It’s not just anyone who can say they have a cousin who is now the head coach of a National Football League team, but I can.

I don’t want to overstate this, and I’m certainly not bragging, but when you hail from a small city in western New York state (Jamestown), with a population at about 30,000, you get excited and proud no matter who does something this big, and especially if they are related.

Nick Sirianni was recently named the new head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, and boy are we proud.

Now, I’m not saying Nick and I are close, in fact, the best I can tell, we are third or fourth cousins. However, when you come from a large Italian family, you don’t despise any degree of separation and if you share great-great grandparents then, well, tu sei una famiglia.

Nick’s great-grandfather and my great-grandmother were brother and sister. When I was a kid, Nick’s grandparents, Frank and Mary Sirianni, would have us over to their house for summer cookouts and we’d all go on picnics together at the lake. Mary’s brother Joe, taught me how to play bocce, and he was very good.

Nick’s father, Fran and I have always had a good cousin relationship. In fact, when I left Jamestown, I turned over the local Baseball Chapel ministry to Fran. He had spoke at chapel for me several times, and was a natural to take over the ministry to the Jamestown Expos players, when I left. Besides, who better to trust with carrying on what I began, than a family member?

Nick, however, was only seven years old when I moved to Tulsa. He and his older brothers might remember me more as the Expos mascot, “Yippee!” than they would as their cousin Jeff.

“We are just so proud of him, but we’re proud of all our sons,” Fran Sirianni told me on the phone last week. “All three of our sons are not just good coaches, but also good men, good leaders and willing to share their faith in God.”

Like Fran, his oldest son, Jay, is the former head football coach at Southwestern High School, in the Jamestown suburb of West Ellicott. The middle son, Mike, is the head football coach at Washington & Jefferson College in Pennsylvania.

Fran told me that Nick and his wife were on vacation when the Eagles called and wanted to meet with him in person for an interview.

“He said, ‘Dad, I don’t even have a suit with me,” Fran said. “He was quite nervous about the meeting, but decided that whatever happened, it would be in God’s hands. If they wanted him, he would go to Philadelphia and make the best of it.”

Before being hired by the Eagles, Sirianni held NFL assistant coaching positions with Kansas City, San Diego, and most recently Indianapolis.

I told his father, being a Bills and Cowboys fan, I was okay with cheering for the Colts when they weren’t playing Buffalo or Dallas, but I’m going to have a difficult time rooting for Philadelphia; a team I have despised for years.

“We have a flag pole in our front yard with an American flag and Colts flag on it,” Fran Sirianni said. “I’m going to have to replace the Colts flag with an Eagles flag. I have a bunch of Colts gear to get rid of. You want any? I’ll send you some.”

I graciously said, “no thanks, but I appreciate the offer. I’ll stick with my Bills gear.”

Nick Sirianni will be under the microscope of criticism from day one, as Philadelphia sports fans have been known to not be very longsuffering or forgiving.

Can he handle it? I believe he can.

As his father pointed out, Nick’s faith is strong. He’s a natural leader and willing to allow the buck to stop with him. Plus, from a football standpoint, he has a ton of experience gained over the past 12 years working in the NFL. If anyone is ready to make the move from offensive coordinator to head coach, it’s certainly Nick Sirianni. I have no doubt he will do a great job, and as I told Fran, I’ll be praying that Nick becomes one of those legendary coaches who stays in one place for a long time.

“Thank you, yes, please pray for that,” Fran said.

Will I now cheer for the Eagles? Well, not when they play Buffalo or Dallas, but the rest of the time? Sure. I have to.

Siamo una famiglia! (We are family!)