Reid Isn’t Coming Back
Posted: December 5th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 76 Comments »Back in 1994 I worked for a radio station in Myrtle Beach, SC. My boss and I didn’t see eye to eye very much. I’m generally pretty easy to get along with, but he said and did some really strange things. I bit my tongue as much as possible, but did have some times when I just couldn’t. I wasn’t the only one who had issues with him so the office didn’t have the greatest vibe.
Then the station got sold. The new owner decided to switch formats and dump the sports programming. We could have jobs as full time salesmen, but not doing any sports broadcasting. In the month or so between the sale and the coming format change, the boss changed his personality completely. Instead of trying to be the boss, he lightened up and became part of the group. We had a ton of fun in those final weeks. I can’t tell you how many times I sat at my desk, doubled over in tears, as we laughed at something bizarre. That was an incredibly fun month. The end was liberating. It changed us all.
I bring this up because some Philly writers are now reading into Andy Reid’s actions and trying to figure out if he’s coming back. They say that firing coaches and cutting veteran players are the moves of a coach getting ready for next year, not playing out the final month of his career in Philly. I completely disagree.
Reid knows he’s done. He doesn’t have to worry about the playoffs. There is no 8-8 record to shoot for (always good for coach/team to say they didn’t have a losing season). The 2012 season is over, it just hasn’t finished playing out. Reid now has the freedom to do what he wants. When there still is a chance of turning things around, you sell your soul to the devil. You play the best players, even if they’re flawed. You do whatever it takes to keep the peace (putting up with Washburn’s crap). Once you know it’s meaningless, you have the freedom to do what you want.
* * * * *
I discussed bringing Andy back the other night with Jimmy on a podcast. It doesn’t make sense for a variety of reasons. The most important point is that Reid wouldn’t just come back for one season. You either hand Reid an extension or you fire him.
Say Andy did come back in 2013. He’d likely have Nick Foles as his QB. I literally cannot imagine any circumstance in which Reid and Vick both return, shy of that being a demand from a terrorist who has nuclear weapons. And even then I’d have my doubts.
So you’ve got a young QB in Foles. Maybe the Eagles take a QB with their Top 5 pick. Either way, you’ve got a young guy running the show. If the team starts slowly and sits at 2-4 or something like that, the screams for Reid’s head would be deafening. That’s why Lurie would have to commit to him for a minimum of 3 years. It would give Reid the chance to do things with long term vision. Can you imagine the outcry if Lurie handed Reid a 3-year extension? That would be insane.
If Reid came back, he’d have to replace a lot of the staff. Jim Washburn is gone and Tommy Brasher is 72 so he’s not your long term answer. Todd Bowles did a solid job as DBs coach, but there are no guarantees he’d stick around. RBs coach Ted Williams will turn 70 next November. Does he retire? Howard Mudd is out as OL coach. Bobby April is likely done as STs coach. The team desperately needs a veteran DC.
Does Lurie trust Reid to make all these changes? I doubt it.
The other x-factor in all of this would be Reid’s return to Lehigh next summer. How would he handle going back to the dorms where his son Garrett died? Reid might find that cathartic. I tend to think it would affect him in a negative way (the way it would most of us). It would be like returning to the scene of the crime. That would overwhelm most people in an emotional way. Reid will have worked through a lot of feelings by then, but going back there could easily stir them up and really get to him.
* * * * *
I think Reid must be fired, because of the development of Bryce Brown. He and Shady McCoy look like the top 1-2 RB tandem in the league right now. The 2013 offense must be built around them. Reid and Marty Mornhinweg have not shown the ability to focus on the RB position. They feature a star RB, but not a group.
I know the Eagles did just that in 2003, but Brad Childress was the OC back then. Brad does believe in utilizing RBs. Marty and Andy love to throw the ball, especially down field. The 2013 offense needs to be built on getting the ball to Shady and Bryce. That doesn’t mean the old Bill Cowher line up in the I-formation and pound the ball. You can be creative with the run game. You can throw passes to RBs. You just need to make them the focal point of the offense. That will never happen with Marty as OC. And I can’t imagine Andy firing his longtime friend. Therefore, they both need to go.
Very ironic that finding and developing a star player like Bryce Brown could work against you keeping your job. But it should.
Bringing Andy back doesn’t make sense in a variety of ways. It is time to move on, for him and for the Eagles.
