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.
who hired all these guys that are getting fired?— jb99- GREAT POINT 99. GREAT POINT. WHY DOES THE FAT, ARROGANT ONE STILL HAVE A JOB??? — bedpan
- i hope the eagles upgrade when they hire reid's replacement. someone like merion campbell would be an improvement of the walrus/dope-in-chief
— hannibal barca - I am ashamed to admit that I actually was rooting for the dreaded Cowboys last night. I never thought I would ever root for the obnoxious Cowboys during my lifetime. This is just how angry and upset that I am with the FAT MAN. FAT ANDY has finally been exposed as a BIG FRAUD!! I hope the sorry Eagles do not win another game this season! Enough said.— oneway
- Now, now, it's O.K. Nobody minds if you rooted for the Cowboys. We're all mature adults.
We want to help you get over your sadness and anger. Tell us where you park your car and we will decorate it for the holidays. If you leave the doors open, we will leave you some gifts, too. The PPA will give you an award later and give your car a free ride.— Jack Hughes 
Ha Ha...Suffer Eagle fans— Big Blue- Enjoy it for a year there Mr. Bandwagon! So who are you going to support after this year's Superbowl? Probably Houston when they win it all? — gdibig
- BobbyD
And the fact that you're reveling in other people's misery shows you to be one stellar human being yourself.— Hemingway - I love how all these writers, like Hoffman, talk about Andy Reid's imminent firing as if it's practically a done deal. Lurie has done absolutely NOTHING to show he has the b@alls to get rid of Reid, and I fully expect him to use the injury excuse to keep Reid on for another disastrous season. I just won't be around to watch it.— Squizzy Magee
- The staff could not coach it's way out of a paper bag with directions. You have a bean counter who is a GM and an owner who is dumber than a bag of rocks and 3-9 dog going further south. The fans want a high draft pick as we climb the loser ladder but you have to ask the question who is smart enough to pick the right guy. It will get very ugly before it will get better with this ship of fools we have here.— d1955h
- So apparently Andy thinks he has a shot at keeping his job, even if nobody lse does.
That's the only way to read this.— banned - About time they let Washburn go. He played the most selfish defensive line system in the league. Just an awful year for the Eagles, but the house cleaning has started. Andy deserves after 14 years to finish out the final 4 games. The only reason to get rid of him is to satisfy us as fans, and that won't happen. What's amazing is why Andy hired both Washburn and Mudd in the first place. Both use the gimick schemes, and after one failed year, they just kept going as it continued to crash and burn. It will a good day when the Eagles (hopefully) clean house and move to a era of Eagles football.— ryanrockzzz
- You ever think that Reid couldn't get a defensive coordinator because he had already hired Washburn?Washburn's line did OK last year and in the pre-season, but it was clear that his scheme caused dysfunction with the back 7 on running plays or if the line didn't get to the QB. So, you have LBs not trusting the line, safeties that don't know what to do, and CBs and LBs not trusting the safeties.And a stubborn redhead who didn't draft or develop a single defensive playmaker in 14+ years. (HTML deleted)— Spaceman Eddie
- You ever think that Reid couldn't get a defensive coordinator because he had already hired Washburn?
Washburn's line did OK last year and in the pre-season, but it was clear that his scheme caused dysfunction with the back 7 on running plays or if the line didn't get to the QB. So, you have LBs not trusting the line, safeties that don't know what to do, and CBs and LBs not trusting the safeties.
And a stubborn redhead who didn't draft or develop a single defensive playmaker in 14+ years.— Spaceman Eddie - Reid is cleaning house and getting rid of what he considers cancers. Watch for Namdi to go. Maybe one or two more. With another couple improving starts for Foles, Reid will be back to "rebuild" and "finish what he's started". Lurie loves to show us that he is smarter than everyone else. Plan on it.— doo dah man
