Birds Add Lovie to List, Deny Gruden Report
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Birds Add Lovie to List, Deny Gruden Report
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Updating the Eagles' head coaching search, the Eagles announced Tuesday they will talk Thursday with former Bears head coach Lovie Smith. They also denied a report that they have a Wednesday interview set up with Cincinnati offensive coordinator Jay Gruden.
That last part is a little odd, in that the Eagles asked for and received permission to talk to Gruden. Maybe they're doing it today? Or they've pushed it down the line, since Gruden's team is out of the playoffs, and he is hardly Chip Kelly, in the NFL hiring hierarchy?
Gruden didn't seem to be exactly anticipating getting a head-coaching job when he spoke with Joe Reedy of the Cincinnati Enquirer Tuesday.
Asked about turning down interviews last year, but accepting them this time, Gruden said: "I figured I'd better say 'yes,' or they'll quit asking me. I think it will be a great experience and it's exciting. I have every intention of coming back here. We've got a great group of guys here. We''re excited for the future here; win 19 games in two years with a young group, with a rookie quarterback two years ago, rookie receiver ... the future is very, very bright here."
No word still on when the interview with Seattle defensive coordinator Gus Bradley is going to happen. Has to be this week, before the Seahawks visit the Falcons on Sunday.
Smith, 54, was 81-63 as the Bears' head coach, but was fired after the 10-6 team missed the playoffs this season. despite having gone 7-1 through the first eight games.
Smith, who has a defensive background, is hardly the young innovator Jeffrey Lurie spoke of when asked what he was looking for in a coach, the day Lurie fired Andy Reid. But that template might have been built to fit Kelly and Penn State coach Bill O'Brien, who both have decided to stick with the college game.
It's also possible the Eagles aren't really that focused on Smith, but when a veteran head coach with a decent resume comes available, and you know you aren't getting your top targets, you feel like you have to at least kick the tires.
Maybe for defensive coordinator...because his offense is terrible.— jim35- Jay Doesn't sound very interested, why waste the time?— outta work
- He comes cheap.....a few million reasons enough for Momma's Boy Jeffie.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt
- Glad to hear Jay is not a top candidate. Lovie is fine but hes Reid 2.0, same version just on D. No thanks to either. I find it comical the comments ripping Lurie and front office. Its not really about turning down the Eagles, its about what works best for them, jeez. You guys find anything to bicker about, its so dumb. They are interviewing everyone, if they didnt youd whine about that.— peteike
- Holy Cow! It's down to Luvie or "Howdy Doody"!— quigly46
- I do not have confidence in Eagles ownership and I blame ownership, not Reid for the Eagles recent decline. Laurie needs to stop forcing a business model.— BigE
- McCoy,Bradley or the elder Gruden...Get R Done!— greenbloodVAEagle
- Jay-We'll call you when the Soul is looking for a coach. Is Jon there?— Phillies2008WSChamps
- Lovie would be a huge mistake. No offensive leadership to speak of. If you thought Andy's press conference answers were bad you haven't seen anything yet. Chicago kicked fans and media him out of town.— funlikethewind
- Bradley............period!— sgamble077
- There is one thing we need to consider. Lurie is not dealing from a position of strength. He owns a 4-12 team that needs to be stripped to the bone and rebuilt from the ground up. There are probably a lot of coaches who would look at the cast of characters they have to work with here and decide to open a pretzel stand at 8th and Market as a more viable alternative. This team has become the fool's gold standard! They need someone who will rebuild from the ground up starting with the owner who believes he has a product that will market itself. He thought the same about the movies he produced 20 years ago and look how far he got in that industry! I almost think we had the perfect storm. Andy picked the best people to surround himself with. When they died, took other jobs, retired or whatever, his judgment as to their replacements stunk. His desperation starting peeking through and he made mistake on top of mistake the past 6 years ending up with the 2012 debacle.— gotedge
- "Or they've pushed it down the line, since Gruden's team is out of the playoffs, and he is hardly Chip Kelly, in the NFL hiring hierarchy?" Is there a concept in this sentence fragment?
— Bobphxville - No way! Not this Gruden.
Did you see how inept the Bengals O was last week end...including the drive where they could have gone ahead at the end of the game...it looked like a Big Red/Marty are you still here? drive...Go after Kellen Moore from the Lions...he is smart like Russell Wilson and can really make things happen if Folesy goes out..he is the same size as Russell and Brees....Smart Kid!— Idaho76erfan - Hatie Lovie— camasbud
- Mark Richt, Georgia's headcoach is the perfect college coaching find.— LGbalsac