* * * * *
NFL Gimpy posted a new MAQB column. I don’t think I linked to it yet. Gimpy touches on the Bears defense suddenly looking old and slow. They were great for a while, but are struggling here recently.
Here is the podcast where Jimmy Bama and I discussed Reid, Washburn, Foles, and some other things. I still didn’t get Jimmy to reveal his famous cornbread stuffing recipe, but I’ll keep trying.
_
nailed it!
I’m giddy at the thought of Shady getting properly utilized, not to mention Bryce Brown.
i’m excited about that too, but i find it a little strange.
i remember in the offseason and the beginning of the season, we were worried about limiting shady’s touches since he had so many last year and we didnt want to burn him out in 3 years. its kind of funny that we all (myself included) want to see him get the ball more, lol.
granted, having a HC/OC that knows how to use multiple RBs would be the best of both worlds – enough touches for the RBs, but the workload is spread around enough that we aren’t going to work him to death.
Brad Childress would 100 know how to utilize 2 or even 3 RBs, consider he did it with us in 2003 and he did it with the Vikings when he had both AP and Taylor.
And you have to imagine he’s not the only OC in the world who can figure out how to work with talent.
The crazy thing is that with a Shady/Brown running game working, Jackson and Maclin could become really effective again on the outside. I think a new coach sees all this and Celek and the top 5 pick and the parts available to keep on defense and thinks “I am going to win with this team, look smart and get rich.”
Indeed and next year our OL will look something like this: Peters (best LT in the NFL), Mathis (best run blocking guard in the NFL), Kelce, Scott/Watkins/Herramans, Kelly/Herramans. That OL has potential to be the very best in the NFL next year and we might even be in position to draft the best LT in the draft if we want.
Sign Tebow and we will never have to pass!
I have a hit squad on the way to get you right now.
Tommy, I just got news that your hit squad failed to complete the task. Something about them not being able to see the target due to blurry vision presumably from some eye surgery gone wrong, and attempting to use sunglasses at night.
The moves do show, however, that Andy is at least trying to set this team up to be successful for next year. He could just insert Trent Edwards in there or keep to the old vets, but he’s at least giving the new coaching staff something to evaluate on.
It’ll be a quick turnaround from the end of January until free agency and the draft.
Andy likes Lurie and Howie. He wants to do right by them, if he can. This isn’t a bitter divorce.
There are only 31 other positions possible for Andy, and all of the Hiring managers know each other.
Leaving the franchise in a positive state does nothing but help his chances of landing somewhere else. Who was that coach n Atlanta who bailed out last minute? He ruined his chances of coaching in the NFL again.
Reid is no dummy in that regards. Screwing over the team’s long term chances to eek out another win wouldn’t be seen as positive.
Bobby Petrino is the guy who bailed on the Falcons and hurt the franchise, although…their collapse got them Matt Ryan. Maybe he actually did them a favor.
Makes me wonder what Andy will leave behind. Let’s save the roster debate for another day and ask if Andy has built the infrastructure of the franchise for future success.
Coaches? Not likely that anyone significant will be
retained.
Player Personnel/Scouting?
Trainers/Strength & Conditioning/Medical Staff?
Technology & Administrative support?
The decision-making process & executive management?
And the biggest question of all – Has Reid made Lurie a better owner?
Quick answers.
Barry Rubin is good S&C coach.
Burkholder seems to be a good trainer. I have no way to judge that beyond the fact he does a good job of explaining things and the Eagles don’t have crazy injury issues.
Howie is a subject for a long debate.
The overall organization does seem to be very good.
Lurie is absolutely a better owner because of Reid. He spends money when it’s needed, but doesn’t see that at the way to solve all problems. Lurie can see short and long term. He doesn’t meddle, but does stay involved. I think Lurie is a selling point for a new coach. This is a guy you should want to work for.
I definitely agree with you on Reid. One question I have for you is while I agree you want a coach who will do a better job of utilizing McCoy and Brown, when you are deciding on who to pick as head coach, how much should a teams’ current personnel come into play as part of the decision? What I mean by that is, hypothetically, if there was some way to give all the potential coaches a rating, do you ‘simply’ (I put this in quotes because obviously determining who the best coach will be long term is an incredibly difficult task) sign the coach with the highest rating, or do you sign the coach with the highest rating that uses a scheme that fits well with the current personnel on the team? The logic with the former strategy is that because the coach is so good, he will develop a team long term that fits his scheme and it will be successful. The logic with the latter strategy however is that you think this team has a core with a certain “window” to succeed in and you want to find the best coach to help accomplish that within that window.
