Thoughts on What Comes After Andy
Like everybody else, I'm trying to think about what the Eagles might do when this disappointing season ends and Andy Reid's 14-year coaching tenure presumably ends.
Thoughts on What Comes After Andy
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Like everybody else, I'm trying to think about what the Eagles might do when this disappointing season ends and Andy Reid's 14-year coaching tenure presumably ends.
I'll be really surprised if the choice is some guy who won a Super Bowl elsewhere -- Jon Gruden, Brian Billick, even Bill Cowher, who tends to be more highly regarded than Gruden or Billick in NFL circles. A couple of reasons there: 1. Jeffrey Lurie and Howie Roseman think of themselves as bold, innovative people; they are unlikely to settle for trying to recreate what someone did somewhere else, and more important, 2. IT NEVER WORKS. How many coaches have won a Super Bowl somewhere, then gone somewhere else and won another? The answer is nobody, never, ever. Not Vince Lombardi, not Bill Parcells, not Mike Holmgren, who came closest, not Mike Shanahan.
This last point is something too few people in the fan base seem to understand. The objective here is not to hire somebody who will give us entertaining press conferences, or somebody who once beat the Eagles in an important game.
One caveat: I'd make an exception for Sean Payton, who would be available under unique circumstances that might make him different from the other retreads. But I really don't think Payton is leaving New Orleans, and if he does, he has strong ties to Dallas.
I'm pretty sure Lurie and Roseman will go for a "bright young man" type. Of course, that has its risks, too. A lot of those guys look less bright, once they're in charge. See Steve Spagnuolo, Todd Haley, Ron Rivera, Tony Sparano, etc.
The guy that everybody is talking about, in regard to every potential NFL coaching vacancy, is Oregon coach Chip Kelly, who certainly is a successful innovator. I am leery. Kelly has never spent a minute in the NFL, as a player or coach. "Pure" college coaches have been really, really unsuccessful in the NFL lately -- Steve Spurrier, Nick Saban, Bobby Petrino. Yes, Jim Harbaugh and Greg Schiano have been good hires, but both had strong NFL backgrounds, which they took to college coaching, before returning to the NFL.
Besides, Kelly is the guy who, when a disgruntled Ducks fan wrote him demanding a refund for traveling to a loss at Boise State, sent the guy a check for $439. The Eagles have a much larger, more critical fanbase. I see looming bankruptcy for Chip if he comes here.
And it would be hard to keep up with uniforms that would change constantly.
More seriously, Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer is not a bright YOUNG man -- he's my age, 56 -- but Zimmer, the longtime Cowboys d-coordinator, sure knows defense.
Dirk Koetter, the Atlanta offensive coordinator, is going to be a hot name if the Falcons' success holds up into the playoffs. He's 53, has been a college head coach, unlike Zimmer, who is a career assistant.
It also might be relevant that Roseman's agent is Bob LaMonte, Reid's agent, and the guy who sometimes seems to orchestrate NFL coaching moves. Jon Gruden is a LaMonte client, as is his brother Jay, the Bengals' offensive coordinator.
But really, the hottest guys will be the top assistants on the teams that get to the Super Bowl. That game will be played more than a month after the Eagles' season concludes. (I'm assuming, I think safely, there will be no Andy-job-saving run into the playoffs).
Will the Eagles have hired a coach by then? As somebody who's going to have to cover this, I think that would be nice, but it's unlikely. I would anticipate a meticulous search, with Lurie and Roseman seeking advice from people they know across the league, weighing variables, holding multiple interviews. One goal here is to go another 14 years without having to do this. There is no need to rush.
As long as Howie is involved in the decision process, the Tonner has no fear. The Eagles will be bottom-feeders until Jeffy brings in a guy like Bill Polian to rebuild this mess of an organization. Until then, the Tonner will find something else to do with his Sundays. Genny Cream Ale and washy washy come to mind.- jay gruden as head coach and maybe bring his D coordinator with him. jay as head coach and jon as DC the brother wreaking havoc in the nfl. im just saying— defroe
- Um, Jon Gruden was an offensive coach prior to becoming a head coach. So making him defensive coordinator would be a bigger disaster than putting Juan Castillo in that role. — freethinker88
- Don Shula won with both the Colts and the Dolphins. Les, you are old enough to remember that, aren't you?
Granted, it was 30 years ago, but it was still the Super Bowl. So I guess "nobeody, never, ever" is not entirely accurate.— StumpyPepys - Shula never won a Super Bowl with the Colts. They won the year after he left under Don McCafferty. — Red Shirt Blues
- You can't possibly be serious with this. Do you know how easy it is to just look up Super Bowl winning coaches? You don't see Shula's name next to Colts, do you? My God.
Others who tried and failed were Hank Stram, Joe Gibbs couldn't repeat the magic his 2nd time through, George Seifert, also.
Please get your facts straight before you start jumping on other people's throats with both feet.— Phila Phans - Wow, Stumpy - You put yourself on the hot dog stand with no mustard, no relish, no ketchup, no onions, no buns and the hot dog was raw!
Don't you feel like a penny asking for change? 
Whoever it is I hope it's a defense minded coach. I miss the days when the Eagles defense was feared. Didn't care for the Jim Johnson 'bend but don't break' defense but I would trade that for what they have now.- Howie's new four year contract tells us that we are in for many more years of football misery.— phillystarfish
- I do not believe that Don Shula won a Super bowl with the Colts, though I do believe that he won an NFL championship there before there was a Super Bowl.— rtronce
- This team needs a real GM as part of the rebuilding process. Someone with a high football IQ like Jaws or Billick - then select a new coaching staff. If Howie stays with his current responsibilities in tact then we are doomed.— section117
- Les, the reason it "never works" is because those coaches who move on after winning are given more GM duties with their new teams. As superbowl winning coaches, they were not the architects of their franchises. so say it "never works" is misleading and not the whole story. Holmgren was a disaster when he was given complete control over the talent. Parcels was mediocre. JJ had a huge payday with a boon of picks from the Hershel Walker trade in Dallas. He didn't have that in Miami. The eagles though need to get that architect in here. It's not the CPA turned talent evaluator Roseman. They need a real GM here to build the franchise and let him be the guy who brings in the coach. Everyone is putting the cart in front of the horse. We criticized Reid for hiring a DL coach before he had a defensive coordinator. making a hire for a coach before the GM is in place is the same thing— mold1103
- Virtually every discussion re: Eagles puts the cart before th horse or locks the barn after the horse is gone, mold1103. That's the weird position in which all Eagles fans find themselves. Not good. — Cowg3
- Parcells was far from mediocre...after winning a pair of Super Bowls with the Giants he turned around a bad Pats' franchise and had them in the Super Bowl, then took over the ruins of the Kotite-led Jets and had them in the AFC Championship game, and then took Dallas to the playoffs for the first time in a long time and would have won in Seattle if Romo hadn't fumbled the FG snap.
The right guy can do it, let's hope they find him!— lhp1122 - Unless the guy they hire can play QB, OL, LB and Safety it doesn't really matter. This is a BAD, BAD, BAD,BAD team. Has been since 2004 and isn't going to change in the next 5 years - no matter how much the Phily Press gushes.— Bama
