celebration after catching a touchdown pass in a 2003 national championship semifinal and giving a hug to his brother, who was standing behind the end zone.
Even though Mount Union was blowing out Bridgewater in that game, Sirianni got an earful from Kehres and conceded he didn’t live up to the high standard expected of him.
Eagles coach Nick Sirianni, left, hugs Jalen Hurts after the NFC championship game, embracing a bond much like he had with his college coach.
(Matt Slocum / Associated Press)
“I didn’t know why he got a penalty,” Kehres recalled with a laugh. “They had a skinny rope dividing the fans from the field. But Nick told me he had an Eagles player get a penalty like that, excessive celebration in the end zone, and he reacted like I did.”
Sirianni went back and watched that old video of himself and spotted an official in that game who made it to an NFL crew.
“So I told him, ‘Nick, that was a good call then,’” Kehres said. “The guy must have been doing his job well.”
Sirianni is far from the only notable coach or player molded in part by Kehres. Iowa State coach Matt Campbell came through the Mount Union program, as did Jason Candle, head coach at Toledo. Sirianni’s older brother, Mike, is head coach at Washington & Jefferson, alma mater of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.
Longtime NFL coach and coordinator Dom Capers was a classmate and onetime roommate of Kehres, and receiver Pierre Garçon played at Mount Union as well.
Garçon played for the Indianapolis Colts team that lost to New Orleans in the Super Bowl, and Kehres attended that game in South Florida as a guest of the receiver.
“As much fun as it was to go to that game, it was hard because I was still working,” Kehres said. “We got to the game four or five hours before kickoff, so it wasn’t as good as concentrating on the game in a comfortable environment and watching as all the nuances unfold.”
So this year Kehres is looking forward to relaxing in his living room, and watching in relative quiet with his wife, Linda. Maybe they’ll get another celebratory phone call from Sirianni.
Someone asked Kehres recently if he’d be really proud of Sirianni should the Eagles win another Lombardi Trophy.
“No,” Kehres said, “I was proud of him long before this.”
This story originally appeared on LA Times
