Gus Bradley Reflects on Eagles Interview
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagles Blog
Gus Bradley Reflects on Eagles Interview
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
MOBILE, Ala. -- The shaved head Eagles fans glimpsed from news helicopter footage just one short week earlier was covered by a Jacksonville Jaguars cap Tuesday, as Gus Bradley stood on the Ladd-Peebles Stadium turf and reflected on a dizzying NFL hiring process.
Nine days previously, Bradley had run the Seattle Seahawks' defense in their playoff loss at Atlanta, the day after Bradley first talked to the Eagles about their head-coaching job. Bradley acknowledged Tuesday that he was preoccupied with the looming playoff game that first time around, talked to the Eagles only briefly.
A week ago though, Bradley flew from the Seattle area to Northeast Philadelphia Airport with thousands of Eagles fans tracking his flight online. He stepped off the plane to a waiting SUV with news helicopters hovering, and they also recorded his arrival at Eagles chairman Jeffrey Lurie's Wynnewood mansion.
At the time, Eagles Nation was fixated on the "Gus Bus," and whether the Birds would be able to sign Bradley before he left for an interivew the next day in Jacksonville. Only the Eagles' brass, Chip Kelly, and Kelly's agent, David Dunn, knew Kelly had reentered the field, and that the Eagles were negotiating with Kelly as they entertained Bradley. Lurie has said that he only told Bradley the Eagles were involved with another candidate, who "had head coaching experience."
Did Bradley, like most of Philadelphia, think that night he was close to getting the job? The Eagles have said they would have hired Bradley if they couldn't have gotten Kelly.
"I didn't know," Bradley said after Tuesday's North team practice at the Senior Bowl. "I knew that they just needed some time. My whole intent was to go down to Jacksonville and see what that was all about. Once I got on the plane and was headed there, I forgot about Philadelphia. I knew that would come in time, their decision, and I really wanted my focus to be to do a good job down in Jacksonville."
The "Gus Bus" Philly hysteria "was crazy," Bradley said, laughing. He said that after he landed, he was told the intense media interest was why his chartered jet was diverted from Philadelphia International Airport to the Northeast.
"It was flattering," he said. "I think it wasn't me, it was just the possibility of a new head coach."
Bradley said he learned he wasn't getting the Eagles' job in a Wednesday phone call from Lurie. He said he never knew Kelly was the other finalist.
"We had a great conversation," Bradley said. "I thought they handled it first-class. The whole process and how they dealt with me, I couldn't ask for a better opportunity and I really enjoyed it. I really enjoyed getting to know what they were looking for."
They hired the wrong guy.— jhig713- once again jeff lurie and the eagles have to prove how much smarter they are than everybody else
— hannibal barca - Last I checked the head coach doesn't run the defense, the defensive coordinator does.
- Eagles hired the wrong guy. Went for big bang instead of solid choice.
The defense needed fixed.— 76er - With the talent on offense and a healthy O-line, this team could have been back in the playoffs next year, if the defense was fixed. Kelly can't even get a DC. You think he and Howie and Lurie wouuld have talked about that hire during their nine-hour talks.— 76er
- 76er, PLAYOFFS?? U R FUNNY! Have you watched the games? How many times did you see Maclin short arm a pass cause the safety was comin. How about that wonderboy Jackson? He got his contract and showed this year he'll coast! It's hard to tell if Celek will improve because we don't have a QB who can get him the ball. A QB has to read a D in order to score against it. The book is still out on Foles and Vick is still working on Thing One, Thing Two! That said, for the next 3 years we should all stand behind Kelly and OUR TEAM! Give the man a chance! Remember when we thought, "Who the heck is this guy Vermeil?" It'll take at least that long to fix everything AR & company screwed up. GO EAGLES!!!
— desjones - You think this guy remembers Vermeil? I mean except from the Papale movie? — gdibig
- Can't get his DC? Seem like I heard the same whiny crying from people like you last week when the Eagles "failed" at hiring a coach. Yet they landed the most sought after coach this year! STFU and let it play out. — gdibig
- No head coach is a sure thing.— ej610
- Not only did we not get Bradley but Chip Kelly is already pulling Andy Reid stunts by building a defensive staff without a coordinator in place.— BumSatellite
- BurnSatellite, how do YOU know they haven't hired a DC? There are several hires in place which have not been officially announced. They have said, more than once, that they will announce the staff when they are good and ready. NOT when the "media" or the mistake-ridden posters on this site demand. — MagMGirl
- We won't know who the "right guy" was for a couple of years. This story simply confirms what we already knew, and adds that Bradley was courted in a sensible and respectful manner. The job search was not the hare-brained fiasco that many in the media portrayed it. I think Lurie and especially Roseman are due some apologies, frankly, for all the brutal grief they received during the process. And I'm sure it won't happen.— JBirks
- Ideal thing would be Bradley as DC and Chip as head coach , but bradley wasn't leavin seattle unless it was for HC ... I wonder if gus didn't get the jags job , if they would have offered him more money to be the DC ?— ingy9
- They chose style over substance and picked the wrong guy.— Sam Crow
