I see some distance between the Eagles front office and head coach Andy Reid. I don’t think the statements by team President Joe Banner were unintentional. Banner wanted to let the city and its football fans know that the Eagles are open to making a change at the head coaching position in the near future if Reid doesn’t find a way to bring home a Super Bowl Championship.
If you doubt that the pressure is on Reid all you have to do is read the following paragraph in an article by Les Bowen on Philly.com which contains Joe Banner’s thoughts about Reid’s future with the Eagles.
“Banner also gave a complex and interesting answer when asked about the future of Eagles coach Andy Reid, whose contract expires after the 2013 season. Banner extolled Reid’s “quality of leadership” and said that Reid’s strong reputation had attracted players and coaches to the Eagles. But he also said “the future will be determined when we get there,” that “there’s criticism that’s fair,” and “we’re here to win a championship. That plays into it, too.”
What does “the future will be determined when we get there” mean? It sounds like we’re not going to commit to Andy Reid, we’re going to keep our options open, so we can fire the big fella in a couple of years if he doesn’t win a championship. Who knows we may have to do it sooner.
What does “there’s criticism that’s fair” mean? That sounds like yes Reid can’t manage the clock during games, especially big games. It sound like yes, he has blown timeouts and mismanaged the clock in big games.
It sounds like yes we blew three or four opportunities to win championships in the early 2000’s because Reid thought they could win without talent at the wide receiver position.
It sounds like yes we’ve got a problem with being too pass happy at times.
Now the last comment “we’re here to win a championship” means the obvious, if Reid doesn’t find a way to make this team a Super Bowl champion in the next couple of years, he’s out of here. It might not be a couple of years.
It sounds like Banner is saying if we don’t win a Super Bowl, we’re going to get ourselves a new coach. For him to make those statements public means that new coach could be coming soon, very soon.
Before the team president opened the door to those “fair criticisms”, he praised Reid and rightfully so. The head coach has shown tremendous leadership skills in keeping this team in contention for over a decade. He has a certain genius about him in finding ways to keep the team in the hunt.
You can’t say enough about his decisions regarding Michael Vick. He was the one who decided to sign him. Then he was the one who insisted on putting him on the field. Next up he marched out by himself with the entire city against him and promoted Vick to the starting quarterback position.
Reid was right and because of it, the Birds are in position to win a championship now on the offensive side of the ball and have a 
great draft day at the end of April, if they can trade backup quarterback Kevin Kolb for a high round draft pick or two. The moves by Reid involving Vick were “NFL Executive of the Year” type moves. The rest of the league looks up to him for having the eye for talent and the guts to make those moves under public ridicule.
If you question his leadership skills look at the complete trust Kolb has in Reid despite the fact that he put him on the bench for four years. A year ago Reid embarrassed Kolb by benching him in favor of Vick after telling him and the city that they job was his, yet Kolb continues to trust Reid with his career. Reid has great leadership skills or he’s a tremendous hypnotist.
You can see what the league thinks of Reid by his huge coaching tree which has grown on a yearly basis. He’s got five of his former assistant coaches; John Harbaugh in Baltimore, Steve Spagnuolo in St. Louis, Leslie Frazier in Minnesota, Pat Shurmur in Cleveland and Ron Rivera in Carolina, in head coaching positions in the league.
Reid has been able to deal with both the big picture of planning the rebuilding of his football team, while also dealing with the detail of developing young players and getting them ready to contribute. He’s been able to oversee the retraining, retuning and reconditioning of Vick on the field as well as well as overseeing his comings and goings off of it. At times I have been shocked to learn of Reid’s guidance in every area of this organization.
Reid was the developer of the system of getting rid of players before they broke down and started spending more time in the training room rather than on the field. He and Banner developed the system of signing young emerging players to long-term contracts rather than waiting until their contracts were up and having them secure even bigger contracts. Signing them early saved the organization millions and millions of dollars. The Reid and Banner partnership has made team owner Jeffrey Lurie a very rich man.
Banner and Lurie haven’t kept Reid around here because of the goodness of their hearts. Reid’s importance to this organization couldn’t be overemphasized. His impact as a head coach is known but he hasn’t gotten nearly the credit he deserves for his shrewd decision-making in the front office.
Andy Reid the front office executive may be better than Andy Reid the head coach. He is and has always been a brilliant planner.
