Lurie's final walk to Reid's office
How the Lurie-Reid conversation went.
Lurie's final walk to Reid's office
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
His office? Your office?
“His office,” Jeffrey Lurie said. “When Andy and I talked, especially about these kinds of things, it was usually in his office. I just thought you showed respect by doing it that way.”
It was coming up on 9 o’clock on Monday morning. That is when the Eagles’ owner took the walk down the hall, the walk that he had been dreading. Out the door, down the hall, into a common area and then over to the football side of the NovaCare Complex. Maybe the walk took 15 seconds. Maybe a little bit more.
Fifteen seconds. Fourteen years.
Lurie had known he was going to fire Andy Reid for weeks. After 14 years, he was gong to dismiss the man who did more than anyone in the building to change the culture of the Philadelphia Eagles. It is not like firing a baseball manager or a hockey coach. When you fire a coach in the National Football League, you end up fundamentally altering just about everything involved on the football side of things. It isn’t like you’re just changing the bunt sign.
You say to Lurie that, given everything, it must have been such a weird and uncomfortable conversation. But he brightened at the memory. The press conference was over, and the post-press conference press conference was over, and he was swigging from a bottle of water and smiling what seemed to be a grateful smile -- grateful for Reid’s final act.
“It was so comfortable,” Lurie said. “Oh my God. We were both prepared for this in our own individual ways. We’re close. We’re friends. We knew, both of us. It was unspoken, but we knew. Part of me dreaded it but part of me just knew it was going to be comfortable. You work with somebody for 14 years and you just know.
“We knew it needed a change. It was time for him to have a change. He needs a change even though he was still fired up about the future here.”
We have not yet heard Reid’s side of the conversation. He talked to his players, and then to the entire front office staff, but he offered no public reaction to his firing. Maybe soon, maybe never -- with Reid, you can never be sure.
After today, all of the news looks forward -- to the search for a new coach, and to the decision on how the new coach and general manager Howie Roseman will work together, and to the ritual dismantling of the roster. Because no matter how much the players and Roseman spent Monday talking about a lack of chemistry and leadership in the locker room, Roseman acknowledged that the Eagles did overrate their talent in 2012. As he said, “You’re 4-12. It’s not just chemistry.”
Still, even though the future is more important now, this final day deserves to be respected. The man did win more games than anyone in franchise history. And while Lurie and Joe Banner were the ones who got the stadium and the practice facility built, it was Reid who turned the team into a winner on the field and who kept it there for more than a decade.
But even though it was time, and everyone knew it, that walk down the hall must have been hell. Pretty much every good thing that has happened to the Eagles under Lurie has happened with Reid as his coach. That is a mouthful, but it is true. You can foresee a hopeful future and still recognize everything Reid did. The walk down the hall had to have been hard.
“I don’t know,” Lurie said. “Maybe we’re just so comfortable with each other that, even under the duress of having to do this, it was OK. We were just honest with each other. We’ve been honest with each other forever.
“I was honest when I said that I was just so disappointed and felt like a change was necessary. He accepted my honesty. I accepted his honesty back.”
It was reported that Lurie actually fired Reid on Friday. Lurie said that was not true, but that there was a philosophical conversation between the two men that day.
“We did speak twice,” Lurie said. “We spoke on Friday but there was no decision made. He spoke about his hopes for the future. He offered me a great analysis of where we’re at, and his optimism about the future.
“Today? It was almost sort of a fait accompli. He knew, and I knew, that it was time. That was all.”
With that, for Jeffrey Lurie, there is a final reality on the last day of the Andy Reid era: that while this was certainly the right move, there are no certainties after today.
If Andy Reid was the coach of the Redskins, they would have lost last night. He would have had a hobbled RGIII drop back 50 times to pass, risking further injury. Shanahan, a smart coach, realized this and took the pressure off RGIII and ran the ball and won the game. Andy Reid would never do that. He always had to pass, no matter the situation. Could have won a Super Bowl or two if he ran the ball when the situation dictated it.— phink- I look forward to a head coach whose philosophy includes giving honest direct responses to questions posed from the print and cable media. I am soo tired of Non-answers.— zen
- Sorry Jeff, but no one ever feels comfortable when you can someone, regardless of how honest and chummy you were and how inevitable it was. The only time you feel comfortable is when you catch someone who was stealing from the company, literally. And even then, it isn't comfortable, it's only justified.— alwaysphil1
- He forgot the part about handing Reid the $6 million dollar check. How could anyone be too upset after just receiving a $6 million dollar check. Reid getting fired is not the same as me and you getting fired.— Lets Eat
- "The man did win more games than anyone in franchise history." Will you guys please stop with that. It should be mandatory to have that statement come with an asterisk. *THE MAN WAS COACH LONGER THAN ANY OTHER EAGLES COACH IN FRANCHISE HISTORY for Pete's sake. The odds favored him winning "more games than anyone in franchise history", therefore, it's not all that special. Jeez! ANY other past Eagles coach, given the same longevity opportunity in all probability, could have accomplished the same thing. And, it helped that this occurred during a period when the NFL East Division (who's members have since swept the Eagles, except the Giants who split with them but SHOULD have swept them) was at it's weakest during those illusionary years. Years, a better coach would have taken advantage of and WON the Super Bowl. I'm happy he's gone. He wasted 14 years of my life with false promises and hope.— essell
- I don't know why everybody's so excited to see Andy Reid gone. Now the team is in Howie Roseman's hands. He of drafting Danny Watkins because of his combine performance, signing Lame-D Asomugha, and bringing in the wide 9's. Any coach with useful ideas of his own won't sign on to bow to a salary cap accountant. 4-12 will seem like halcyon days after Lurie and Roseman hire their house stooge.— drasticwillb
- Yeh, we need a new owner, one who will make sure we win the Super Bowl every year from mow on. Lurie is a good owner you morons. Every time you comment the city's football IQ goes down.— EagleEye61
This entire organization reeks of arrogance from the top on down. Delusions that the 2012 draft was top notch, delusions that they are a top notch elite organization. Delusions. If you buy what Lurie is selling, frankly, you are just as deluded. The most arrogant and unlikable professional sports franchise is this city in 50 years.....and that's saying a lot.- So he didn't bring you f'n d**kheads a Lombardi trophy. Go kick your dog and smack yr wives, you bunch of disgusting losers who have no idea of what it takes to win a championship. Good luck to you, Andy, and may you find redemption out of this bitter cesspool that is Philadelphia!— Slidewell
- I liked Reid but he got away from what made him a good coach...He will be successful wherever he goes— iskabobpatel
- Reid was a good but not a great coach, who will only be mediocre in his next place. I hope he takes a year (or more) off. We willregress with his replacement because there are better head coaching jobs out there.
We do not have a legit starting QB -- an absolute prerequisite -- and our core players quit for half this season. The most qualified coach will go to the Bears, because that's a football town (even though Cutler's a nightmare) and Lovie Smith did not deserve to be fired. Second option: San Diego, for obvious reasons. Jon Gruden will be first in line (though he's overrated).
Hey, we're more attractive than the Browns, KC or the Jaguars. Narrowly.
— eman - I can't see Arizona hiring Reid. The guy they just fired defeated Reid this year, and in the playoffs a few years back. Would not make sense.— watsonmr
- Coleman gone, just no talent, Vick gone because he has impugned his teammates, and there should be about 10-15 more. Please do not keep Morningweg and the rest of the coaches including Doug Pederson ( awful as a QB)...how could they have chosen him to catch QBs? Lots of preliminary work to do before anew coach comes in...might a swell do it now.— 5thstrretpast
- Another decision Lurie will regret in time.— JBinPA
