Andy’s Future
Posted: June 9th, 2012 | Author: Tommy Lawlor | Filed under: Philadelphia Eagles | 43 Comments »For SB Nation Philly, I wrote about Andy Reid’s future.
One of the reasons I have so much of a hard time with the idea of a power struggle between Banner and Reid is that Andy isn’t necessarily set for the long term. I don’t think he’s on the hot seat, but it is definitely warm.
Howie Roseman is the real winner this offseason. He has more power than ever and his reputation is at an all time high. As Sam pointed out on Twitter:
“Pre-Howie, if you fired Reid, you lost all personnel folks; they were tied to AR. Howie’s independent. Next step is letting him pick his HC.”
side question…are you guys following Sam on Twitter? If not, why? And if you aren’t on Twitter, you are missing out on a lot of good stuff.
Right now Howie and Big Red get along fine so don’t expect any drama between them. I don’t think Andy has to fear Howie based on anything personal, but if Andy doesn’t get the team to perform as expected, that changes things. The organization would not be lost without Reid.
The point of this isn’t “Let’s fire Andy!”. I have mixed feelings on Big Red, but I’m sure not looking to run him off. The problem is that he’s a veteran coach. Long term plans are no longer any good. He’s got to deliver results now. As long as he wins enough to satisfy Jeffrey Lurie, Big Red is fine. I don’t think 9-7 will cut it anymore, though.
So what do you guys think of Reid’s future?
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For PE.com I wrote about DRC. Seemed like such a good, topical column when I wrote it…pre-BannerGate.
If we can get him back to 2009 form, the Eagles could have the best pair of starting CBs in the NFL. If he plays like 2010-11…he’s going to be a very busy man.
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We’ve got several readers in Denmark. Congrats to those guys for their team’s big win over the Netherlands in Euro-2012. It wasn’t fun to watch for those of us casual observers wanting some excitement, but we won’t hold it against you. Just make sure to score 10 or 12 goals in the next match.
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If you somehow missed Sam’s post on Joe Banner, go read it.
hey tommy. so i’ve read from a couple different analysts that they think depending on how the season goes that lurie is actually setting up to possibly have reid take over the president role or something of that nature…kind of like what mike holmgren does in cleveland. what are your thoughts on that? do you see it possible? the more and more i read it and thought about it…i could see it happening and it does generally make sense. i do agree that reid is outstanding when it comes to being the head coach EXCEPT when coaching on sunday…but who would take over for reid then? do you think marty has a shot? because i’ve read somewhere that maybe bowles could be in the waiting but i dont see that as being reasonable. and if an in-house staff member doesnt take over as HC then who would you want or recommend or believe theres a good chance of becoming our next HC? i know its something we should be worrying about so much right now since all of this could be useless if reid has a good season this year. but its slow at work and not much new comes up to read on saturdays so i figured it be fun to think about this..
I touched on Reid becoming a front office guy in the SB Nation Philly column. It is toward the bottom.
My gut feeling says a winning season lets Reid stay. If things don’t get better from last season though, I’d be surprised if he has a job with the Eagles next season.
Also, thanks for the shoutout!
If Andy can’t win 11 games with this team (barring more major injuries), he should move on, it’s probably the deepest, talented squad he’s ever had, including 2004.
The defense should be top 5, and if it’s not, Andy deserves the blame for Juan.
The offense should be top 5, if not, Andy deserves the blame for not coaching up Vick and having a solid #2 QB in place.
Andy has made some great moves the last couple years, bringing in Washburn, Mudd, Bowles.
Howie has given him the players, when you add Aso, Ryans, Jenkins, Babin and DRC (all pro bowl caliber) to a defense that had Cole and Patterson, then draft Graham, Cox, Curry, Kendricks, Allen, hard to put together a more talented group. Same on offense with Vick, Shady, DeSean, Maclin, Celek.
With this kind of talent, you don’t have to ask guys like Lewis, Cooper, Harbor, the OL, Tapp, Landri, Rolle, Coleman or Boykin to do more than just execute, and that’s where the onus falls on the coaching staff, when you have this kind of talent, and two years to get it to mesh, there really aren’t any excuses.
Not only is there a lot of depth/talent, but no transition. There is only one new coach and we all agree that he’s an upgrade. The QB is a vet. There are leaders on O and D. Injuries should be the only x-factor, minus something really bizarre.
Well, yes. They’ve spent the money, they’ve brought in great players, they’ve re-signed the guys that were due, they’ve got highly regarded assistants in some positions. This is not a team that can get away with another 8-8 season without a major shakeup.
I don’t care about top-5 on offense/defense. The players on the other teams, and their coaches, know who they are most worried about playing against. The Eagles must become one of those teams, and relatively quickly.