Reid motivates his team to fight for him regardless of the situation. They’re willing to lay it on the line for him and do whatever is necessary to stay in the hunt, but at the same time even Reid has to acknowledge that he hasn’t been able to bring home the big one and ultimately that’s all that matters right now.
We’ve won in spite of Reid, not because of him.
All of Reid’s chips are on Michael Vick now. I think we all knew that switching to Vick over Kolb was a move to attempt to win now because he doesn’t have time to wait on Kolb. Worst case scenario for Andy is that you trade Kolb, Vick gets hurt for an extended period of time, we miss the playoffs and Kolb has success elsewhere. If that were to happen next year, I don’t think we’d have to wait until after 2013 for him to be gone.
drummer, I with you. The defense was Ray Rhodes players and Jim Johnson’s system. The offense was McNabb and Westbrook. Andy drafted them both so I give him credit for that. But their talents often overcame the shortcomings in the system and the lack of talent around them. Like almost every coach, Andy’s best shot was his first 5 years.
The important thing is that we’ll have wind turbines, that’s what is paramount with this front office. The problem is the owner, the problem is the president, the problem is the coach. That’s the irony of it all. Ball-less men with no ability to make the tough decisions. “you want a ring and no loyalty go be a dallas fan runtheball” suck it, you morons. You know this team’s loyalty bs is an achilles heal. You only remain loyal to the worthy individuals. RIP JJ
3 more Seasons is a pretty long comittment in the world of Professional Sports these days.. I believe and have stated numerous times, that Coach AR has 2 more years (2011 & 2012 Seasons) to make a Deep Run in the playoffs and a Super Bowl Appearance. If this doesn’t occur by 2012 Season, then AR will be fired after the 2012 Season is completed. The Eagles will eat the final year of his contract but nothing more.. He has 2 years to get it down and he knows it which is reflected on the veteran Coaches they brought in to help him in (Washburn,Mudd,Lynn and why he put a the very familiar coach and friend of his, to run the Defense in Juan Castillo
HALLELUJAH !!!!!!
Check this story from ArizonaScout….LMAO! About how Kolb could be the
next Aaron Rodgers and they want him out in AZ!
http://ari.scout.com/2/1048520.html
The time is now. Banner didnt hesitate with players, Reid should of been fired. We will see the same crap next year. Problem is who will they hire? Are they going to hire a proven coach like Gruden or hire some unknown?
Hire Gruden? What a JOKE. Grudens offenses never ranked higher than 18. He had 20 qbs on his roster. He didnt know what the hell he was doing on offense. Gruden won because of defense. He Had Tomlin, Kifflin and Raheem Morris. Gruden is the most overrated coach in the history of the league.
I’ve been saying all along next season is make it or break it. Contracts don’t mean crap in the NFL. There are a ton of excoaches who have been fired with time left on his contract. All of these spineless jellyfish that keep saying how good Reid is, have settled for a kiss on the cheek instead of the full rodeo show.
I don’t agree BSM,
With the Eagles signing and paying good $$$ for new coaches DL Wahsburn and OL H Mudd there is just no way that the Front Office pulls the plug after next season. They will give AR and this new revised staff 2 years threu 2012 to mak a deep run, then if they fail to, they are goners.. The Next Coach will most likely not be a high profile names like (Gruden,Cowher,Dungy,etc,etc) it will most likely be a younger COach making s step-up from a Coordintor’s level that we never heard of ..
GARY COBB, great article. you said what we all have been thinking and saying for years. YES, reid is 1000x better than ryan/kotite/rhodes but he has his shortfalls. And one shortfall IMHO is his absurd LOYALTIES-prime example-castillo moving from O lnie coach to D coordinator. with andy reid the eagles are a one and done playoff team.
from 2000-2004 andy reid had a 0.7375 win % (which labeled him a genius)
from 2005-2010 andy reid had a 0.5625 win % (which makes him like 20 other coaches in the league)
someone PLEASE move reid to GM and bring in someone like COWHER.
Reid was not responsible for Vick’s signing, Vick was, is Lurie’s qb, Kolb was reid’s qb, Reid was told by fo to play Vick, told by fo to get rid of his coordinator, please stop this praise of reid
Reid had been telling his coaches how good Vick could be if he corrected his throwing techniques when he was with Altanta. It was Reid’s idea to bring Vick here. Do you remember how hard it was for Lurie to give the okay.