This is obviously a hypothetical question and it depends heavily on who is available, but to me, I would think you would want to sign whoever the coach you determine to be the best through your evaluations/interviews/etc, but I can definitely see the argument for using your current roster to weigh heavily on the coaching decision.
Generally, the coach should be the key. You hire him and build accordingly. If you have some special players, I think that changes things. Shady and Bryce look like a dynamic duo. I do think you have to factor them into who you hire.
If this was Westy/Buck…the answer would be no. This duo is something special, potentially, and that should change things in my mind.
You did raise a good point in asking the question. Well done on that.
I can definitely see this argument and appreciate the logic, but I think one of the strong counter arguments to this is injuries. If you pass up on the hypothetical “better” coach for the coach who fits your talent, if a significant injury occurs, it seems to me you have missed out on having a coach who could have better success long term. Another counter argument is that particularly at a position like RB where there is only one starter, if Brown is truly special, he will want to become a starter eventually plus his contract demands will become significant making it hard to keep both RBs. In that case, the coach who is a better fit for the personnel would have short term benefits but long term disadvantages if he fails to replace a special player.
Any coach so wedded to his “system” that he can’t see the strengths of his new team and utilize them isn’t worth hiring.
I think Lurie is going to be looking at this like he wants a guy who is going to be the guy for the next decade. In that context, a switch as drastic as to a 3-4 doesn’t seem like such a big deal. I think what you’re talking about will be a very minor consideration; though I can see it giving the edge to one of two coaches who are very similar in other ways.
I would say this is about right too.
Put it like this, you don’t hire the wrong guy just to fit your personnel. But if you have two “right guys” and one can win immediately and long term, and the other it’s going to take some time, then you take the guy who can do both.
The Andy Reid era is over. Anyone saying otherwise is trying to gin up some controversy.
The Eagles have some amazing selling points to attract top tier coaching talent.
1. An amazing organization/facilities/ownership (thank you Andy for your key role in making that a reality).
2. Lots of intriguing talent on the roster to work with. Top of that list is Shady and Bryce. But I think a lot of coaches will be excited to see what they can do with Nnamdi/DRC/Boykins and Nate Allen. Cox, Thorton, Jenkins, Curry, Graham, Hunt. Kendricks and Ryans. Jackson, Maclin, Johnson, Cooper. Henerey.
3. Complete freedom to bring in your new coaching staff and system.
4. Amazing fan base
5. Huge media focus in a major market.
If Chip Kelly or David Shaw were to consider a move to the NFL, the Eagles has to be their 1st choice. Lurie knows that choosing a head coach is a lot like selecting a Supreme Court judge, you pick the smartest, most qualified and youngest person you can find. You don’t pick a dinosaur or a journeyman. Lurie got it right selecting QB coach Reid, he needs to do it again.
I prefer that we select our next coach well before the Superbowl, so that they have maximum time and opportunity to assemble a top coaching team to evaluate our existing personnel and map a strategy for the off season.
Where is point #6 – the amazing bloggers???
What I learned in the H2H podcasts:
7-Nice website
8-Nice food spread in the pressbox
Thought it was implied. I made it overt.
Best comment of the week!!!
I don’t think 4 and 5 are attractions in Philly. The fans and media are incredibly passionate and knowledgeable but brutal. A slow start is a circus. An awkward vague comment is a controversy. Nobody would ever accuse us of being supportive of the people who play for and run our team. We’re like that disapproving mother/father in law. Nobody is good enough for our girl.
More specific to #5, I’m not sure how much attention we will be getting when we rebuild next year. The national media loves to jeer this team. Mcnabb was snubbed from the top 5 QB list for years by a ton of people. The day we trade him: how dare Philly! Mcnabb is a HoF bound player!!!! Same with Asante. It was amazing how quickly the national criticism about his physicality disappeared once he stopped wearing midnight green.
Got news for you. That media stuff happens in probably half the NFL cities, if not more. Definitely circus-prone here in D.C., and it’s nothing like Philly. In Pittsburgh, all they care about is the Steelers and Penguins, so whenever a Steelers sneezes, it’s news.
