Chaos now defines Reid's final days
Eagles fire Jim Washburn
Chaos now defines Reid's final days
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
The Eagles are gripped now by chaos. There is no other way to look at it. With four games remaining in a down-spiraling season, just hours after a late-night loss in Cowboys Stadium, they abruptly fired defensive line coach Jim Washburn, apparently telling him not to let the door hit him in the wide-9 on the way out.
In the midst of an eight-game losing streak, they now have fired a defensive coordinator (Juan Castillo), a defensive end (Jason Babin), a defensive line coach (Washburn) and, just for fun, a couple of front office executives.
As it turns out, even Nixon’s final days were more orderly than Andy Reid’s.
Washburn had, fairly or not, become a symbol of everything that had gone wrong with Reid’s tenure as coach. He was brought in as part of a radical overhaul of the coaching staff in 2011. He brought with him what was viewed by some as a gimmicky scheme, the wide-9 defensive front, and he was brought in and hired before Reid decided on a defensive coordinator. It was done exactly backward -- and then, when Reid promoted Castillo, his offensive line coach, to be the defensive coordinator, the scheme and the setup and the coordinator made for a trifecta of dysfunction.
It was the kind of gamble that Reid had never taken before. It was the kind of haphazard decision-making that was the exact opposite of Reid’s careful persona. Now, here we are.
I saw Washburn leaving the locker room after Sunday night’s loss to the Cowboys. He was dressed in a suit and tie, as is the custom, and he looked kind of mad at the world, his red face contrasted against his silver goatee. I didn’t think anything of it as Washburn left, by himself, and headed for a team bus -- because after eight straight losses, everybody associated with that team either looks angry or looks like they just witnessed a car wreck.
That Babin was one of Washburn’s favorites went without saying -- he resurrected Babin’s career when they were together in Tennessee, and Babin flourished as a pass rusher for the Eagles in 2011 -- and the team’s decision to fire Babin last week could not have been Washburn’s idea. That Washburn’s personality could be prickly also was not in dispute; he and offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg got into it on the sidelines at one point last season, you will remember, and Washburn was very open about being concerned only with his guys and his scheme. Whatever happened behind them was somebody else’s problem.
In recent days, all of those elements must have been shaken into a toxic cocktail -- and it had to be toxic, because there is no way you fire an assistant coach in December for anything short of toxic. And while it speaks to Washburn, and to the perils of losing in the NFL, it speaks more to the head coach.
The thing has spun completely out of control now for Reid. The questions get harder, the answers get weaker, and the one thing you could always say about Reid -- that he was organized, that he could make the trains run on time, and that his teams were always modeled after his persistent, consistent personality -- is now being questioned in the cacophony of 3-9 and the certainty that Reid is about to be fired.
Chaos now defines. Chaos, and losing.
While it's time for Reid to go, for no other reason than the Eagles need at new face at the helm, let's not forget all the great seasons the Eagles had during Reid's tenure. No Eagles coach prior to Reid had that kind of success. Granted, Reid couldn't bring the city of Philadelphia a Super Bowl, but neither has any other coach, including the beloved Dick Vermeil. So, if it's Andy Reid's time to go, then so be it, but I for one would like to thank him for all of the great Monday mornings following an Eagles win on Sunday. it was great to wake up and read about the Eagles victory. I'm sure those days will come again, but perhaps with a different cast of characters. Thanks Andy.— CTeaglefn- Alexander Haig, Nixon's last Chief of Staff, told of Nixon wandering theWhite House talking to portraits of former presidents. Are there any portraits in the NovaCare complex? I wonder if Andy talks to the Chuck Benarik statue?— 1republican
- How many years will Jerry Jones put up with Mr "I Gotta Do A Better Job"???— cooperhawk
Count me among the minority (apparently) that believe replacing Andy would be a mistake. Don't see Gruden as an upgrade unless he's brought in to replace Morningwig, who should be let go. The O line should be much better next year even if we just get our injured players back. The defense is a mess but Bowles may be able to fix it with a host of player upgrades especially in the secondary. Namdi and DRC need to move on. Now that the wide 9 is about to become a bad memory there's hope for a new scheme. Anyway I just don't see a great replacement for coach Reid. He rolled the dice on a couple of radical line coaches which at the time seemed ok - those guys had pretty good resumes and most fans were excited when Washburn and Mudd came on board. But their schemes, at least on defense, no longer work. Andy's making the necessary changes now. I support him.— oldfriar- I agree with oldfriar. There is no great replacement coach that can come in and turn it around. Andy Reid is starting to clean house to make one last run(2013) to the superbowl. I think he finally realizes his mistakes and is trying to make amends. He's just to arrogant to admit it. He maybe stubborn but in today,s NFL he's still a good coach. He still needs to get rid of a few more unproductive players such as Asoumga, Rogers-Cromartie, Bell(what a waste!)and Jackson. I kind of figured when they gave Desean Jackson a big contract extension he would'nt produce. They should have traded him when he was healthy. — sactowneagle
- Everybody but the fat man and the dog killer taking one for the team. . All for their incompetency. Where is the justice?— sackvicknow
- I'm not so sure that chaos hasn't always been present since the day Reid was hired. You know the Eagle Empire prides itself on image, image, image. But Reid never struck me as being so organized as to suggest that his recently haphazard coaching staff moves are an anomaly.
Let's not forget the clinical bungling of some of the simplest coaching tasks that Reid is famous for during any given game.
I've aways maintained that Reid has too much on his plate. Merely having the power doesn't mean that one HAS the power to pull off everything under the umbrella of his job description. In my opinion, the number of assistants one hires is directly proportional to his field of view no matter how well he trusts his charges.— Atomic Fury - They played well last night. Except for R-C, who didn't play at all.— 2smart4philly
- please just fire the head coach and get this over with...— greidus
- Fire Coleman...he is awful....
— 5thstrretpast - Who says these are Andy's last days? I hope they keep Reid and replace some of the staff and bring back Castillo as O line coach. Eagles need continuity and keeping Reid allows Foles to further develop. Getting rid of the wide nine was the first step. We need to draft a stud O lineman some D backs and add a big receiver. This team may not seem close but they are! I believe Andy can get it done. Peters injury and the failure of the wide nine really hurt the chances for success. Next year with a balanced attack and no wide nine we will be back in the playoffs!— jmb53
- Yosemite Sam has more heart then Cromartie. At least he makes an effort to catch the silly rabbit.— phillyaz
- Enough of your blind resolve, Reid! Stop arranging the deck chairs on your Titanic, and just QUIT. Lurie will give you the golden parachute.— foxhill106
- Reid does look a lot like Capt. Chaos from those Cannonball Run movies.— phink
- It's all about the D fix the D and the team will be ok. 4 games to prepare for next year. The injuries have taken care of the malcontents on the offense now fix the D.— krautmef1
