• November 15, 2024

Gus Bradley’s Charisma Could Make Him Next Eagles Coach

The coach who eventually takes over as the Eagles new head coach will need to be a salesman of sorts and that’s one of the reasons Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Don Smolenski have taken such a close look at all of these college coaches. He’s got to be part salesman, part entertainer and part teacher.

A college coach has to be all those things when he takes over a program.  Chip Kelly built Oregon into a national power by selling his recruits, their parents and coaches on his high repetition offense.  He then went out and won.

Bill O’Brien oversaw the Penn State program when it was at it’s lowest point.  He convinced players to stay and the alumni to believe demands the sanctions which are looming over the program.  At the same time he was finding a way to win on the field. in a very tough situation and still is in the midst of the challenge.

Brian Kelly resurrected Notre Dame as a national power with the tough academic demands, while working in the spotlight of South Bend.

The new Eagles head coach and a new college coach have to be a salesman to the city, state or region they coaches in.  The college coach has to sell his program to the recruits and their parents.

The new Eagles head coach isn’t going to have a long time to sell his program to the fans and the local media, then start winning.  Eagles fans are tired of coming up short and they want a championship, NOW.

In contrast the Kansas City fans aren’t going to be as demanding.  Andy Reid is going to have a year or two to decide on a quarterback, develop that player, the players around him, then start winning.  The midwest Kansas City fans presume Reid knows what he’s doing.  The new Eagles coach will need to prove he knows what he’s doing.

From all that I’ve heard about him, it sounds like Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley would have a chance to do the job here.  He’s a very good teacher, who embodies the type of toughness which is valued here in Philadelphia, and he’s charismatic.

I talked to former Seattle Seahawks defensive lineman Raheem Brock last night and he said Bradley has the stuff to be a great head coach.

“He a great story teller, who always has a story for every situation”, Brock said.  “He’s always happy and he makes the game fun for the players.  He can get you to believe.”

“Coach will listen to his players and he let me control the defensive line when I was there, but he will also get in your face and let you know what’s happening when it’s necessary.  I think he’s a very good leader, who could get the job done here.”

I’ve heard numerous people talk about how he’s the happy warrior, who makes the game fun.  Bradley has some of those salesman qualities that the college coaches have.  Some of the NFL assistant coaches on the Eagles list don’t seem to have the communications skills and charisma it will take to sell their vision here.

Remember the Eagles don’t want just a coach, they want somebody who can win over the football fans of the Delaware Valley.

They can’t afford another head coach like Reid, who is going to alienate the fan base at his news conferences.  Lurie became so irritated with Reid that he demanded that he change the way he conducted his news conferences.

The post game news conferences and Monday new conferences by the Eagles head coach are very important here in Philadelphia.  The fans take what’s said by the head coach as very personal.  They want some answers or at least to feel respected by the coach.

Remember Buddy Ryan never won a playoff game, but it seemed the Eagles fans liked his act better than Reid who took them to five NFC Championship games and one Super Bowl.  I think Bradley could do the sales job that Ryan did, but hopefully he will do better in the post season.

GCOBB

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gmcliff
gmcliff
January 14, 2013 9:17 am

G, I have been screaming Gus Bradley for weeks now……..If they hire Brian Billick over him, I hope the Eagles play against Bradley, and his Defense this year, so Howie can see how asinine his evaluation skills are.

paulman
paulman
January 14, 2013 9:18 am

There is no doubt, that the next HC will have to be much better with the Media/Fans and be an up-beat,positive personality and also not be afraid to tell it like it is… Lurie was up to his eyeballs with Andy Reids, talk for 10 minutes without really saying anything and his condenscending attitude towards the local media,etc,etc.. This next HC hire will definitely have to have good communication skills for Lurie knows this is important to have Eagles Fans actually like and want to support their HC which was getting tougher and toughter to do during the last few Andy Reid Seasons..

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 9:36 am

Nice to read a Gus Bradley article not stuffed with schizophrenia drivel – Cliff has so much to say but stuffs competing information all over the place in his essays

gmcliff
gmcliff
January 14, 2013 9:48 am

The why don’t you submit an article E0S, if you think you can do better? I told you yesterday, that I have no need for the opinions of a Giants fan, and your suggestion that Perry Fewell, be considered to be the next Head Coach proves to me , you have no business criticizing anybody on these post. Stick to Garry’s topic, and keep my name out of your mouth. You cant tell me squat.

gmcliff
gmcliff
January 14, 2013 9:51 am
Reply to  gmcliff

BTW, My articles were full of common sense…which obviously you can’t appreciate, but most on the site, including G, and Denny do. Why would I care what you think?