Yeah Philly and some athletes don’t get along, but we love hard. Brian Dawkins or Brian Westbrook would never have to pay for their own drink in a bar in this city. Same for much lesser players who tried hard. Philly is hard on people, and unique, but not completely alone. New York razzes A-Rod at every turn but loves Jeter. That’s just sports.
Mostly though, I think you have to understand a coach’s mind-set. Chip Kelly has never been stopped, he doesn’t think he’s coming to the NFL to fail or be tripped up by media. He’s thinking “OMG I can run my offense with Shady and D-Jax and I can salvage Vick and we’ll score 800 points and win a Super Bowl!” David Shaw, shoot, he won at Stanford *after* the best coach and second-best QB in program history (Sorry Plunkett) left. I’m sure he thinks he can scale greater heights.
Bottom line, I think coaches are confident and narcissistic. They’re going to look at the Eagles, see that the talent is here to win and the organizational support is there to pay the coach and get the players he wants. The rest is just secondary.
I think it’s the number 1 job opening up this offseason, mostly because any coach who takes over can win *next year* and look like a genius. With his hand-chosen staff. Doesn’t necessarily have to rebuild.
I agree with almost everything you said, but the counter argument is QB. I doubt Vick or Foles is much of a draw, and it doesn’t seem like a strong draft for that position.
If I’m a candidate, unless I have a ton of confidence in my defense or DC, I’m taking a job with a QB in place.
Certainly a point in Carolina’s favor then.
I didn’t say coaching the Eagles is an unattractive job. And I wasn’t trying to say coaches would avoid Philly because of those things, or that these things are unique to Philly. Just saying it isn’t an attraction, contrary to the OP.
Just pumping the breaks on the self adoration. “Well the Eagles suck..but WE’RE awesome.” Maybe, but we’re infamous, deserved or not, outsiders don’t like us. That’s all I’m saying.
True the Eagles have several positives/selling points as an organization. I seriously doubt a coach would get excited with the Eagles secondary–please see Jimmy K’s posts at Blogging the Beast and his now obligatory highlighting of an Eagles’ DB being out of position and whiffing tackles.
But to have an accurate assessment of the situation you have to acknowledge the negatives:
1) Question marks at the QB situation; and
2) A young GM with little track record (and possibly too early to grade, but I’m willing to give him a B-/C right now).
I think 2 is important, unless the next HC gets complete control over personnel, Roseman will have a say in talent acquisition. Look to the Chiefs and the Browns.
Cleveland hires P. Savage as GM and he hires his friend, Mangenius, as coach. The Browns do badly and power struggle quickly ensues between HC and GM. HC wins but he is canned 1 year after new GM bought in.
Chiefs bring in young GM, who hires young upcoming (but arguably flaky) OC as new HC. GM has mixed record on talent acquisition and cans the HC after less than 2 years. GM likely will get canned himself after this season.
With a top 4 pick in the draft and possibly a lot of roster turnover in the off season. The FO’s ability to evaluate talent and get the right “groceries” becomes critical.
The Eagles situation is a glass half-full/half-empty situation. Depends on who is looking at it. Jimmy and I did a podcast on that, I was going to write a piece and link to the show. Just haven’t had the chance to do it yet.
All situations have some positives and negatives. But compared to which other jobs will be open this offseason — let’s say Browns, Chargers, Panthers — other teams might have better quarterbacks, but none have a roster more ready to compete, an owner more hungry to win and pay what it takes.
Cleveland can match Philly in the ‘if you win there, you’re God’ department, so you just have to ask … which franchise is most ready to win, and willing to pay me/support me in doing so?
If you’re choosing between the Eagles, Giants, Ravens, Patriots and Steelers then yeah, you pick someone else. But among this group, I’d be surprised if Philly’s is not the first job filled, but the best candidate on the market. If it isn’t filled quickly, it means we’re waiting on someone from one of the Super Bowl/CCG teams.
“If Chip Kelly or David Shaw were to consider a move to the NFL, the
Eagles has to be their 1st choice. Lurie knows that choosing a head
coach is a lot like selecting a Supreme Court judge, you pick the
smartest, most qualified and youngest person you can find. You don’t
pick a dinosaur or a journeyman. Lurie got it right selecting QB coach
Reid, he needs to do it again.”
Agree 100%. Although it would be sweet to have a Triceratops in charge.
To hell with putting some dim witted, frilled, horny relic in charge. What are we, the Jets?
Besides, I want him at fullback.
