Rick Barnes and Travis Steele weren’t the only coaches on the court for Tennessee’s matchup against Miami (Ohio) in the first round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament.
Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni was sitting courtside for the meeting between the Volunteers and RedHawks on Friday, March 20.
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Xfinity Mobile Arena, the site of the game and the home venue of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers and NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers, is a short walk across 11th Street in South Philadelphia from Lincoln Financial Field, where Sirianni’s team plays its home games.
Sirianni has no connection to either school, though he did play college football at Mount Union, a Division III powerhouse in Alliance, Ohio, about 260 miles across the state from Miami’s campus in Oxford, Ohio.
Sirianni is entering his sixth season as the Eagles’ coach. He led the franchise to a pair of Super Bowl appearances, including the franchise’s second-ever Super Bowl victory, though his teams have been wildly erratic from year to year. Philadelphia finished 11-6 last season and lost at home to the San Francisco 49ers in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Why is Nick Sirianni at Tennessee vs Miami Ohio basketball in March Madness?
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