Eagles coaching search update
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles coaching search update
Zach Berman, Inquirer Staff Writer
By Zach Berman
It has now been nearly a week since the Eagles coaching search officially commenced, and the week has been marked by rumors, spin, whirlwind flights, interviews, and a lot of waiting.
Here is a quick tip sheet to catch you up...
- Chip Kelly has been at the top, or near the top, the entire time, as The Inquirer reported on Tuesday. Kelly coached Thursday's Fiesta Bowl, and said after the game he would listen to overtures from the NFL. That set off a competition for Kelly's services between the Eagles and Browns -- or, better said, Jeffrey Lurie/Howie Roseman vs. Joe Banner.
The Browns looked like the front-runner after a Friday meeting. However, the Eagles still flew to Arizona on Saturday to meet with Kelly. Lunch turned into dinner, and a marathon meeting enhanced the Eagles chances of landing the innovative college coach. Now, it appears Kelly is choosing between the Eagles and staying with the Ducks. Of course, if the past 72 hours revealed anything, it's that coaching situations are fluid. But the Eagles are in considerably better position for their top choice than it once seemed.
- As interested as the Eagles are in Kelly, they were also interested in Penn State coach Bill O'Brien. The Eagles even traveled to Massachusetts to interview O'Brien while O'Brien was on vacation. However, O'Brien ultimately elected to stay with at Penn State, and milked a nice raise out in the process.
- Those two weren't the only college coaches that excited the Eagles. They also liked Syracuse's Doug Marrone, and were scheduled to meet with Marrone this weekend. That never took place, though, because Marrone reached a deal with the Buffalo Bills early Sunday morning.
- Although the college coaches received the bulk of attention, the Eagles also confirmed interviews with NFL coaches. The first group of coaches that the Eagles interviewed were Atlanta Falcons special teams coordinator Keith Armstrong (a Temple product) and defensive coordinator Mike Nolan. They also wanted to meet with offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter, but he signed a contract extension to stay with the Falcons.
They are meeting Sunday with Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, an intriguing candidate who has won with both Tim Tebow and Peyton Manning the past two seasons. Pay attention to McCoy if Kelly decides to stay at Oregon, although the Eagles might need to wait until the Broncos' postseason run concludes.
Speaking of concluded postseason runs, the Eagles have requested to meet with Bengals offensive coordinator Jay Gruden. The Bengals lost on Saturday in the wild card round, but the Bengals stll have not granted permission to the Eagles. Gruden is the younger brother of former Eagles offensive coordinator Jon Gruden. He has impressed with his work with young Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton.
The Eagles will also have their eyes on two Sunday games. They were granted permission to meet next week with Colts offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, a former Temple coach who was 9-3 as the Colts interim head coach this season. However, Arians is hospitalized for Sunday's game with nausea and headaches. Arians, 60, has worked with Andrew Luck this season and Ben Roethlisberger in recent seasons, and is the oldest coach the Eagles have considered.
They will also watch Seahawks defensive coordinator Gus Bradley, an intriguing name who is well thought of in NFL circles. Bradley, 46, oversees the top scoring defense in the NFL. Seattle plays in Washington on Sunday, and his defense will be on display against Robert Griffin III. Besides Nolan, he is the only defensive coach the Eagles have considered.
- That's the state of the search for now. The object of the Eagles' affection has been Kelly, according to league sources, and it appears the Eagles have the best chance if Kelly elects to go to the NFL. Beyond Kelly, pay attention to McCoy and Bradley.
The key thing to understand with coaching search is the situation is very fluid, and interest in the coach does not necessarily mean the coach is interested. There are dynamics with every candidate, and those dynamics are even more complicated with a coordinator on a playoff team.
Keep following The Inquirer and philly.com for more information. Birds' Eye View will have daily looks at the status of the search, too.
lol, KETHYD...actually you can. If you look at the past superbowls, how many were won by scrambling QB's...not Steve Young who developed into a pocket passer when he won his superbowls, but by actual current scramlbing QB;s. Not 1 superbowl EVER has been won by a scrambling QB's who takes off and runs as much as he throws. NEVER. NOT ONE TIME. EVER. Chip Kellys system is exactly that, a scrambling QB running around as much as he throws. So you can say FACTUALLY, that his system has NEVER RESULTED IN A SUPERBOWL WINNING TEAM. EVER. Thats a "fact". Other teams arent as dumb as Jeff and Howie though and drooling over a stupid gimmick that will not win a superbowl in the NFL and fail horribly, sooner or later. Think about why possibly, only Jeff, Howie and Joe are in love with Chip Kelly, and how many superbowls the 3 of them have won combined, ever...hint ZERO PATEHTIC ZERO 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 00000000000000000000000- Elway,Staubach,Bradshaw could all scramble.