I watched Andy’s press conference after firing Washburn. The guy looked plain tired. He just oozed…i don’t want to call it defeat, but pretty much that. It was not a coach who felt like he was coming back next season. I very much see a good soldier doing his best to end his era with dignity. He won’t be handing over a pile of crap to the next guy, he’s just not that sort. Let’s be honest. Whatever happens next year will be credited to him. Will he be Tony Dungy leaving the Bucs or will he be *insert raiders coach* leaving the raiders. Whatever happens next season will count for or against Reid’s legacy here.
Reid has looked like a beaten man at some PCs.
I would also agree with this.
Wouldn’t any of us be at this point? Some of us can hardly *watch* these guys, much less coach them.
We keep saying we haven’t seen enough of Foles to get a fair assessment of him, but suddenly with 2 games under Bryce’s belt he is the reason that Andy doesn’t keep his job? I don’t get it. How much of Bryce’s effort and game changing performances have been due to we have a ROOKIE QB running the show? of course, we have to run the ball, or at least dumb down the offense a little bit with Foles, so someone has got to stick out. I agree that the potential is there, but hold that thought a little bit longer…
Bryce has 160 or more yards in both starts. This came on 43 total carries. That is amazing. This isn’t like Cadillac Williams with 37 carries for 158 yards as a rookie.
Think of it this way. In 2 career starts, Bryce has 2 160-yd games. Brian Westbook and Shady McCoy combined have 2 career 160-yard games. Bryce is doing stuff that is off the charts.
You also can’t compare QB and RB. The RB can look great from day one. QBs take time to adjust to the NFL. They can need 3 years before getting close to being in top form.
Nick Foles has shown some signs of potential, but nothing of being special. He’s on a normal pace. Bryce is blowing up the normal pace in an abnormal way. He is a freak so far.
OK, undoubtedly, Bryce has played very well. Considering he is running behind a backup oline makes it even more impressive.
Thanks for the reply Tommy.
All I’m grateful for is that Foles doesn’t look like Ryan Lindley or Rusty Smith. There’s no badass, and no signs of badass, but he’s not messing things up as much as it could be messed up. However, take a breather and run up some Shaun Hill footage. That’s what an undertalented guy who’s maximizing everything he’s got looks like. Good judge of his own talent and how it plays, and grabs every play available to him.
And if Foles is Shaun Hill…that’s okay. Not ideal, but okay. We spent a 3rd Rd pick on him. The hope was that he could be a starter, but if he’s limited to backup/spot starter, that is a valuable role.
No one here is trying to make Nick out to be Brady/Manning/whoever.
Indeed. Way too many seasons without a reasonable backup QB for Eagles. If we had Foles of the last game instead of Mike Kafka, we win the Atlanta game last year. We pull Vick out of Arizona last year instead of letting him stink with fractured ribs. Just get in there, grab the easy throws, and let your beasts on the OL and RB give you a shot to win when your starting QB goes down. Then we don’t “just miss” the playoffs!
Sorta unrelated, but today in Vikingslandia, there are a whole lotta rumors swirling, apparently from reading the tea leaves in Frazier’s press conference + vapors emitting from the team facilities, that Harvin is basically mutinous at this point wrt to offense/Ponder. Maybe he has more class than TO, and McNabb wasn’t ever as bad as Ponder–but it’s a good reminder that everyone on the team wants the best players to play the other positions (aside from the tight buds and all). An org is always asking for trouble, one way or another, if they don’t make good faith efforts to fill roster spots such that people think they can get good stats and new contracts.
I do think Bryce is doing some amazing things that are worth getting excited about, but I do agree with part of Dan’s point (and you wrote about it yesterday). We are often very quick to get excited about promising young players, but players who struggle early on, we are quick to defend by saying they are rookies, give them time to develop. To me, I think there are plenty of reasons to be excited about Brown, but as you pointed out yesterday, he has to sustain his success before we really know if he is special.
Remember that Bryce Brown might not have a good college career, but he was the best player in HS by far. Players with his strength, size and speed are rare.
Yup. I remember getting excited in the waning days of a similarly lost 2005 season about Ryan Moats… he turned out to be a flash in the pan. Brown looks better than he did, as a runner, receiver, and (crucially) as a blocker, but it’s still very early.
With the level of play Jake Scott have shown the last 4 weeks and the amount of crappy guards around the NFL, I wonder why he was still on the street 10 weeks in.
