The NCAA 2026-27 season doesn’t roll around for a few more days, and how could we expect Dawn Staley to miss watching her favorite team play their seventh regular-season game? The South Caroline Gamecocks head coach has been one of the most vocal Eagles fans throughout her career, and it was no different on Monday, as the cameras caught Dawn Staley showing up for her team once again!
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Staley was seen basking in the Monday Night Football spirit at the Philly Eagles’ home stadium, Lincoln Financial Field, as they took on the Dallas Cowboys. As the NFL broadcast cameras panned across the field, they caught Staley on the sidelines, dressed in an Eagles’ sweatshirt and hat. NFL broadcasters hyped her up, per an X post by espnW. While the cameras didn’t catch what she was saying, she mouthed a clear message for all Philly fans.
“Go Birds! All day, every day! Go Birds.”
Staley mouthed these words while clutching her Philly sweatshirt, as the Eagles fight to break their four-game losing streak. After starting the season well with two wins against the Washington Commanders and the Tennessee Titans, the Eagles have lost every single game they have played. Staley will hope that her presence tonight brings a change in the Eagles’ fate as well.
It’s no wonder that Dawn Staley is a Birds fan, being born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to a recent study, the Philly fanbase is the second-most loyal fanbase, after the Dallas Cowboys, and Dawn Staley’s presence just proves her loyalty to the franchise. And she has bled green since school.
Doug Overton, a year senior to Staley at Dobbins’ Tech High School, summarised it best in an April 2024 The Athletic article.
“You talk about Philly, you talk about tough-nosed, nose to the ground,” said Overton. “She epitomizes that, and that’s the kind of regard we hold her at. She is Philadelphia.”
Staley, who is a six-time WNBA All-Star, began her journey on the courts out in the Raymond Rosen Projects in North Philly. The hard cement courts saw her play and beat boys twice her size. According to Grace Raynor of The Athletic, kids in her school would miss lunch to watch Staley dominate on the court. Dawn Staley developed an identity for being two things: a fiend at basketball and the most passionate Eagles fan.
After the Eagles won the 2025 NFL championship, Staley was confident that they’d manage the two-peat the very next season. She even claimed the same on Candace Parker and Aliyah Boston’s podcast Post Moves last year, when Parker was jokingly hating on the Eagles.
“The World Champion Eagles? That’s gonna go back-to-back?” Staley asked back in 2025.
Unfortunately for her and all Philly fans, the Eagles were eliminated from the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers after ending up first in the NFC East with a regular season record of 11-6. But that has clearly not dampened Dawn Staley’s passion for the team. It is usually difficult for her to attend Eagles games as the NCAA season begins shortly after the NFL season, meaning Staley will be busy coaching the Gamecocks to another historic season.
Ahead of the 2026 NCAAW season, the South Carolina Gamecocks have once again found themselves at the very top of the AP Preseason Top 25 poll, sitting above their fiercest rivals, the UConn Huskies. The Gamecocks secured 23 first-place votes to capture the No. 1 ranking, ahead of the Huskies’ six first-place votes.
The Gamecocks made it all the way to the Finals last season, but lost 79-51 to the 2026 champions, UCLA, who won their first NCAA women’s basketball championship. But this season, Staley has Chloe Kitts back on the roster after she missed most of the 2025-26 season due to a torn ACL. Backed by Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson, Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks look primed to make another deep run this season, hoping to add a fourth championship under Staley’s leadership.