Classic Big Red

Posted: July 19th, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 57 Comments »

Andy Reid never won a Super Bowl. Andy Reid didn’t run the ball enough. He was too soft on players at times. And so on.

But he’ll always hold a special place in my heart. This story from Brett Favre is classic Big Red.

Great.

* * * * *

Only if there is an injury or any of the young guys just looks awful. Other than that, let’s see what the young guys can do.

* * * * *

Jimmy Bama has more on Fletcher Cox and giving him a big deal.

Jimmy also touched on a comment from a Dallas writer that Chip Kelly has the hottest seat of any coach in the NFC East. I don’t get that.

The guy’s point is that Kelly made some risky moves and what happens if they don’t pan out. He is right that Kelly did make some risky moves, but I don’t think Jeff Lurie just gave Chip all that power and would immediately fire him the minute something didn’t work. Lurie sees Chip as a special coach. You give that guy extra time to fix the franchise.

If Kelly has 2 years worth of bad moves…then we have a different discussion. But for now…Kelly isn’t getting fired unless something insanely bizzarre goes down.

A much more interesting question to me is what would Jerry Jones do if Dallas fell right back to 8-8. Would he keep Jason Garrett and go add a stud RB or would he view Garrett’s 2014 success as strictly a product of the players and possibly fire him?

_

57 Comments on “Classic Big Red”

  1. 1 wee2424 said at 9:33 PM on July 19th, 2015:

    Chip being on the hot seat is ridiculous. I would think the other 3 coaches in the NFCE are far closer to that. Shit every year for years now Coughlin is talked about being on the hot seat.

  2. 2 SteveH said at 10:08 PM on July 19th, 2015:

    I might be reading too much into things but I feel like Andy’s tenure here really started falling apart after the death of his son. At a certain point it just felt like he wasn’t the same coach anymore.

    Tragic and understandable.

  3. 3 P_P_K said at 7:31 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    There were problems with his other son also, and that pathetic public scolding by the judge. That must have been just awful for Andy the husband and father.

  4. 4 levdog said at 10:38 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    His other son is Britt and he is doing fine. In matter of fact he is the quality control coach with his father in Kansas City.

  5. 5 P_P_K said at 10:41 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Good to know. Thanks for taking the time to shout this out.

  6. 6 JB said at 3:01 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Promoted to Assistant D Line coach this year.

  7. 7 Buge Halls said at 7:05 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Yeah,well, when Daddy’s the boss, success is easy.

  8. 8 RobNE said at 11:19 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    I think this is an easy tie-in but who knows. You could say it happened when McNabb was no longer McNabb.

    It would also be easy and simple to say that being an NFL coach and a parent is really difficult, but I think that’s too easy too. It’s true yes. Is it what caused the problems? who the heck knows.

    bad things happen to good people.

    I tend to think he got so close to winning the SB that he tried some things, or got too lose with the players, or couldn’t recover from the decline of this franchise QB, that he stumbled and a clean break was really good for him. I’m sure his son’s problems and death were a huge burden but I tend to doubt it is as simple as pointing to that as the cause of Reid’s Eagles coaching decline. I’d point much more towards McNabb’s decline.

  9. 9 Michael Winter Cho said at 2:01 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Yeah. I feel McNabb became a simply average starting QB by around 2006 or so. It was a still a good team, but just a bit thin on talent and difference makers. Reid just bombed too many first round picks. I am not even sure it was his fault; I can’t disagree with the “Process” of picking up big men in this game. But once McNabb was no longer a special player, we lacked talent in the most important position. Besides Vick’s flash of brilliance, mediocrity at QB is just not going to get it done.

  10. 10 SteveH said at 2:35 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Maybe so, but I’m thinking less results and more about just how Andy went about coaching. He just seemed like a very different coach towards the end of his tenure than we were accustomed to.

    A change of scenery was best for both parties I think, the Eagles and Andy.

    Remember all those “Eagles are gonna regret firing Andy” posts? I think that was a real simplification. No one doubts that Andy can still coach, it’s just that maybe his time here was up.

  11. 11 Buge Halls said at 7:08 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    The only thing Reid has experienced with his “change of scenery” is watching the dismantling of the team with all of those defensive superstars he inherited. Two more years, the Chiefs will be in the basement.