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 10:02 am
Reply to  gmcliff

relax GM, I like you
Google define “essay”
and stop stuffing 3 Chapters worth of topics into one essay

gmcliff
gmcliff
January 14, 2013 7:34 pm

I CAN HELP YOU BY SUGGESTING NOT READING IT……THERE WILL BE MORE…..SO DON’T BOTHER READING.

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 9:58 am

I don’t get what Don Smolenski is doing in the interviews. I hope they aren’t over valuing the head coach’s worth to glad hand corporate sponsors. If Howie actually turns over a new leaf and drafts some strength and size . ( not 5’11” LB {Kendricks} & 5’9” CB{Boykin}) – then the Head Coach’s number attribute should be motivating these 300 pounders when they are tired and/or hurt.

paulman
paulman
January 14, 2013 10:02 am

Rumor has it that Don Smolenski is there to offer 30% off for any Wedding/Retirement/Birthday Party Events held at the Linc to any persepctive HC, their Relatives or Staff Members…

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 10:08 am
Reply to  paulman

seriously, you seem to be baffled by his presence also on these 9 hour interviews, 9 hours LOL

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 10:07 am

The Eagles are expected to hold a follow-up interview with Seahawks DC Gus Bradley this week.
FOX Sports’ Jay Glazer described Bradley’s initial interview with the Eagles as “great.” He’s now viewed as the leading candidate in Philadelphia. The FOX broadcast team revealed during Sunday’s broadcast that Bradley plans to interview for two more head-coaching jobs in addition to the Eagles’ gig.

gmcliff
gmcliff
January 14, 2013 10:18 am
Reply to  mhenski

Sounds Great to me Mhenski!!! Lets get it done.

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 10:18 am
Reply to  mhenski

wait until the ball busting contract small print Howie and Jeff jam down his throat, that is so off putting & emasculating he decides to stay in Seattle

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 10:19 am

hopefully this is our guy cliff. im pretty certain it is.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 10:21 am
Reply to  mhenski

eagles0superbowls relax. the guy is gonna go from making around 800k to around 3.5 million. he isnt gonna be put off by that man. get real

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 10:24 am
Reply to  mhenski

yeah your right Mhenski, funny how money does that

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 10:32 am

according to ruben frank on WIP this morning roseman is not a problem. Lurie said coach reports directly to him and that the coach will have final player personnel control. i think he is pretty plugged in so…

btc24
btc24
January 14, 2013 10:20 am

I’d love Gus Bradley and he is now my top pick. That being said, no way the Eagles get him. It just makes too much sense and there has never been a single event in Philly where the FO did what us fans thought was best; with the exception of drafting Fletcher Cox. We all remember thinking the obvious pick in the 2010 draft was Earl Thomas. Nope, they outsmart everyone and go with Brandon Graham. There were numerous defensive coordinators who we thought should replace Sean McDermott. Nope, they promote an offensive line coach and became the laughing stock of the league. My guess is they’ll hire a Division II coordinator.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 10:23 am
Reply to  btc24

btc24 get real

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 10:23 am
Reply to  mhenski

you sound like a sissy dude

btc24
btc24
January 14, 2013 10:42 am
Reply to  mhenski

A sissy? Please explain.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:08 am
Reply to  btc24

ur still crying about past drafts and saying things like

” there has never been a single event in Philly where the FO did what us fans thought was best”

im pretty sure we all wanted T.O. & asomugha. regardless of how it turned out. we all wanted them and got them.

not calling u a sissy just saying how your post sounded.

btc24
btc24
January 14, 2013 11:20 am
Reply to  mhenski

My point is that I’m worried based on history that everyone is so unanimous on Gus Bradley that it’s not going to happen. Yeah, I get we all wanted T.O. I don’t think Asomugha really counts because I don’t think many people even thought he was even in play for the Eagles. That was a major surprise.