“defense should be top 5” ???
We “hope” our defense will be top 5, but “should” is really a stretch when you’re talking about a safety crew that is mostly unproven, a rookie starting at SAM, and a late round second year guy at WIL.
And let’s face it, we are all expecting much improved cornerback play thanks to losing one of the better cornerbacks in the NFL. I understand the logic behind the logic there, but there’s certainly no guarantee.
And while Ryans is certainly an upgrade, I think we are all assuming all-pro play and there’s no guarantee there either.
Defense is more than a strong and deep line.
We finished last year 8th in yards allowed, 10th in points, despite an awful start, and 7th in FO’s weighted (toward the end of the season and by strength of schedule) defensive ranking.
Since then we’ve added Cox and Curry, Graham is 100%, Dixon is healthy, we traded for Ryans, drafted Kendrick, Allen is 100%, DRC replaced Asante and Boykin will compete for Hanson for the nickel spot.
Since we’re talking an incremental improvement, those personnel improvements should be more than enough to make us a top 5 defense.
Heck, replacing Lynn with Bowles should be enough to improve us that much.
I’ll grant you that “should be top 5” is a stretch. “Could” is fine, “should be top 15” is playing it safe.
Bottom line, the offense shouldn’t feel pressure to carry the defense this season. The stage is set for a VERY good season and expectations, at least among die-hards, should reflect that.
If they go 13-3 and lose a close game in the playoffs we’ll all be pissed but that’s not a reason for regime change. You change regimes if you’ve given the coach all the tools to win it just isn’t working. If it’s working for the most part and they have a bad day or lose in a fluky way, you give it one more go-round.
But they’re going to win it all this year so this is moot anyway.
Wasnt it Marty Shottenheimer who went 14-2 in SD and got canned after playing and losing one playoff game that season? I thought that was a big mistake by the Chargers and would be the same here if the Eagles win 13 games and lose the first playoff game. I’d keep AR for the final year of his contract and see what happens in 2013 in that scenario.
On the other side of things, if Andy wins his Super Bowl, does he hang it up as a coach? I could see him saying, “Finally, I can coach without that hanging over my head.” I could also see him feeling like he met his last goal and moving onto something else, be it the front office or something away from the Eagles.
Great question. Would be hilarious to see Reid go nuts. “Well Eagles fans, you’ve got your Super Bowl. No go screw yourselves. What a bunch of ungrateful degenerates. I can’t wait to leave this filthy city and go anywhere else!!!”
I do wonder if Andy is interested in college football or moving to another team to start anew. Or maybe he’d love the idea of winning the SB and going for more.
If this group were to reach its potential, and Vick turned into a real franchise QB, I can see Reid riding it out and cementing his spot in Canton.
All he would need is a few 12-4 seasons, one SB win and maybe a SB loss and he’s a lock.
I agree. There’d be no way he’d quit after trying to reach the mountaintop for so long and finally getting there.
Yeah I can see both sides … ride off into the sunset like Cowher, or come back for another like Shanahan (or someone better that I couldn’t think of).
I’d lean toward giving it another go with this group, because it’s so young and everyone is signed for a few years going forward.
Of course, we’re getting a BIT ahead of ourselves here. Win 1 of the next 3 and I’ll be pleased as punch.
1. I really don’t know what to think about Reid’s future. A great or poor season makes it easy on Jeff. A middling season, maybe 10-6 with one playoff win, makes the picture muddy.
2. I am drooling over the Eagles having the best CBs in the league. I believe.
3. Twitter? Ya’ gotta’ be kiddin’. Considering I already check Iggles Blitz 3 times a day — and this is the off-season — I’m probably already over the limit on my Eagles screen time.
In fairness, point 2 was also true last season and we saw how that turned out 😉
T-LAW:
Curious if you’re willing to speculate.
Like Presidents and Supreme Court Justices — no matter who or how old the Court members are — every President keeps a “short list.”
So . . . who would be on Roseman’s short list?
Roseman’s a young exec by NFL exec standards (age 37) — and will still be fairly young in 5 years. [At least from the point of view of this commenter who saw Snead, Hawkins, Rossevich et al. back in the Franklin Field days.]
Whom do you think is on Roseman’s “short list”?
(Side note: Unlike Tom Modrak, who had no lengthy institutional connection to the team and Jeff Lurie [AY, that’s for you], I don’t see any one whom Roseman would hire as a threat to his control, as Reid became to Modrak.)
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I’m not pushing for AR’s departure. In fact, I’ve come nearly full circle at this point and have the concern that very, very few assistants could come to Philadelphia and replicate AR’s record — even just since 2008. Especially without a Top-10 QB, which seems now to be a controlling principle across the NFL. [A form of Stockholm Syndrome perhaps.]