As crazy as this sounds, I really think the deciding factor was Jeff Lurie’s Wife,
Once she bought into the re-habbing of Mick Vick, the rest of the FO (Jeff and Joe Banner fell in line)
Everyone can see the decline of AR’s coaching through the past few years…… This team was always prepared to make atleast a deep run into the playoffs…. Now its where in and out within the wildcard…….
He hasnt changed his style for what ever reason…….. AR’s high praise on Kolb will payoff if we get a 1st and 3rd for him this season…….. AFTER ALL…….. But we as fans have seen new coaches some great for there organization and some who just didnt pan out…… But we all know that 12yrs. is a long time of failure for not winning the big game………
@ Jake..dude you’re funny…..If Reid was being forced to make football decisions by the Front Office He would have resigned after the season..LMAO
Lurie says ” Hey Andy you know the guy I just cut a check for 12 mill
Andy says ” Who Kevin ?”
Lurie says ” Yeah him”
Andys says ” What about him ?”
Lurie says ” I want you to bench him and start MY GUY Mike V…”
LMAO
An unknown as next coach? I think Capers would be a candidate at least. He was a HC when Panthers started and had success in those early years, and is a lot smarter in hindsight. His defensive schemes are unquestioned with the Pack.
How many anti-acids does a man have to take year after year behind AR…….. We think SB…….. “Yea this is our year”, “where gelling”!!!!!!!……… But we end up with that pack of Tums or Rolaids ready on the kitchen counter in-case for dissapointment…….. AR is a good coach no doubt about it……. He’s like Jerry Sloan, Stan Van Gundy (Live and die by the three pointer and will not change his scheme to save his life), and Jeff Fisher……… All will be HOF but just didnt get to that status of being CHAMPIONS!!!
@jakedogg…….. I remember a clip of AR saying that Kevin Kolb is our guy…… After the lions game……. But than changed his mind when Vick played great against them and then said, “Vick is playing out of his mind”! It does sound like AR was a puppet on a string and Lurie demanded him to make the change for Vick to be the starter!!!!!! It wasnt reid’s decision…….. Your right on!!
A couple of interesting Comments I though by Banner if anyone listened or watched the interview w/Spadaro on Eagles.com.
#1) He responded on a question, that that’s how they used to do it “When”
Andy ran things..
#2) On Free-Agency (if there is one) He stated in a roundabout way, that they will not be looking at any big name players, but intstead will maybe look at 2nd Tier players/Special Teams type to improve the Depth across the board.
#3) He even stated that with the Current Roster, that the additions of new
OL/DL/Secondary Coached should make the players all improve to reach their potential.. (another signal that they will not go out and bring high $$ players in)
#4) That winning the Super Bowl is the ultimate goal but wants to see overall improvement with the team, with the young players and playing better at Home. I did not get the feel or sense of the urgency that Banner is going all out to win this year and to do whatever it takes to accomplish that..
He expects improvements across the board and the Eagles to make a playoff run and hopes they are playing well at the end of the season as opposed to mid-season and limping home like the last 2 years..
Mr. Cobb, Lurie put on a front with all this disdain of Vick stuff, he saw the huge profit, profile potential with a mega star like Vick at qb, after a slow start by Kolb and Vick’s resurgence, he told Andy , no, Kolb is not starting, go back out there, embarrass yourself and say you changed your mind
An outstanding article Mr Cobb. You bypassed the typical Philly fan emotional hissy fit of ‘he hasn’t won a super bowl’, dedicating a whole article to the positive qualities Coach Ried brings to the table. We mighty Eagle fans have become spoiled brats that ‘demand’ our team win a Super Bowl at any and all costs, and completely by pass the fact that year after year after year we win enough games to qualify for the playoffs and have a fighting chance. Ried is a leader, he is out in front, making the decisions, standing by his decisions, and every year coming back and trying to make the team better. That there are shifts i the organizational power structure – to be expected.
But again – excellent article that points out the many positive atributes of an outstanding coach.
This next year is gonna be a big year for Big Red! The Phillies and Flyers have upped the anny big time and we could see two parades real soon. Big moves made by both of those too to bring in “superior” talent and the mood seems to be Win it all THIS YEAR with them! There was a article showing the cap space situation and how much money the Eagles were under the cap. It was unbelieveable when you consider the line we have been getting with “we are going for the chip”. It just feeds into the belief that they are cheap and are in it for the money.