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 11:25 am
Reply to  btc24

look they obviously have a plan in place- we are ‘unanimous’ on bradley based on his solid defense (remember pete carroll was a dc as well), we saw a fiery utube thing and after dull andy we like that but we truly know absolutely nothing about him.
i would personally like all the remaining candidates– i would not have been happy w/a college coach (except obrian)

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:33 am
Reply to  btc24

everyone is not unanimous on Gus. LOTS of people want Gruden for some reason even though it has 0% of happening

paulman
paulman
January 14, 2013 7:50 pm
Reply to  btc24

I stand by statements 2 off-Seasons to stay away from CB Asmo
I thought his play from 2009 on with the Raiders was average at
best and stated so many times. I wanted the more physical CB
Carlos Rogers who has only gone on to 2 Pro-Bowls the last 2 Seasons with the 49ers.. But that’s another story for another day

eagles0superbowls
eagles0superbowls
January 14, 2013 10:27 am
Reply to  btc24

at least Sean McDermott’s D was a playoff team
Juan’s D was worse
and Bowles was the worst of the 3

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 10:34 am
Reply to  btc24

i and plenty of fans wanted them to bring in Kearse, Owens and yes we all have to take it on the chin with Namdi. I’m pretty sure that at least 90% of us wanted him… so there are plenty of exceptions.

btc24
btc24
January 14, 2013 10:44 am
Reply to  haveacigar

True. Maybe I’m just scarred by the two examples I gave above; especially the Juan Castillo promotion to DC.

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 10:48 am
Reply to  btc24

there were no good decisions the last couple of years…hence the firing of the HC!

Biglion821
Biglion821
January 14, 2013 11:03 am
Reply to  haveacigar

Cigar I would think everyone reports to Lurie, and why would Lurie go out of his way to say Roseman was only responsible for 2011 if the coach has final say?

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 11:10 am
Reply to  Biglion821

well i thiought of that too but what i don’t know is how the scouting structure goes. the coach is way too busy during the year to spend much time watching college kids play. so my assumption is that 2011 was the year that howie had major input–or lurie could have been b.sing us!

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:09 am
Reply to  btc24

btc thats all andy not the FO

btc24
btc24
January 14, 2013 11:25 am
Reply to  mhenski

We don’t know that for sure but I hope you’re right.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:34 am
Reply to  btc24

andys staff was all hired by andy thats a fact

Biglion821
Biglion821
January 14, 2013 10:59 am

Okay so Reuben Frank knows more than NFL insiders, so when does Bradley get hired? Why let him interview elsewhere if he’s your guy?

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:11 am
Reply to  Biglion821

bradley will get a job probably by saturday and hopefully its with the eagles. as with any job interview a 2nd interview should take place b4 an offer is made. in addition as like any job search the potential employee should explore all their options as should the employer…

when the smoke clears i feel confident gus will be our guy

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 11:08 am

why? because like most of you i had barely heard of gus bradley a month ago. I knew seattle had a great D but I didnt’t see them much. Now he is the ‘it’ guy, the guy everyone talks about …he and his agent know that and will play it out. take the best offer, which is closer to his family etc… he will have options.

Biglion821
Biglion821
January 14, 2013 11:33 am

Which is a roundabout way of saying he’ll take another job somewhere else. He is a hot commodity right now and his agent is going to be dealing this week you better believe that. As fans all we can do is sit back and wait or come on gcobb and argue with each other, I’m going to leave the arguing to others. When do pitchers and catchers report anyway?

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:36 am
Reply to  Biglion821

February 13.

Biglion821
Biglion821
January 14, 2013 11:41 am
Reply to  mhenski

Thank you a month away.

Butch007
Butch007
January 14, 2013 11:42 am

I still think Jon Gruden is a better option to win NOW and would attract a top level DC. I like Gus Bradley but I’m curious as to who he would be able to bring in as the OC before assuming he would be great. Spagnoulo, while a great DC was never really able to get the offense together in St. Louis, Lovie Smith was the same way, Buddy Ryan was the same way…in fact I think Belichick is the only defensive minded HC that’s been able to pull together a good offensive infrastructure (coach, personnel, system) over an extended period of time.

My Choices:

#1 Jon Gruden
#2 Bruce Arians
#3 Everybody else

gmcliff
gmcliff
January 14, 2013 12:58 pm
Reply to  Butch007

and Jon Gruden wouldn’t accomplish the things you imagine that he would….These old has been coaches are not hip to what some of these Coaches, and Coordinators are doing today.

