What Jobs Will Be Better than Birds'?
It's way too early to obsess over an Eagles coaching search that isn't even going to start for a couple of months yet, but hey, what else do we have to think about?
What Jobs Will Be Better than Birds'?
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
It's way too early to obsess over an Eagles coaching search that isn't even going to start for a couple of months yet, but hey, what else do we have to think about?
I'd love to know who's going to be running the search. I guess I envision a Jeffrey Lurie-Howie Roseman tag team, which was the way the interviews went in 1999, the last time the Eagles did this, with Joe Banner in Howie's role. The Eagles hired Tom Donohoe as an advisor last year; not sure whether he will come into play in this process or not. They also maintain ties with other former NFL execs who have worked for them in the past, including Phil Savage and Andrew Brandt.
There's an interesting and I think instructive anecdote about that 1999 search in my book "Philadelphia Eagles: The Complete Illustrated History" which by the way would make a fine Christmas present for any Eagles fan. I think a main selling point right now is that it contains all the good stuff from the glory years, and absolutely nothing from the past two seasons. But I digress.
The anecdote is about how the leading candidate then was Jim Haslett, who had deep roots with then-GM Tom Modrak from Pittsburgh. At the time, Lurie and Banner had only been around 5 years, and they hadn't experienced much success. The only coach they'd hired was Ray Rhodes, and you know how that turned out.
The way I heard it, Haslett came in for an interview and basically insulted Lurie and Banner. He wanted to make it clear that if he deigned to accept their coaching job, they were both going to have to butt out, entirely. He wasn't going to have any clueless, interfering nerd-boys telling him and Modrak what to do.
My understanding is that Lurie and Banner wished Haslett well and immediately turned their search elsewhere. They also thought for a minute about where in the world Haslett might have acquired such a view of them. I'm pretty sure the skids were greased for Modrak's departure right then.
This is not 1999. Back then, the Eagles' job was not considered attractive, even though the Birds had the second overall pick in that year's draft, mainly because the team was playing and practicing in dilapidated Veterans Stadium, a tough sell to free agents and not a great setup for financial success. In 2012, the Eagles have first-class facilities, a stable, passionate fan base, and a history of recent success.
Lurie, whatever fans think of him, is not a Jerry Jones-level meddler or a guy who might be looking to move the franchise to Los Angeles because he can't sell tickets. He's a solid owner who has shown he's willing to spend money on coaches and players; when Andy Reid needed him to open up the checkbook to entice Jim Washburn and Howard Mudd here, Lurie did that. (Yes, I'm aware those hirings haven't turned out well. The point is, when the head coach has wanted to spend money, Lurie has spent it.)
It's true that if Nick Foles isn't any better than he looked in Washington Sunday, the Eagles are going to have to draft a franchise quarterback, and that's a daunting task. It's also true that teams with head coaching openings tend not to have franchise quarterbacks sitting around. Funny how that works. It's almost like there might be some sort of connection there.
The Eagles have some talent, not as much as many of us thought they had in September, obviously, but more than the usual lousy team can boast of having. LeSean McCoy, DeSean Jackson, Fletcher Cox, DeMeco Ryans. These are core players. You can add Jason Peters if he comes back all the way from the Achilles' and maybe Jason Kelce, if he can adapt to a different blocking scheme. There are other guys who aren't bad and might blossom with better talent around them -- Brandon Graham, Bryce Brown, Jeremy Maclin, Cedric Thornton, Mychal Kendricks. I'm not sure what to make of Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie right now, but I know he has talent,
Who's going to be hiring a coach this year? Cleveland, Jacksonville, Carolina and Kansas City, the teams down at the bottom with the Eagles right now, are always hiring coaches. Anybody who thinks any of those jobs is a better situation than this is crazy. Yeah, Carolina has Cam Newton. Big whoop. Seen him play this year? Tuned into any of his press conferences? Good luck building around that guy. Maybe in 5 years, when he grows up.
San Diego might fire Norv Turner. San Diego has a QB, more or less, but doesn't have a stadium and is considered one of the league's weaker franchises, overall. The Cowboys are the Cowboys. Any coach looking into that mess has to know what he is getting into, what the last decade and a half has been like in Jerryworld.
I think the Eagles' problem won't be attracting candidates, it will be deciding whether a candidate is the next Jim Harbaugh or the next Bobby Petrino. And deciding how much say over personnel that person might get, whether Roseman has done a good enough job to continue to carry a lot of weight in his role.
I'm pretty sure we'll have all the answers to these questions in, oh, two or three more excruciating months.
The reason the Eagles are in the mess we're in is because Lurie had Accountants and lawyers in the front office and not football guys. It is the result of missing on top draft picks every year and eventually it comes back to haunt you.