I just believe that for all the good that’s been done by Andy if he’s still flubbing timeouts and giving us “I got outcoached” speech that he will be fired. I didn’t even mention we need to spend like the Flyers and Phillies to win it all THIS YEAR! If after this CBA mess we dont bring in “superior” talent in key positions THIS YEAR then this could be the end of “Time’s Yours”.
AR has been a good coach through his 12 years with this organization……. But I just dont understand why some LOYAL eagle Fans talk this “IF IT AINT BROKE THAN DONT FIX IT TALK”!!!!!! So some LOYAL EAGLE fans are just happy that the Eagles are just a playoff team???? That we are the UTAH JAZZ of the NFL who expect our team to just make the playoffs nothing more???? Yes some guys can defend reid on some of the success he has done for this organization….. Younger coaches are out coaching AR week after week with the likes of Mike McCarty, Leslie Fraizer,Wisenhunt when we played the ARI. in the playoffs, Wade Phillips who just dismantled us when we played them last season three times, John Gruden when Tampa had our number some years back and the list goes on………
Thats why AR is in this postition as HC this season……. We are not so called spoiled fans…… It’s loyal fans who want to get over the curse……. They once called the Eagles the NFC Champion’s “Buffalo Bills”!!! Atleast the Bills made it to the superbowl……. We just cant get over the hump!!!
my feeling about Coach AR is one similar that I had for QB McNabb,
yes I realize that both are the best in Eagles Franchise History as far as
playing/coaching together, wins, playoff appearances,etc,etc..
But now, aftyer 11-12 years, the Franchise and it’s philosophy have become
stale and outdated.. The COmpetition around the NFC and the NFL in General has gotten better and better where it seems the Eagles are standing still…
I was in support to see the Eagles trade McNabb while he still had value,
I am in support to see the Eagles trade Kolb while he has value too..
I am also in support in a new Head Coach and a simpler,new philosophy of playing physical football built more around a strong running game and a strong defense..This is not Coach AR’s style or philosophy, never has and never will…
@Paulman….. Your right…… It will never change……. I think Kolb will have better success with another coach because Reid puts too much pressure on Qb’s…….. Vick hasn’t took as many snaps in his career passing and Reid expected him to be Peyton Manning in the pocket being a back-up qb……… Even though Vick handled it well and had success but it’s too much behind AR…..
Im not going to read too much into what Banner, Lurie, or Reid is says here or there. Im going to just look at what they do and if the decided to get rid of Reid I’ll believe it when i see it. For the seasons where we could have won a championship and kept falling short in the NFC Champioship games I blame players more than I blame coaches. Yes i think Reid is at some fault for those games but I also dont think we had players here who couldn’t step up into those championship moments that players have to play to to win those games. I always thought the other QB made playes that our Qb didn’t make or the other Dline made plays that our Dline didn’t make.To me it was more about the players than the coaches.
Paulman I’m with you. I think we all appreciate everything Andy has done for this organization but that doesn’t mean people aren’t going to get tired of him. Much like people didn’t care about how many games McNabb won and how many times he led the team to the playoffs and NFC Champ games people still were tired of him. Its the same thing with Reid. He’s a very good coach and noble man but that doesn’t mean I want him to continue to coach our team and not win championships. I don’t want the Jerry Sloan or Jeff Fisher coach.
I would love for Andy to stay in the FO like a Holmgren/Parcels type role though but I just don’t have the confidence he can coach this team to a championship. I had the confidence before but excuse me if it kinda wears off after 12 years without winning. It’s already been stated that most coaches window of opportunity is the first 5 years. If they don’t win it in those years, then it’s unlikely they ever will with that team. Of course we all hope Andy is the 2nd exception to this rule but it doesn’t look good for the foreseeable future.
Oh yeah, I’m not going to read into what Banner says. Every time he opens his mouth something questionable comes out.