Jon Gruden, was the analyst while the 49ers, were playing the Chicago Bears, and admitted, ” I wouldn’t even know how to defend this, I have no idea what Vic Fangio, and Greg Roman are doing; I’ve never seen these plays before.”……….they are has beens. Gruden is not going to coach the Eagles.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 11:56 am

i dont think and i dont think the eagles think this is a win now type of team/situation.

i think this is one of those situations where you need a culture change, an attitude change and a personnel change

haveacigar
haveacigar
January 14, 2013 11:58 am
Reply to  mhenski

i agree with that last sentence and if those 3 things happen then they could win now and in the future. nfl seems like if you get the right culture you can catch lightning in a bottle and make a huge turnaround…then its just a matter of getting hot.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 12:04 pm

I liked this article on philly.com

By ZACH BERMAN

For those who want Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley to be the next Eagles coach — and judging by my inbox and Twitter feed, there are many fans on that bandwagon — the best news might have been the Falcons’ 30-28 win over the Seahawks. That frees up Bradley to be hired by an interested team, and the Eagles and Chargers right now appear to be the interested teams.

One’s judgment of Bradley should not be weighed by Sunday’s game, though, even though the Seahawks surrendered a last-minute lead. For one, two passes in the fourth quarter of a road game against one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL is too small of a sample size to form any type of judgment. Also, it counters the very reasons a coach should be considered. Bradley oversaw the best scoring defense in the NFL this season, but that would be a foolish reason to hire him. Every season, top coordinators are hired by NFL teams. Every season, former top coordinators are fired by NFL teams.

The reason to hire a coach is for characteristics that go beyond scheme and stats — what’s his short-term, mid-term, and long-term plan; how does he lead a team; how innovative are his ideas; how well can he run a staff; how does he deal with problems in the locker room; how does he represent the team. When the coach is inside the building, he needs to hire skilled coordinators and strong coaches, and that’s when scheme matters. (Of course, a good quarterback is also imperative.)

In speaking to Seahawks defensive players last week, three things seemed clear about Bradley:

1) Players want to play for him. He was described as a “player’s coach” by multiple players. One player called him “new-school,” and said that he’s the type of coach whom players will listen to and follow.

2) He’s full of energy and optimism. Cornerback Richard Sherman said Bradley never seems to have a bad day, ever boasting energy — even when he’s sick, or his voice is hoarse. So if a high-energy coach is appealing, Bradley should excite you.

3) The Seahawks run Bradley’s defense. I wanted to know specifically what role Bradley possesses, particularly because Pete Carroll has a decorated resume with defense. I was told that Carroll has influence, but Bradley puts together the game plan and makes the calls.

None of this means Bradley will be the Eagles head coach, or even a good head coach if he becomes one. Frankly, that has as much to do with the roster that’s assembled and the quarterback of the future.

But it helps show why Bradley is a popular candidate, and why he could potentially become the coach within the next days.

paulman
paulman
January 14, 2013 1:07 pm
Reply to  mhenski

Good stuff about Bradley.. seems to be the best Coach for the Job..
Just get him some help with a quality Offensive Coordinator for the 1st Year to help him hit the ground running.. Could Marty Mohrnewig be the guy where at least the Offense Next Season is somewhat familiar with Terminology,Formations but change it’s balance of calls.. This way Bradley can focus most of his Energy in rebuilding this Defense and Special Teams unit.. Would this be a smart way to go to help a Yong Coach out if Marty is Still under Contract.. and if not, maybe bring in a Veteran Offensive Play-Caller/Coordinator like a Cam Cameron, Chan Gailey (who were both HC,s ) and at least can run the Offense and help out Bradley and show him the Ropes so to Speak as far as the timing,pace and Routines of Practices, FIlm Study,etc,etc..

DMAN
DMAN
January 14, 2013 12:50 pm

And that’s one of the reasons why Bradley should be considered the front runner. You want a coach that the players want to play for. That’s what this team needs. Young head coach with a positive attitude

Butch007
Butch007
January 14, 2013 1:14 pm

To the point of the person criticizing Gruden defensive analysis skills…he’s not a DC.

I’m not interested in a whole bunch of guys that haven’t won as head coaches. Having an offense with a good QB, a tremendous amount of speed at the WR position, good TEs, excellent RBs and a O-Line that needs one or two upgrades Gruden would be in great shape to better ARs approach by balancing the pass with he run. I’m sure eventually he and Roseman will eventually have a blow out the FO…whatever. X’s and O’s are X’s and O’s “New School”/”Old School” are window dressing terms. Regardles of what your opinion of these two are Bill Parcells or Jimmy Johnson could start coaching next season have winning teams in in less than 2 1/2 seasons maybe less than 2.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 2:13 pm

no jon hart breaking news on this????

The Eagles interviewed former Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt for their head-coaching vacancy Monday.

mhenski
mhenski
January 14, 2013 10:25 pm

gonna be great going from
“I gotta do a better job”
to
“do your job”!!!!!