— easy - this reminds me of the nahmdi sweepstakes...i'd hate to "win" another one— 1stamendment
- I like Kelly, but noticeably absent are names like jon gruden, brian billick, and bill cowher...thought they'd consider some former pro coaches...especially ones that won superbowls.— philly thug
- Like Bradley or McCoy...— dudega
- thats true philly thug, but SB winning coaches already have had success and none of them have gone on to win a superbowl for a different team. (although its only been tried by 5 guys or so and is not a big sample, so it is possible) But an even better track record for a superbowl is a fuy that FAILED in his first stop and then won in his 2nd (Tom Coughlin, Tony Dungy, Bill Bellichek etc.) Bill Bellichek probably looked like a failed head coach in the NFL after cleveland and then went on to to win multiple superbowls. There are things a guy can learn by being an NFL coach already, and sometimes in thier 2nd stint they correct whatever they did wrong the first time and win. Its a much better idea then a college coach with no NFL experience which has virtually never worked ever, except for Jimmy Johnson. Vs the dozens of guys who failed first and then won. Which is why smarter teams are interviewing Ken Whisenhunt and Lovie Smith, both guys who took teams to superbowls and lost, but who both could win a superbowl with a 2nd team. Even Jon Gruden would have a decent chance of winning a superbowl...much more then a gimmick "experiment" by Chip Kelly that hasnt even won a championship in the ncas's, and got beat by 3 points in the biggest games against the best defenses. Completely pathetic football that will not win a superbowl in the NFL. But thats Howie nd Jeffrey, who will both never win a superbowl unless they make an actually smart hire.— CharlieGarner25
- — KEITHYDIt's not so much the system, but the fact that college coaches without NFL experience tend to crash and burn once they get to the NFL, especially those coaches who rely on systems that are tailored for the college game. As many have pointed out, systems designed for the quarterback to run do not fair well in the NFL. If you look at the quarterbacks who have won the superbowl, they have all been pocket passers for the most part. Some were more mobile than others, but none relied on running. That's just the nature of the NFL game. The guys are just so big and fast. And the coaches are smart. They tend to figure out systems like Kelly's very quickly. The Run and Shoot is a prime example. The coaches who tend to win titles in the NFL are younger coordinators who have a certain genius for developing schemes that fit the strengths of their players. The Eagles need to be looking for the next Mike Tomlin or Sean Payton. Kelly might be the next coming, but most likely, he's the next coming of Nick Saben or Steve Spurrier. If Lurie had any sense, he'd hire a real GM and let that guy hire the next head coach. But he doesn't, which is why I have little faith in the Eagles bringing in the right guy. (HTML deleted)— Hemingway
- — KEITHYD
It's not so much the system, but the fact that college coaches without NFL experience tend to crash and burn once they get to the NFL, especially those coaches who rely on systems that are tailored for the college game. As many have pointed out, systems designed for the quarterback to run do not fair well in the NFL. If you look at the quarterbacks who have won the superbowl, they have all been pocket passers for the most part. Some were more mobile than others, but none relied on running. That's just the nature of the NFL game. The guys are just so big and fast. And the coaches are smart. They tend to figure out systems like Kelly's very quickly. The Run and Shoot is a prime example. The coaches who tend to win titles in the NFL are younger coordinators who have a certain genius for developing schemes that fit the strengths of their players. The Eagles need to be looking for the next Mike Tomlin or Sean Payton. Kelly might be the next coming, but most likely, he's the next coming of Nick Saben or Steve Spurrier. If Lurie had any sense, he'd hire a real GM and let that guy hire the next head coach. But he doesn't, which is why I have little faith in the Eagles bringing in the right guy.— Hemingway - We shall see...I am worried that Kelly has no NFL experience...despite recent history there are many more Steve Spurrier flameouts than Jimmy Johnson successes..as far as making the transition.— iskabobpatel
- @1stamendment, I'm with you there. We don't need another overpaid useless POS on the Eagles again....let alone leading the team! The only good thing about Chump Kelly is that The Mike Vick Experience might be back behind center for the Birds.......— Panthro2011
- Nobody from Temple! Please!— ej610
- No matter who we hire its a crapshoot..He already said he would have to tinker his offense to succeed in the nfl..The guy has no family,no kids,no wife the guy just lives breathes and eats football...I am excited about a new dynamic that we have never had..Can he be bust and just blow up ??? Yes no doubt but so can any of these guys..Bruce Arians is 60 years old and been in the league for 30 years and has never had an interview till this year..Mike Mccoy i would be ok with hes had some success wherever hes went and been the offensive coordinator..Jay Gruden ill pass on and the defensive coordinator of the seahawks i have no clue about..So there is no guarantee out there at all with any of those candidates..— KEITHYD
- just watched the Seahawks and Redskins games. We want Gus, his defense played very well and wow they can hit!— JJReid
- As most informed Eagles fans know, the Eagles interest in Kelly has nothing to do with the offensive scheme he is running. ZERO. 00000000000000000000000000. Lurie clearly stated that he's looking for leadership, someone who is innovative, somone who studies the game and stays a step ahead of competitors. One thing they are NOT looking for is a gimmick. Now Belichik is a pretty good coach and he had Kelly in for a visit and adopted some of his offensive philosophies so that's a pretty good endorsement. However, the Eagles should be more concerned about what other losing teams think about Kelly. They shouldn't consider any candidates that other teams aren't after because we all know how successful all of the other teams looking for a head coach have been. All of the other teams looking for a new head coach have won how many Super Bowls? Oh, none. Let's do something really idiotic like hire someone who has previously failed as a head coach because that's who has won Super Bowls. Oh wait. That's what Andy Reid was. Maybe they should have fired and rehired him because that's such a critical factor. Whew, the garbage some people who think they are footall geniouses spew. Pretty funny.— MikeP
- McCoy would be a great fit, if he can bring Peyton Manning with him.— Nicher