For anyone that has ever played any sport on any level you would know coaches can only do so much. A coach can draw up the best gameplan but its up to the players to make the shot, the pass, the stop in the big games. If they get rid of Reid I would be absolutely fine with it as long as they bring in someone better. There are a lot of former coaches out there that I dont think are better than Reid like a Gruden. If those guys like Gruden were so remarkable at coaching, teams would have made them offers they couldn’t refuse instead of doing their “TV careers”. Basically, if they replace Reid thats fine…as long as it is with someone better for this team.
pheags, everyone knows the players have to executed BUT at some point you have to get rid of the common denominator when you don’t have a certain level of success. You cannot keep a coach forever and say “it’s the players fault”. Well the coach (this one in particular) is responsible for the personnel, team decision making, offensive game planning. So when yes the players have to perform but the coaches are selecting the players and in some cases not putting them in the position to succeed. We have to understand too that sometimes a coaching philosophy just doesn’t work. Sometimes you need a new voice and a new mindset. It’s no surprise that some coaches can have more success with certain teams that others. Why? Because they have a different way of thinking, different style of teaching and coaching that impacts how the players respond and perform. Can’t take all the blame from the coaches especially if they are the ones making all the decisions. That goes for Andy and any other coach.
scorp – I get the common denomenator/new/fresh thinking argument. But that’s an argument for a change in general. I think that if the FO fires Andy (whenever), if they do it without a specific plan for his replacement, and at that, a replacement who they think gives them a BETTER chance at a SB than Andy, if they do that, I think it’s neglegent managing. If you objectively evaluate what gives us the best shot at a SB, I think the past is irrelevant (Reid’s tenure so far). The only thing that matters is the future – what/who give you the best shot.
To make a move of that importance, it has to be calculated toward a goal.
schiller, I don’t disagree. Obviously, they would need to have someone in mind. And obviously they think Andy gives the team a better chance. Now what they think and what is true may be 2 entirely different things. And that’s the point. We have seen over the past few years good assistants take over teams and become successful in a short amount of time. So I’m not as worried about that as some may be. And you can disregard the past all you want but I’m not. You cannot disregard 12 years of “good but not good enough” and act like they never happened. Like I said with most coaches the first 5 years is when they win it. Sure that’s not a guarantee but it is factual. It only took 1 coach longer and that was Cowher. People are clinging onto Andy Reid hoping he’s Cowher when he could easily be Jeff Fisher. I much rather see Andy exclusively in the FO making decisions and someone else coaching the team. And not because Andy is a bad coach (because I don’t think that) but because I think it’s time. Just like McNabb wasn’t a bad QB but it was time. The same folks that want to credit Andy for all the wins and use that as reasons to keep him used the very same argument to get rid of McNabb….. “he just can’t put us over the hump”. And I feel the same way about Reid.
The eagles are a good organization with one of the most respected owners, fan bases, financial guys in Joe Banner…. I don’t think they would have a hard time finding a good coach ESPECIALLY if Andy would just move to the FO. I feel like Andy is a good coach but really a President/GM that’s playing a coach because he knows football. But there are just some guys that are coaches and that’s all they can do.
I don’t know about anyone else, I’m tired of watching all these new coaches win championships while for the last 12 years we have to listen to Andy tell us “I gotta do a better job”. No kidding.
scorp – I hear you, I’m not saying ‘pretend the past didn’t happen’, but I don’t buy that the ‘but not good enough’ part (no SB), suggest he won’t win one this year.
I think winning a SB takes SO much – packers wouldn’t have won it if Djax hadn’t fumbled/returned a punt for a TD! – that I truly don’t think Reid’s 0-12 SB record means that he won’t get one this year at all.
Banner is doing what he is supposed to do…He has to keep the pressure on AR, but as far as AR history with the Eagles, he knows its been successful…he knows we’ve come close to the SB…he knows AR is a good and respected coach around the league…But what he doesn’t know, is how a season will play out, can the short comings be blamed soley on the coach? were there injuries? did the players not execute? did they not improve as expected under the new coaches?
Who’s to say that if a decision is made to release AR, that there will be any quality coaches out there (in comparison to Reid)
Everyone chanting for Gruden, please he is not on Reids level! A SB win does not make him a better coach!
The next time the Eagles enter into rebuilding mode, that will be the oppurtunity to get rid of Reid…Until that time, AR is in it for the long haul, dont make no mistake about it!
real – and the media is doing what they are suppossed to do – stir up conversation and speculation – regardless of whether it’s warranted.
I realyl think Coach Ar and his new staff will all be together thru the 2012 Season, If it still same old, same old, then there will be changes, but not before..
As far as the next HC, it will not be a retread type of coach.. forget Gruden,
Cowher, Dungy type of Coach.. After going with AR for 14-15 years, the EAgles will look to hire an up and coming type of Coach who will come up from the Assistant Ranks from around the league..