And I haven’t the slightest clue who those assistants would be.
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Hence, T-LAW, give us your best short list. In other words, you’re HR and AL: who’s on YOUR short list?
Roseman is a Gator, so maybe he hires Urban Myer and runs the spread. He can bring in Tebow to back up Vick.
ACV,
Tough question. I’ll think about that.
No to Urban Meyer. He struggles with the grind of college. The NFL would kill him or his marriage.
Well WE ain’t married to his wife so why do we care? Sorry about your marriage Urb, but you’ll never have to pay for another Yuengling in this town, and this shiny Lombardi looks nice.
I wish we could steal Jim Harbaugh back from the Ravens, but I don’t think they’d let him walk. Lateral move. I saw his outtakes on NFLN and I really like him as a leader.
Spags would have to be on the list. Bowles and MM I guess, if it was Reid stepping away instead of a house-cleaning.
I don’t know. Could we find the next Tomlin/Harbaugh?
There can’t be a power struggle with a head coach that may be fired next year. Doesn’t make sense. Banner and Reid may have had lots of disagreements, but I’m sure lots of teams have them. And I don’t believe a friend of the owner since boyhood loses a power struggle to a coach on the hot seat.
Tommy,
Thanks for the mention of us danish readers and fans of the Eagles, and you! It’s been a fantastic night, and I’m happy and honored that you feel the need to congratulate us! Thank you!
I love Big Red, even though he has his share of flaws (as do every coach). I would find it difficult to imagine any other HC run this show. He would have to find his own QB, and maybe that guy doesn’t pan out, and we become the new Chiefs or Jets, who has a good team, but never will win anything with their QB.
I don’t know, I guess I just don’t find it very appealing to get a new HC. I love Andy, and doesn’t believe the grass will be greener on the other side…
Agree, was a great night to celebrate the victory.
Spirits are running even higher in Denmark after this T-LAW shout-out!
AR’s roadmap for a successful season is almost always (2008 excluded) Division title and 1st round bye, home Divisional playoff game, meaning he only has to win 1 home game to be in the NFCCG. I think that’s what it will take again for this season to be “successful.” And, I think it is possible with the talent, the continuity, and the way the rest of the NFC sets up.
I see a lot of parity in the other NFC divisions. Saints definitely coming back to earth, while Panthers and Bucs improved, meaning several divisional losses for each team. Same in the NFC North for the same reasons. And, I think the West will be closer as well. Remember, we went 5-1 in our division last year, and although I think our division is closer/has more parity as well, if we can go 4-2 or 5-1, then we will be in a great position.
My question about the coach “succession plan” is whether it would mean bringing in an outsider or promoting from within, MM has been waiting in the wings, and I have always gotten the impression that there is some informal agreement that he will have the opportunity to take over when AR steps down. Of course, that might change if AR is fired (or allowed to pursue other opportunities like Banner), rather than riding off into the sunset on his own terms.
I agree that if AR isn’t the HC next yr or the yr after that MM would be the best option to take over. Obviosly we have a very talented roster and my guess is the great assistant coaches we have now would be more likely to stay if there weren’t any major changes in the organization; in other words a new HC coming in from the outside that their not familiar with and might want to make changes or put their own stamp on the team.
Hopefully AR stays as the HC for many yrs because they’re really building something better than they’ve ever had here and working with the players/assistant coaches, lots who have come here due to AR and the great respect they have for him, will greatly improve the chances of at least winning one SB more than likely 2-4 over the next 10 yrs. Lots of its bad luck any given yr. Just looking at this past yr for ex suppose the Jets who were 8-4 b4 loosing 4 straight beat the Giants like you’d think they would have, they wouldn’t have made the playoffs let alone win the SB. If Big Ben wasn’t injured they probably would of beat Denver then who knows. If Gronk wasn’t injured lots of people think the Patriots would have beat the Giants in the SB. You could easily say the Giants had a lot of luck on their side to not only win the SB but to even make the playoffs. The Jets meltdown couldn’t of happend at a more perfect time for the Giants. They were close to fireing there coach last yr which would of destroyed their team of any possible future success. I think the best chance for the Eagles success of winning SB(s) over the next 10 yrs is by being smart and not destroying the team even if some flukeish thing does happen this yr. Getting a new coach there’s a 99% chance things will get jinxed which will set them back to where they were prior to AR. He went to the SB with less talent and adjusting to this new talent it’s almost a lock they win the SB within the next few years with AR but any given yr there’s always surprises that come out ex 49ers, Cam Newton, etc. With 32 teams realistically there’s a 3% chance on avg for any given team to win the SB.