  12. 12 MagsBirdieBaby said at 7:15 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Well, he now has a receiver who might score a few touchdowns this year. ;~)

  13. 13 SteveH said at 9:03 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    and literally a few would be a massive upgrade.

  14. 14 MagsBirdieBaby said at 7:14 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    His time here was up as you said below, but it should have been up 3 or 4 years before. The fiasco with defensive coaches, the refusal to run the ball, the constant “we thought we saw something downfield”, and worst of all, allowing his son, a grown 29-year-old-man, to bring a bagful of pharmaceuticals into the locker room. That was before the son died. The son’s death was tragic, like all deaths from the stupidity of drug use, but please don’t blame it for Andy’s other mistakes.

  15. 15 SteveH said at 9:03 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    I mean the drug problems and legal troubles were surfacing before his son’s actual death. I can say from firsthand experience that problems in one area of life can affect another area of life no matter how “professional” you might be.

    Andy’s thing was he was very stoic. He’d never let any cracks show, no matter what was happening. Who knows what was going on emotionally or mentally for him though.

  16. 16 anon said at 10:50 PM on July 19th, 2015:

    Can’t tell if Garrett is in a good spot or bad spot. He doesn’t call plays so hard for me to see him taking credit for the good or getting blamed for the bad. I think getting rid of your line coach and star running back the year after you start running the ball and make your deepest playoffs since the 90s is where the real mistakes lie.

    Only a couple more weeks of filler and then back to football. Tommy you’ve done a great job of pumping out stories during this dead zone.

  17. 17 BlindChow said at 11:23 PM on July 19th, 2015:

    Saying Dallas “got rid of” Callahan and Murray is like national sportswriters saying the Eagles “got rid of” Jeremy Maclin. They weren’t cut; Dallas was outbid on both.

  18. 18 anon said at 11:25 PM on July 19th, 2015:

    true. but w/r/t staff not sure how he gets outbid, especially to a division rival.

  19. 19 D3FB said at 5:27 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Teams aren’t allowed to approach an assistant coach without permission, unless its for a head coaching vacancy.

    Callahan went from OC/OL in DAL to just OL in WASH.

    That’s a step back. I’ll be shocked if he’s making more to just be the OL in coach DC.

  20. 20 BlindChow said at 6:20 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    He was essentially just OL coach in Dallas his final year. He lost playcalling responsibilities to Scott Linehan.

    Callahan’s contract expired in Dallas, and that’s when he was picked up by Washington. Jerry Jones reportedly said he wanted to match any offers from other teams, but apparently at least eight teams showed interest, and Dallas wasn’t willing to go that high. According to ESPN, those offers included at least one OC job, and yet he still chose Washington. I suppose its possible he took less, but I also wouldn’t be surprised if Washington paid him a ton.

  21. 21 xmbk said at 6:55 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Jerry Jones is on record as saying that the salary cap was a hard adjustment for him, he prefers to outspend other teams. Doubt that Callahan money was meaningful to him. Probably bad blood from the play calling fiasco.

  22. 22 unhinged said at 4:01 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Snyder has a history of over-paying position coaches – well, just over-paying all over. At one time or another he’s had a few former HC’s as coordinators, so it isn’t out of character for him to lure an OC to be his OL coach.

  23. 23 xmbk said at 6:52 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Can’t really get outbid for a coach. That’s the one I don’t really understand, think they’ll regret it. Wouldn’t really compare Murray to Mac, who got a top of the line contract. Cowboys never really made a reasonable offer to Murray, side effect to putting themselves in cap hell.

  24. 24 Media Mike said at 5:50 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Chip being on the hot seat is a stupid conjecture. What has him on the hot seat; choking away a division title down the stretch in his 2nd year with the team and “only” finishing 10-6 for the year?

    That doesn’t put people on a hot seat when entering the 3rd year of a 5 year deal.

    Less than 10 wins this year / no playoffs, with poor QB play/health from Bradford, more “eh” from Sanchez, and continued big plays being given up the the D would cause more consternation, but not a firing.

    All of that in 2015 followed by a continued failure to win the division / have good QB play / play better D in 2016 could get Kelly’s GM powers scrutinized enough that Lurie and Kelly part ways at the end of that year; but I doubt it.

    All in all, Kelly’s seat isn’t “hot” until we get to the end of 2016 season if he’s not done enough to put the team at the top of the conference. There is no way it’s hot now. None.