Lurie/Banner & Roseman would not have gone out and agree to pay the type of Saliary to a Washburn & Mudd unless they got a 2-3 year comittment from them. If they were that unconfident in AR’s ability to win a Championship,
they would have went in another direction and not signed off on paying these new assistants guys big $$$.( I bet Mudd and Washburn are making over
10 X what Segrest and Sheuy were making) so why would they make that kind of investment in these guys and not let them nad Coach Ar try to win this thing within his time that’s left on his contract..
schiller, I hear you but it’s not just the past 12 years. It’s the current team, all the holes on defense, the offensive philosophy along with an inexperienced d coordinator. So forgive me if I don’t think we are a strong Super Bowl contender right now.
I don’t mean to drag this out scorp, and you are forgiven (sarasm, like I can and/or have the authority to ‘forgive’ you). But the decision (theoretically) to keep or fire Reid isn’t about whether we are a strong Super Bowl contender right now. It’s about will keeping him or going with someone else give us the best chance to become strong superbowl contenders in the near future. That’s the difference
See now this is the balance I am talking about. Nice artical and good posts by some. If we want Reid out as coach fine, but why the heck do some feel the need to by nasty, spoiled and no gratitude. I see it like this “andy you are a great coach but we want to get that Trophy so we are going to try some thing new.” That sounds much better and shows more gratitude than “Andy is a dum fast dude that won games with other coaches players, he is a loser that has never won anything becasue thhe NFC was so weak for 10 years and the NFC east was piss poor.” etc, etc, etc,
So this artical was a nice piece to read. I am not opposed to reid being let go, but lets be too fast to cut ties completely, I would love to see him work in the F/O, and keep this orginaztional identity.
Going into the 2010 Season I did not think the EAgles were playoff caliber,
then a few things happened which many of us would not have expected
A Dallas Cowboy meltdown with a 1-7 Start to the Season, A Minnesota Viking meltdown with a half committed QB in B Farve and a Dysfunctional Coach in Childress with injuries to WR Rice & Harvin and the mistake of obtaining WR R Moss and then the biggest surprise was the unexpected great play of Eagle QB M Vick who lead the EAgles in the playoffs as the NFC East Champ yet again with another season ending collapse of the NY Giants.. So many things fell in the Eagles favor last season to make the playoffs and they probably gave the Packers the best game out of any other team in their Super Bowl run..but the EAgles had their share of critical season ending injuries to J Jackson, L Weaver, B Graham, N Allen, S Bradle & E Hobbs. The Positives are that a lot of young players and rookies got a lot of playing time which should only help them in their development..
Who would have thought that 9 Rookies and 1st Year players would have played so much.. We all expected Graham and Allen to be contributors, but K Coleman, J Chaney, C Harbor, R Cooper, Clayton, Lindley, Teo, C Anderson all received lots of playing time.. They say the NFL players improve and make the biggest jumpe from year #1 to year #2 due to getting into a routine, being stronger, more confidence and famaliarity, so if this is the case, the cieling is high for many of these players who should improve and should the DL under a real DL coach in Washburn over Segrest. I see players like Dixon,Bunkley,Tapp,Laws and Graham all excelling under Washburn’s Coaching. Need to get the CB/Safety spot solidified
schiller.
“But the decision (theoretically) to keep or fire Reid isn’t about whether we are a strong Super Bowl contender right now. It’s about will keeping him or going with someone else give us the best chance to become strong superbowl contenders in the near future. That’s the difference”
Its always about now. Do you really think they are saying Andy gives us the best shot to win in 2013? If they don’t believe he gives them the best shot to win NOW then he shouldn’t be coaching the team. I’m pretty sure they think he can get the job done now. Now whether he can, that’s a different argument. Schiller, I’m not going to keep going back and forth with you about opinions. I want Andy gone, you don’t. Fine. We disagree. But if you think everyone should be content with not winning over the past 12 years and still be fine even if Andy doesn’t give you the best shot to win now but in the future then that’s even more ridiculous. That would be saying, it’s ok to not win now because we didn’t think we had a shot. Just stop it. I’m done with you and this conversation. Go back to hand washing Andy’s one piece gameday outfit.
REPOST:
Let’s remove emotion, loyalty and just look at how the season began and ended. The team was flat and horrible in the opener against Green Bay. Michael Vick comes in and lifts the team. He begins to break down as a result of Andy Reid’s inability to properly mix his plays. He decides to go exclusively to the shotgun formation on every down. For the detail of his action see Ray Didinger’s article on CSNPhilly.