Why was Derek Landri on the streets after 5 weeks last year? Why was Daniel Stubbs out of the league in 1994 entirely and a good player in 1995 and 1996? Odd stuff happens.
Scott says he wanted more money than teams were willing to pay.
Tommy great stuff as always !
Wondering when’s the new H2HShow coming out ?
Hoping to record tonight. Jimmy was under the weather last night. I told him to rub some dirt on it and get ready for tonight.
This is the coach we need:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87d2duPjmjc&feature=player_detailpage#t=1147s
“I feel bad for those kids. They’re getting out-acted by a football player.”
Great quote from youtube
But is he the coach we deserve?
I think this column needs more Roseman… Mostly just curious about his angle.
Howie is a separate topic. Wanted to wait as long as possible to judge him since we need to see how the players turn out.
Tommy, what is your opinion on the Damaris Johnson touchdown?
I’ve got mixed feelings on it. He started out with that hesitant trot that has plagued our return game all season. It’s funny, when something opens up it is patience. When it gets blown up 99 out of 100 times it is hesitance.
Need to watch that a few times I was in such a foul mood by that point that I didn’t even say a word as he ran the ball back. I think I mockingly said “Yay” when he scored. The super-long punt really hurt Dallas and their coverage from what I could tell.
Andy’s been the Walking Dead for a month, he knows it, but he also knows what he leaves behind reflects on him as a coach – and he’s loyal, why not, Lurie made him a very rich man and was patient with him when he struggled, never undercutting him. Reid was lucky to land the right owner.
I think Howie’s gonna run the transition and gain more power, and he should – he just had one of the great offseason in Eagle history, Cox, Curry, Kendricks, Foles, Boykin, Ryans, Kelly, Brown, D Johnson, Menkin, Sims, Polk, McNutt. He started the rebuild, just forgot to tell the media. Yeah, he had his struggles in 2010 & 2011, but showed he could find talent in the later rounds and on the street (Lewis, Havili, Cooper, Harbor, Kelce, Thornton, Hughes, Coleman, Anderson, Henery) as well as relatively low cost FAs (Mathis, Babin, Jenkins). He knows how to negotiate – the $64K question is how much of the poor first day draft choices in 2010 and 2011 were AR and how much was Howie, and has Howie learned from his mistakes.
Howie freely admitted prior to the 2012 draft that they’d gotten away from the philosophy of BPA. Then he went and had a great draft. I’d say that means he learned from his mistakes. Now, whether or not he can keep that going…that’s up to him.
You didn’t touch on the fact that maybe AR is too invested in this current group of players. We need a new coach to come in with an attitude nobody is safe and then we’ll see who stays and who goes…
I didn’t want to get into those type angles. You could write 5,000 words from that perspective.
I wanted this home thing flushed this offseason including Roseman. All of a sudden Roseman is a young genius who learned from his mistakes because of the 2012 draft? What about the ’10 and ’11 drafts? What about the last 2 offseasons? No mea culpa from Roseman there. Guess it was all Banner & Reid’s fault.
I think it’s fair to argue that Roseman has set the table for the team to win the past few seasons, despite there being spots on the roster that weren’t perfect (no team really has a perfect roster, perfect depth, no draft picks of vets who underachieve).
Of players, coaches and front office, however you want to spread the blame for not getting it done the past few years, I think front office is at the back of the list.
I would keep the GM. I don’t see any coaching candidates I’d want to give absolute power to, and I think there should be enough good coaches interested that if one demands it, we should move on to the next.
“I think it’s fair to argue that Roseman has set the table for the team
to win the past few seasons, despite there being spots on the roster
that weren’t perfect (no team really has a perfect roster, perfect
depth, no draft picks of vets who underachieve).”
What?!?!
Please spell out the argument that Roseman has set the table for success. It’s a strawman claim to say that the Eagles aren’t perfect, but no team really is…anywho. We’re not asking for perfection, but when you have defensive statistical lows that are unprecedented (e.g., consecutive opposing QBs with 120+ QB ratings) in the franchise’s history–80+ years–I’d like to see at least an average defense.
I can argue that a lot of the blame for the secondary is at the feet of the FO. In the past, plenty of folks would complain that Asante was a horrible tackler, well guess what the FO replaced Asante with 2 starting CBs that can’t tackle (go check out Football Outsiders on DRC and ASO). Teams can get by with 1 CB who is a poor tackler, but not both starters. The Eagles definitely didn’t do an adequate job of due diligence on ASO.