  25. 25 RobNE said at 7:22 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    it’s just click bait.

  26. 26 P_P_K said at 7:29 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Guys in the Dallas media probably think all owners are like J Jones.

  27. 27 Stephen E. said at 12:59 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Jerrah has show ridiculous patience with Garrett. He couldn’t wait to kick Phillips to the curb when he faltered after winning the first playoff game since the 1990s, then he sat patiently while Garrett delivered three 8-8 seasons.

  28. 28 MagsBirdieBaby said at 7:08 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Garrett is a puppet with almost no control over anything in Dallas. Jones would have to fire himself for incompetence and stupidity and that’s not going to happen. Once Stephen Jones finally gains control, then there might be some reason for Garrett to worry.

  29. 29 ian_no_2 said at 8:41 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Lurie will evaluate whether to extend Kelly or fire him two seasons from now, with one year left on his contract. For him to fire him with two years left on his contract it’d have to be a really awful 2015 season, which seems unlikely. Garrett just got a five year extension so he has at least a couple years yet.

  30. 30 Bert's Bells said at 10:36 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    I wouldn’t be shocked if Jerry Jones did the irrational and canned Garrett after going 7-9 or something. Sure he’d eat a lot of money on his contract but that’s what Jerry’s for, isn’t it?

    I would be shocked if Jeffery Lurie fired Kelly. He’s a patient guy. There’s nothing in his years owning the Eagles to indicate he’d have his head coach on a short leash.

  31. 31 ian_no_2 said at 12:15 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Lurie ranks high in coach selection and patience. Before Reid’s last year he reassured fans and the press that Reid had to improve on his win loss record which may have contributed to the team quitting on him after a few losses. It’s not lost on Kelly, who went on an initial spending spree, that rolling over more cap room by cutting a pro-Bowl Drew Rosenhaus holdout to the astonishment of the press and with the players unanimously backing him up may score him brownie points with Lurie, getting the locker room further behind him.

  32. 32 Gary Barnes said at 8:52 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    This is a natural result of the endless hype and expectation raising the local and national media has been pushing about Kelly…

    Us fans realize it is absurd that Kelly would be on the hot seat now and that more time is needed to evaluate his performance, but when words like genius are thrown around consistently in relation to Kelly, one can understand how some jump to the conclusion that Kelly should have won at least a playoff game by now and thus what happens this year will go a long way to shaping how Kelly is perceived moving forward.

    If the guy is such a savant, such an innovator and such a genuis, why hasn’t he done better?

    People forget Kelly has had to take what he could from the inherited roster and bring in other pieces to institute his systems. He has had to implement all the training, science and structural aspects of his program. He has had to evaluate coaches, keep who he wants and bring in others to replace the ones he let go. He has had to win an internal power struggle for control of the roster and talent acquisition. And he has had to manage several drafts and FA periods where tough decisions had to be made on popular and successful players.

    Maybe this will be a good lesson finally for the media to throttle back on the glorifying of coaches like Kelly before the final product is ready. They won’t because they need clicks and reads and views etc. to drive revenue instead of fair, objective and level headed reporting, but one can hope. Kelly, to his total credit, has refused to toot his own horn or join in with the genuis talk. He is just trying to do the best job he can and fulfill the mandate given to him when hired by Lurie.

  33. 33 Jernst said at 10:53 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    And, if nothing else, Lurie has proved to be a very patient, coach-friendly owner over his tenure. Not to mention he just reorganized the entire FO and gave Chip a bunch more power while neutering his golden boy, Roseman. There’s literally nothing short of an apocolyptic season of mismanagement that would get Kelly canned next off season. Even if things go poorly, Chip will have one more year, at least to see his vision out.
    No owner, especially Lurie, will spend millions on revamping the infrastructure of a team to meet Chip’s desires, hand that coach millions of dollars and a ton of power within the FO and then jump ship the moment things start to look less than rosey.

  34. 34 MagsBirdieBaby said at 7:04 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    You didn’t mention he national media types who consistently demean Kelly. Do not hype him. Who would still belittle him even if he should win 5 Super Bowls, because he didn’t do it their way. Bring back the leather helmets and wooden goalposts!!!

  35. 35 Buge Halls said at 7:13 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Do you realize that it was a Dallas sports writer, not a Philly guy?