The playoff bound Philadelphia Eagles should have lost to the Giants. They then lost to a ROOKIE HEAD COACH with a ROOKIE QUARTERBACK with almost no starts who WAS drafted to be a WR. All of this was done at home with a BYE ON THE LINE. The year before they were twice HUMILIATED by DALLAS.
Andy Reid has a problem adjusting to Everything. His Fastballs are not working on defense. He refused to draft a center and relied on a TORN ACL GUY to be the starter.
There is something to be said about the Andy Reid and the Eagles constantly relying on a TORN ACL GUY.
Starting middle linebacker Stewart Bradley was drafted by the Birds even though he had a torn ACL in 2005 at Nebraska. He gets to the Eagles becomes the starting middle linebacker and becomes TORN ACL GUY without being hit. He missed time this year because of an injured elbow.
Marlon Jackson – TORN ACL GUY
Cornelius Ingram – TORN ACL GUY
Stacy Andrews – TORN ACL GUY
Ricky Sapp – TORN ACL GUY
Jack Ikeqwuonu – TORN ACL GUY
Look at the draft picks and money wasted on TORN ACL GUY. Look at the production. One good season from Stewart Bradley. What’s even more illuminating about this habit of drafting and signing players with TORN ACL’s, nearly all of these guys suffered additional TORN ACL’s in injuries where they weren’t even hit.
TORN ACL GUY represents the Eagles Philosophy of budgeting.
THEY WANT TO WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP AS LONG AS THEY CAN DO IT ON THEIR CHOSEN BUDGET.
Andy Reid is the only head coach who comes into a season with NO KICK RETURNER. Or SLOW MOTION KICK RETURNER – AKA – Reno Mahe or his clone Chad Hall. The SEC ACC BIG TEN AND BIG 12 are full of track guys playing football who run back kicks. There is no way in Hades that an NFL team can’t have a speedster running back kicks.
I usually see eye to eye with you G but not on this one. Reid has very good interpersonal skills which helps him lead, but he lacks adaptability which is a fatal flaw for running an organization. As far as his front office work is concerned, please tell me how you look at his run as GM, especially on the defensive side, and say that it’s anything more than mediocre to poor. How many defensive picks has he had cumulatively and his best players are Trent Cole, Sheldon Brown, and Lito Sheppard. Not good for what must be 30 picks! You CAN’T have as many high pick busts as he’s had and be called good.
Hate to rain on your parade, but you guys are engaged in wishful thinking and fantasy. Truth is, the only way Andy is not the coach in 3 years is (1) he has two really really poor seasons and it effects the gate (2) he loses the locker room (3) there is new ownership. I’ve known Lurie for over 10 years, and he is not about to fire the guy who saved his franchise and made him millions of dollars. While Lurie would give anything to win the SB, he is not going to can the coach that has taken his team to 9 play-offs and 1 super bowl in 12 years. Responsibilities might change, but Andy will be here as long as Andy wants to be here –
Great article G. In my opinion I think Reid has the rest of his contract to get it done. And even so if we do get a championship in the next three years, there still could be a change at HC with maybe Reid moving strictly to the front office.
Either way though Andy Reid is going to be Andy Reid guys. I wouldn’t expect any significant changes in the schemes on offense or personnel. But then again we were one of the top scoring teams in the entire NFL so why make any significant changes there? Our offense did let us down in the wildcard game, but besides that they carried us this entire season.
Still what does need to change is our defense. There is a lot of talented DL/CBs thay could be hungry for a Super Bowl win, and Phila has to be a compelling place to consider. With the likes of Haynesworth, Babin, Stroud, Rogers, Nnamdi, Cromartie..there is players out there that with a mix of our young guys could actually get us over the top defensively. I agree with Paulman it didn’t sound like our FO was going to go after any big names this offseason, but I am hoping they are just playing it quiet and get what needs to be done, done.
we all can play the guessing game all we want. Though most of you know I’m not a fan of that. BUT, if you’re Banner/Lurie, why in hell do you need to know about 2012 or 13 now? You don’t. My guess is that Banner and Lurie don’t really know or give a shit about who’s coaching the team after next year. They’re leaders, they get to make up their own minds when they want to, PERIOD. So they don’t need to make any plan with the idea of sticking to it now. But for some reasons, all your predictions (or at least most of them) don’t take that into account.
I say they know Andy’s coaching next year. After that, what’s the point of saying you ‘know’ now at all?