Nick Sirianni Calls On Women's Basketball Coach Dawn Staley To Advise Eagles Ahead Of Season

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There may not be a more intriguing team entering the NFL season than the Philadelphia Eagles. Two seasons ago, the Birds went 14-3 in the regular season before cakewalking to the Super Bowl and losing a heart-breaker to the Kansas City Chiefs. Philadelphia took that momentum into last season and started 10-1 before losing five of its last six games and getting boat raced by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC Wild Card round.

Head coach Nick Sirianni went from being the guy in Philadelphia to just a guy who will be firmly on the hot seat if the Eagles come out of the gates slow this season.

Nobody understands the position Sirianni is in more than Sirianni himself. He is aware that the only option for him is to turn things around this season, and he's pulling out all the stops, which include bringing in South Carolina women's head basketball coach Dawn Staley.

Staley wasn't brought in by the Eagles to talk about how she believes in transgender athletes competing in women's sports or walk back her completely debunked claims involving a Duke volleyball player alleging racism, but instead spoke with some of Philly's star players about winning culture.

Dawn Staley paid a visit to the Philadelphia Eagles to get their mind right ahead of a pivotal NFL season. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)

All Staley has done during her 15 seasons as the head coach of the Gamecocks is win. She's won three national titles since the 2016-17 season and boasts an overall record of 440-106, which has made her and South Carolina among the most-hunted teams in women's hoops.

"I mean, it’s a really lonely place at times," Staley, who is from Philadelphia, told The Athletic. "Because our expectations as fans, you need to win them all. You need to win all the games. You need to run through the playoffs and when you get to the Super Bowl, you need to blow those teams out. That’s our expectation, right? So, that’s hard."

"It’s hard to live up to that. And if you have somewhere to put that and get perspective on that, because we know that’s impossible, but you gotta talk about it. You can’t just go through the season and think you’re invincible, and then you’re rocked because you never discussed it."

According to the report, Staley spoke with the likes of Saquon Barkley, Jalen Hurts, DeVonta Smith, and AJ Brown during her time with the Eagles. She also harped on the importance of communication with Sirianni while visiting the building.

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Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.