Coming into the 2012 season it was no secret that safety depth was an issue. How did the FO address it? Hope Jarrett improves (big if), bring in aging vet with injury history off his couch at home in Canada, sign some UDFAs. Out of all these weeks, the FO finally signs another safety from a practice squad?!?! If Sims wasn’t working out, why wasn’t the FO looking for other DBs on practice squads to sign? There’s a possibility that the Eagles could replace the entire secondary next season.
Look at the special team. If the Eagles had some depth would the SPT be so inept? They are still looking for some LBs that can make tackles on special teams (what happened to Cheney?)
Problem is we don’t know what authority Roseman had in 2010 and 2011, it’s clear he ran the 2012 draft.
AR had pushed for more power over personnel a few years ago, and Heckert left, while Banner receded and pursued a better position than Lurie’s lackey. So how much power did Howie have?
Aso is a good example, was this Howie jumping on him or AR salivating over a 3 all pro secondary? Did Howie want to reach in 2011 or was AR worried about free agency and wanting to fill holes in the draft.
I’d point out one thing, Howie as GM was more likely to take the longer view, while AR was in “win now” mode. And a lot of those moves reeked of desperation. 2012 however was the kind of offseason a GM loves, a great draft, a low cost acquisition of a solid leader in Ryans who plugged a hole, and even picking ups some “futures” in Menkin and Sims.
True we don’t know the extent of Roseman’s authority in 2010 or 2011 (however Reid stated in an interview that it was Roseman that presented Graham to him). We also don’t know what share of the blame for the Eagles decline should extend to the GM (Reid is a stand-up coach that accepts blame).
In regards to Aso, I recall a long puff piece in the Inquirer detailing how Roseman and Banner looked at the lockout year as an opportunity to acquire a number of FAs and Roseman planned to do so accordingly. The win now mode appears to have been instigated by Banner, and I think Roseman has been extensively involved in FA acquisitions.
Roseman is not coated with teflon and something has to stick
with him. I’m not aware of any HC that has the time to develop a draft board and player-target lists or do detailed scouting.
My point is, yes the Eagles have some talent, but a 3-9 record is clear indicator that there are some big issues with the talent level (particularly on defense). We can all get excited with potential new HCs, but how the Eagles move forward in accurately evaluating their roster and finding FAs and players in the draft will be critical.
Most of the mistakes were made in the top rounds (though Graham wasn’t a mistake, just bad luck with the knee injury, and JPP is 20/20 hindsight), which is where AR would have had the most influence. Howie has had a very good track record in what used to be the second day, and some issues were coaching, Teo turned out to be a solid draft pick once he got into a conventional 4-3 scheme (the one he was drafted for).
It is hard to imagine AR not having the final say on moves like Aso or Watkins (which almost certainly was vetted by Mudd).
That same secondary that is now setting records for their ineptitude was solid to pretty good until the change at DC. To me, that says the talent is there, it just isn’t being utilized.
That being said, safety is certainly a liability. But, you criticize the team for only addressing it by attempting to develop their young players, drafting, signing a veteran, UDFAs, and raiding PSs? And the solution is to raid more PSs? At some point, one needs to realize these are the best guys we can get at the moment, even if they aren’t good enough, and work around them. The coaches certainly weren’t dealt good cards at safety, but they were offered half the deck to choose from, and chose to use those cards to inflict us all with a series of salted paper cuts.
Think Andy is going to the either the GM or a consultant to the GM next year.I
Suppose, though, Andy goes to Lurie and says something like: I’ve got one more year left on my contract. Let me play it out. I really want to be here. Please.
Does Jeff still pull the trigger?
Really good column.
Bottom-line, AR still wants to coach (my guess is that he doesn’t even want to take a year off), so he’ll continue to act the part all the way until the bitter end to impress future employers. This is being mis-read by some as he’s somehow convinced Lurie to keep him around. Unless he’s the second coming of Rasputin, there’s absolutely no way that’s happening. My money is on the favorite – San Diego – or possibly AZ where he can be reunited with his “beginning of the end mistake”, Korn Kolb.
Hey Tommy, I agree with you that the Eagles need a lot of new coaches and a new HC to start with. But why not keep Andy at a different positon like President of Football Operations (and Cheesesteak orderings). He could still help the team, but a new Coach would bring freshness to Leghigh and gamedays.