Lurie: Season Unacceptable, Andy OK
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Lurie: Season Unacceptable, Andy OK
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
For about 12 minutes there today, Jeffrey Lurie really had the NovaCare auditorium audience going. The chairman was mad as heck, and it sounded like he wasn't going to take it any more. Words like "unacceptable," "ludicrous," "unfathomable," and "frustrating" issued forth from the standup wooden podium, a different staging from the one Andy Reid uses for his news conferences, held in the same spot.
Then, in the 13th minute, Lurie made it clear he was sticking with Reid, that he felt a 14th season with Andy was the Eagles' best chance to bounce back and make the playoffs next season. But there apparently will be no contract talks, with two seasons left on Reid's latest deal. The chairman made it sound as if he gave his coach a stern talking-to at the end of the season, which he described as the most disappointing of Reid's tenure.
Lurie said defensive coordinator Juan Castillo's fate will be left up to Reid. Reading the Lurie tea leaves there was tricky -- on the one hand, he called Castillo an "incredibly impressive man," and hinted that it wasn't Castillo's fault that he might have been put in an impossible situation early in the season, trying to run a revamped defense with little offseason work and no pro training as a defensive coach. On the other hand, Lurie made official what has been hinted at -- that Reid had a whole list of Sean McDermott successors he went through before settling on Castillo. Lurie also cautioned against reading too much into the season-ending four-game win streak, calling it "fool's gold." Castillo seemed all but officially fired before his defense allowed just 46 points in the final four games.
Lurie made it clear that team president Joe Banner and general manager Howie Roseman will remain.
Reid is expected to speak to reporters later in the week. It will be interesting to see if he heeds Lurie's call to be less opaque and dismissive in his interactions with the media, an outgrowth of what Lurie said is Reid's protective nature toward his players.
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Lurie called the last 4 mop-up meaningless wins against lousy teams FOOL'S GOLD...at least Lurie got that right....Lurie made a HUGE mistake in giving Vick $100 million.. and Vick has won ZERO PLAYOFF GAMES DURING VICK'S TWO YEARS HERE....LOL.— frank105- Did you really think that Lurie was going to let a bunch of nuts like you and this so called media outlet tell him how to run a billion dollar business LOL LOL.........Really Espcially you, your only concern is that 100million dollar contract, dam everything else.. — charmaine
- Any truth to the rumor that Spagnuolo will be hired as Offensive Line Coach?— AreaMan
- I am All IN for 2012 !!— dmanphilly
- Vick isnt getting 100 million. he'll get about 25-30 guaranteed dollars over 3-4 years...then will be cut.— cdedrick05
- Was it mentioned by Lurie that the Eagles would owe Andy Reid $10 million dollars if he was let go? Of course not. Does anyone rally believe that the Vick/Reid combination will ever win a Super Bowl? Talk about "fool's gold".— syddan26
- FOOL'S GOLD... that's beleiving Reid and Vick will win a Super Bowl.— frank105
- No wrong again Frank105 a "FOOL GOLD" was you and a few others believing that Lurie was going allow you whiners to make a decision for his billion dollar football team didn' work huh. That one million dollar contract really messed up doesn't it LOL LOL LOL — charmaine
- another blind andy reid apologist — your_mom_says_hi!
- Just got a call from a friend who just got fired from his job as assistant locker room attendant for the Eagles. Who says there's no accountability in this organization?— iceman
Comment removed.- Howie cannot draft! He should have been the first one canned!— stanbro
- I hope next year goes up in smoke again. Aha all you Eagles fans!!!— stoptothinkisanidiot
- Jeff should buy Andy some super bowl tickets.
That's the only way Reid will ever get to another Super Bowl.— Fan74