If Lurie were smart and truly gave a damn about the team and the city he would clean house, hire someone with a proven record like Bill Polian and tell him you are running the entire football operation. You hire a GM, scouting staff, coach, etc. Put the future of the franchise in someone who has actually had some football experience.— blackknight- Whoever it is , must pick OL guys up and down the draft. Don't give up on Foles. After all he had to stand behind that dreadful OL. I suggest Chip Harris because he has an upbeat plan for run run run shoot shoot shoot and a spread offense which could work well with De, Mack, McCoy. And some fast guy they draft in the 6th and 7th rounds.— Koons
- @libertyof76 - People in Philly have forgotten what players that truly excel look like. It's gotten to the point where competency is confused with excellence. Cox looks like he may be a really good player. Kendricks is a touch above mediocre (as a point of comparison, he has about half the tackles as fellow rookie OLB Lavonte David - who was available when we picked Kendricks - picking a Cal player over a Nebraska player???), and Currey can't even get on the field.— Bobphxville
- The pick after Kendricks, LB Bobby Wagner,(109 tackles and 4 sacks) would have looked nice too but then again not too many people panned the Kendricks move at the time so who knows if Wagner, or David, would have succeeded on this team with these coaches. — SPE
- Mike Nolan or Bill Cowher— connorjr
- I loved the one comment about Jaws as a GM. He definitely is knowledgable about football I think it would be tough to pry him away from his current jobs.
Reid does have to go. Whether you felt he was a really good coach (which I did) he's lost his team.
The question is who to bring in? Are there any up and coming experienced coordinators out there who deserve a shot?— TheFansVoice - This comment has been deleted.— CoettaGarner25
- SOUNDS LIKE A GREAT IDEA. MAYBE THE EMPTY SEATS WILL GET LURIE'S ATTENTION. — bedpan
- Les,
Please, of the list of "core" players you rattled off, you included Brandon Graham? I know he was hurt early on, but look at his career stats. Just the "total games played", it doesn't say snaps but just the total. In 26 games he has 31 tackles and 4.5 sacks. Are you kidding me? This from the 13th player picked in the draft? He's a stiff, he's a stiff now, and a stiff no matter who he plays with or who he plays for. Buddy Ryan couldn't make a player out of this guy; he should change his name to Brandon Mamula. - I think Lurie gets a bad rap in this town. He is the anti-Jerry Jones' owner who supports his football people then gets out of the way. He made a good choice in 1999, but that choice just ran out of gas by 2011. Its time for a change.
As far as Roseman goes, I can't imagine he called the shots in the draft back in 2010 (terrible draft), but could see him getting that power by 2012 (good draft). IF THAT WAS THE CASE, then he might turn out to be a decent GM, but I would be MUCH more comfortable with him reporting to the next coach on personnel.
Also, Polian is almost 80 & has done it all in the NFL. Think that guy wants to do all the work needed to turn this thing around?
Maybe hiring him as a Consultant on the search for Reid's replacement might work.
Good luck to whoever gets that job!— yobill626 - LOL anti-Jerry Jones... I guess your right though considering Jerry has 3 SuperBowl Rings and actually CARES about winning.
Jerry definitely makes some dumb mistakes and gets in his own way, and he is a horrible GM, but at the same time he is a GREAT owner. One thing you cant question about Jerry is his desire to win. Can we say the same thing about Lurie? Didn't think so..— TakeNotez101 - Bill Polian and Urban Meyer— HAROLD Eskin
- When I hear Bill Cowher's name getting thrown around, I couldn't agree more... Yes! he started so young, so he's only 55 yrs old now and has been on a 6 year vacation....Like AR, a 60+% win % but with a ring,But my question is... where are you guys getting his name? wishful thinking or has he indicated or hinted he'd like to coach again?— prowler
- I have NO faith that Lurie and Roseman will be able to hire a decent football coach. The first problem is that any decent NFL coach won't want to work with Roseman because his track record of drafting players is horrid, and they sure as hell won't be willing to report to him. If he doesn't fire Roseman ( and hire an experienced GM that a potential new coach would be willing to report to), he has to keep the organizational paradigm the way it is ( GM reports to coach), and that still means he has to find a coach that is willing to work with Roseman. Which means that the NFL coaches that have had success ( Cowher, Gruden, Billick,etc) are probably out. You might be able to convince a college guy like Chip Kelly, or a NFL assistant that would just be happy to have the job to work with Roseman, but that leads to a second problem. How would Jeff or Howie know a good coach from a bad coach? Jeff hired 2 coaches, Ray Rhodes and Andy Reid. Rhodes did a poor job, and Andy did a good job until the last 5 years or so, and then became Ray Rhodes. I would assert that Reid is the highest caliber of coach that Lurie could find; Reid gave Lurie and Banner jobs in the draft room so that they could make football decisions ( or appear to); the next coach is unlikely to be nearly that politic, and that will show up in the interview ( See Bowen's anecdote above about Haslett). Lurie is actually more experienced than Roseman though, all we know about Roseman is that he can't evaluate players,so it's doubtful that he'll be able to evaluate coaches. I'd still fire Reid, but as long as Lurie owns the club the Eagles aren't going anywhere.— drbob1
- GREAT POST DOCTOR. I CAN SEE THAT YOU HOLD A PHD IN FOOTBALL ANALYSIS. BECAUSE YOU GET THE REALITY THAT IS THE CURRENT DISASTER OF A TEAM CREATED BY LURIE/ROSEMAN/REID. THX — bedpan
