Thoughts On Gase, Coughlin, And The Latest Coaching Search Developments

On Losing Adam Gase To Miami

On Saturday morning, it was announced that Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator Adam Gase would be accepting the Miami Dolphins’ head coaching position.

Gase interviewed with the Eagles earlier last week, and there was talk that the team would bring back for a second interview over the weekend. That never happened, as Miami didn’t allow Gase to get out of their grasp, much to the disappoint of some Eagles’ fans, as Gase was one of the few hot names on the market.

I wrote several times that I wasn’t as high on Gase as some people. To me, Chicago’s offense didn’t exactly set the world on fire this year. Jay Cutler was still Jay Cutler, and the Bears predictably marched to a 6-10 finish. And while Gase has received a lot of praise for his work in Denver, Peyton Manning was a Hall-Of-Famer before he worked with Gase, so its hard to tell just how much of Manning’s great Bronco years were really the doing of his coach.

So I’m not necessarily disappointed that the Eagles missed out on Gase, but at the same time by no means was I against him being the guy. While I didn’t completely buy-in to the hype around him, he was still intriguing enough to me that I certainly would have considered him to be worthy of the job. Especially given the kind of underwhelming names that the Eagles have gone through in their search so far (more on that below).

On Tom Coughlin

The other big news that broke on Saturday morning was that the Eagles have requested permission to talk to former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin, and will speak to the 69-year old on Monday night.

This by far has been the most bizarre twist that the coaching search has taken to date.

I just can’t imagine Coughlin being the guy. It just doesn’t make sense.

Jeffrey Lurie in the past has been the kind of guy that wants to land a head coach that has long-term staying potential, much like what he got with Andy Reid.

If the Eagles are serious about Coughlin, and wind up making him their guy, Lurie better be prepared for yet another coaching search in two or three years.

Coughlin looked burnt out at the end of his tenure with the Giants. A coach once known for instilling discipline into a team allowed Odell Beckham to run wild in the team’s Week 15 match against the Carolina Panthers, letting Beckham go at it with Josh Norman throughout the game, resulting in the star receiver being suspended for a week.

The Giants have been a mediocre franchise ever since their last Super Bowl run, and even during the years they won their rings, its very debatable just how good those teams really were.

I’m actually a pretty big fan of Coughlin. But the idea of him being the next coach of this team is ridiculous.

Why No Hue Jackson Or Sean McDermott?

Two major names that have not come up in the Eagles’ coaching search to date are Cincinnati offensive coordinator Hue Jackson, and Carolina defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.

There was a report on Saturday that explicitly stated that the Eagles have no interest in Jackson. I can’t understand why the team wouldn’t at least do some due diligence here and give Jackson an interview. In a weak year for coaching candidates, he certainly warrants as strong a consideration as anyone else. Certainly he’s accomplished more on his resume than Doug Pederson…

McDermott’s case is just as puzzling to me. To be fair, its not just the Eagles that are turning their noses up at McDermott. The only team in the NFL to give him an interview so far has been the Cleveland Browns. I get that Ron Rivera is a defensive coach, and that might take away from McDermott’s case, but when you look at the Carolina defense and you see how guys like Luke Kuechly, Josh Norman, and even Kurt freakin Coleman have developed, again I feel like its worth talking to McDermott just for the sake of due diligence.

Who’s The Leading Candidate With Gase Out? 

Yikes.

With Gase out of the picture, and Hue Jackson and Sean McDermott apparently unworthy of entering the conversation, who does that leave the Eagles with?

Duce Staley, Pat Shurmur, Doug Pederson, Dirk Koetter, Ben McAdoo, Teryl Austin, Tom Coughlin, and Paul Guenther are all guys who have either interviewed, or will interview for the position.

Looking at those names again, it blows my mind even more that guys like Hue Jackson and McDermott can’t get interviews here.

There’s no clear front-runner at the moment. But if I had to guess what Lurie may do at this point, I think its safe to eliminate the defensive-minded guys Guenther and Austin from the picture.

If I had to choose from the names left on that list, I’m going with Ben McAdoo.

But with the way the coaching search has been unfolding, I have a sinking feeling that after Monday we could be hearing reports that Doug Pederson is a serious candidate for the job…