  36. 36 MattE said at 9:03 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    I love Big Red, but why is he not wearing a Hawaiian shirt at this thing like that coaches photo……

  37. 37 Dan in Philly said at 11:19 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    Rather than simply say hot seat, no hot seat, what kind of record would likely result in the coaches in the East being fired? That is, what’s the least amount of wins you would see that happening.

    With NY, I think less than 8 means TC likely will retire. Gruden in WAS could hold on with 6. I agree that 8 wins would possibly be trouble for JG in Dallas. Chip could likely win as few as 5 or even 4 and still probably be ok given his first 2 years.

  38. 38 anon said at 11:22 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    I think Gruden is on the hot seat. Poor record + an OC job open somewhere and he’s gone.

  39. 39 Bert's Bells said at 12:18 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Plus Dan Snyder. Can’t discount that.

  40. 40 anon said at 7:52 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    RGIII gets a new 5-year deal + becomes a player coach.

  41. 41 RobNE said at 11:22 AM on July 20th, 2015:

    I think Garrett’s extension just this year gets him a little breathing room. I think he’d need to only win 5 games to be on the hot seat. NY is funny, I think Eli’s contract is up isn’t it? I want them to resign him to huge money long term. I am more worried they win 2-4 games, Coughlin retires and they pick a QB with a great pick. I don’t know why Coughlin hasn’t retired. I agree even with 8 wins he could/should retire.

    Don’t have a good sense on Gruden. They are a mess.

    Chip is not getting fired.

  42. 42 A_T_G said at 11:19 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    That could be the perfect storm in NY. A good pick, a lot of financial flexibility with Eli off the books, and an open head coaching spot in the center ring of the circus. That would attract the best candidates. Let’s hope it doesn’t turn out that way.

  43. 43 Bert's Bells said at 12:17 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    I think Coughlin retires regardless this year (but I thought the same thing last year too).

    Could see him sticking through a 6-10 year or something like that. Don’t think he’d like to go out on such a low note. Whether the Giants would keep him, that’s another matter.

    I think they’re one of the most interesting situations in the next couple years. What do they do at QB and Head Coach? How do they handle JPP and rebuild their defense? Will Beckham become the #1 receiver in the game?

    A lot going on there.

  44. 44 Michael Winter Cho said at 1:53 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    With the way the media is riding the “Dallas O-line, best in football”, I’d say it’s NFC Championship or bust for JG!

  45. 45 Joe Minx said at 2:00 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    So Embiid rebroke the bone in his foot….

    Ah well. What could have been.

  46. 46 SteveH said at 3:25 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    All is not lost. I was just reading gonzalez’ article over on CSN about it and it sounds more complicated than well he’s just done. Keep the faith man.

    I personally think they should just give him a bionic foot. Take the whole thing off! :p

  47. 47 Media Mike said at 5:51 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    How about they just treat his foot with a lot of HGH post-surgery and hide him in a country where the NBA can’t drug test him.

  48. 48 anon said at 7:52 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    can’t they due the julio jones and put a screw in it, or do they think his weight is the issue?

  49. 49 MattE said at 3:56 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    he is still better than Bynum lol….kinda…..f*ck.

  50. 50 TypicalDouche said at 4:25 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    kinda? More like not at all.

  51. 51 MattE said at 8:56 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Yeah it’s a joke all together, turrible.

  52. 52 Media Mike said at 5:50 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Thanks a lot medical staff. If that was going to happen they should have traded away that pick. GREAT medical work.

  53. 53 MagsBirdieBaby said at 6:59 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Jones would have to think twice about firing his puppet. Very few Head Coach candidates would stand for that lack of control.

  54. 54 Avery Greene said at 7:16 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    13 days until training camp.

  55. 55 MagsBirdieBaby said at 7:22 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    Almost as refreshing as..

    http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1yHsoW6CTjM/hqdefault.jpg

  56. 56 Iggles Blitz » Blog Archive » Classic Big Red | webindex24.ch – News aus dem Web said at 11:30 PM on July 20th, 2015:

    […] Iggles Blitz » Blog Archive » Classic Big Red […]

  57. 57 Mark F said at 3:23 PM on July 22nd, 2015:

    What happens if they don’t pan out? LOL you can ask that about any move that is less than a 100% sure thing.