I think you summed up the AR/Banner/Lurie philosophy over the past decade: you have a better chance of winning the SB if you are a contender most of the time, than if you go “all in” one time. It almost worked in ’04, not so much in ’11.
And, while MM would have been a likely successor if Reid steps down willingly, I just don’t see the advantage of firing Reid and then replacing him with MM. You’d have to think that MM would bring something to the table that Reid doesn’t, and I’m not sure what that would be.
Which raises the question of who would?
I think possibly the most important would be a better chance of keeping coaches like Mudd, Wash and giving all the young/new players more than 2 yrs(after this season) to keep improveing on what they’ve learned in less than a yr at present time instead of starting all over with an outside coach who will probably want to put his stamp on the team. Getting rid of Mudd, Wash, AR and letting a new coach come in switch to a 3-4, trading the players we’ve just accumulated over the past yr for players that he wants for his system, changeing everything that we’ve just got which is now what most Eagles fans would say is one of the best rosters just to make the media fans happy would only set the Eagles way back for decades. If you drafted Shaq out of school would you seriously trade him after 2 yrs if he didn’t win it all for your basketball team let alone even consider it after 1 yr? That would be completely irrational.
MM also shows he has some credentials in the sense that even other teams outside the organization have been interested and interviewed him for their HC jobs over the past couple yrs or so.
Good argument. Not a huge MM as HC guy but if you could keep the band together, do it.
I think that’s what happens when you seriously start wondering what to do instead of Reid … you start realizing the other options aren’t all that enticing by comparison.
Also compare AR records and actual true result to coaches that the media loves that are complete screw ups like Jeff Fisher. The facts are he had a loosing record almost half the time for nearly 20 yrs, only go to the SB once(which he lost), didn’t get along with his players nor got much out of most of them, but since the media loves him his results got him hired by the Rams this yr, the media presented an angle where everybody was shocked that he was fired for Tennessee(not because he was a complete failure as a HC but because he owned the city and couldn’t be wrong no matter what). Compare the facts and records between AR and Jeff Fisher you’d see why even though the local media hates him, which affects the national media to a degree it’s almost like a complete joke that AR with a HOF HC job would actually be even in the realm of thought of being fired compared to outside the locker room media loving Jeff Fisher who sucks when you look at the facts(records both season and post season over their careers).
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As long as Denmark won’t score 10 goals against us, it’s all good!
Ehm Tommy… I’m one of those readers in The Netherlands… Can’t say I’m too happy with you congratulating the Danes…
But because you’re doing such a good job reporting on the Eagles I’ve decided to keep reading your articles 😉
I did pull for you guys in the previous World Cup. Loved watching your team.
Well don’t worry about us Irish – our competition has basically finished tonight after losing to Croatia. Next up……….reigning European & World champions Spain and then Italy 😉
I enjoy watching Dutch League games (though most Americans probably wouldn’t appreciate the style of play), but unfortunately the National Team can be compared to the Buffalo Bills. Got to the World Cup Final three times and came away with no victories. 🙁
I’m pulling for you guys when you get to Brazil !!!
I think what is underestimated generally is that the big development is that Jeffrey Lurie is now the guy who will make final decisions. He no longer has Banner as a proxy. If he is ready to move on from Reid or thinks Howie isn’t helping Reid, Lurie makes that call. Before it was really Joe Banner.
Reid works at the pleasure of the owner. It isn’t a power struggle between Andy and Howie that is the future, it is what Jeff Lurie thinks is best for his organization.
That really is an interesting dynamic of this whole thing.
I wonder if Lurie will ask me to advise him.
WHEN not IF.
Ouch–if true, there’s a chance it’s not good news. Raises a possibility (however remote) of Lurie as Al Davis / Dan Snyder / Jerry Jones “owner as king” surrogate.
No no no. Every owner has to supervise the people he pays. Lurie has been basically watching Banner, who in turn was watching the others. This just eliminates a layer that virtually no other team in the NFL used.
The problem with Jones and Davis were that they were the GMs of their team. Nobody is saying Lurie is going to be that. Just that he is now going to have to make sure he is evaluating his GM and his coach in a way that previously he had delegated to Banner — a delegation that was, as far as I know, relatively unique in the NFL.
I haven’t seen anyone talk about this in terms of AR’s future, but I am curious to hear anyone’s thoughts. Now that we know that the plan going into this offseason was to have Banner leave, do you think that gave Lurie any pause when making his decision about AR? Based on his press conference at the end of the season, it was fairly clear that he seriously considered moving forward without AR. Is it possible he decided it was not in the best interest of the franchise to have that much turnover with both AR and Banner leaving?