Nick Sirianni doesn’t understand the hate that the “Tush Push” is getting.
The Eagles head coach, speaking at the NFL scouting combine on Tuesday, called the movement to ban the play that Philadelphia mastered and made popular “insulting.”
“I almost feel a little insulted, because we work so hard at that play. … We work really, really hard and our guys are talented at this play,” Sirianni said. “It’s a little insulting to say just because we’re good at it, it’s automatic. We work really hard at it. … The fact that it’s a successful play for the Eagles and people want to take that away, I think, is a little unfair.”
“It’s a little insulting”
🔥 Eagles Super Bowl Winning Head Coach Nick Sirianni says he’s insulted by the negative talk + possible push to ban the tush push
“We work really hard at it” pic.twitter.com/pcGFjziPqJ
— Jeff Skversky (@JeffSkversky) February 25, 2025
The Green Bay Packers made the latest push to ban the play this week, which is fitting considering they lost to the Eagles in the wild-card round of the playoffs earlier this year. The Eagles used the play to score the first touchdown in their Super Bowl LIX win earlier this month, too. While other teams have tried to emulate them in recent years, the Eagles are far and away the best at it.
Packers president Mark Murphy has been clear that he hates the play, and said that it is “almost an automatic first down on plays of a yard or less.” The Packers aren’t alone here, either.
“There’s just no other player in our game where you can get behind somebody and push them,” Atlanta Falcons head coach Raheem Morris said on Tuesday, adding that he’s also against the play.
NFL team owners would have to come together and vote to change the rules in March in order to actually ban the play. There was talk about this last offseason, too, but nothing ever came of it.
Clearly, the hate that the “Tush Push” is getting isn’t going away anytime soon. Whether anything comes of it remains to be seen.
As for Sirianni, though, he’s holding his ground on the play that, while very successful, isn’t always perfect for them.
“The guys work hard at it, we work hard at it, and you know what? It wasn’t 100% for us this year,” Sirianni said. “We missed on some 2-point conversions from the 1, we missed on some third downs, we missed on some fourth downs. I think we were in the 80% [success rate] of what we were. Just because it’s a successful play for us doesn’t mean that it should go away.”
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