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.
McCoy makes sense to me. If he could win games with Tebow he has to be a good coach. It seems he can change to fit the players he has. Look what he did with Peyton.— rolan01us- Tebow relied on improvisation and scrambling when he was at denver. We've had almost 30 years of that and I'm quite done with it. I hope there's more to McCoy's profile then Tebow and Manning (who I could be the OC for). — jdrab
- I for one am curious to see what Chip Kelly can do with Vick, DJax, McCoy, Maclin, and Cooper... and a healthier offensive line. I kinda have the feeling though that Kelly will stay at Oregon and the Eagles will hire McCoy, which would also be interesting.
I know many think Kelly's stuff wouldn't work in the NFL, but I think it absolutely would. It's not a gimmick, it's based on solid strategies/schemes to enhance the running game (and by extension, the passing game). I also think Kelly would be smart enough to hire a real defensive coordinator that would handle that part of the game. But who knows.— edmundhan - Bradley or McCoy.— Penfold18
- i hope Chip Kelly turns us down. Gus Bradley fits the team, the city and the fans style of tough no-nonsense defines. Keep Marty around for a bit longer.— JJReid
- You had me right up to "Keep Marty around for a bit longer" — jdrab
- NO CHIP KELLY...Kelly's gimmick offense will not work against NFL FAST STUDS.....and Vick is an old shot QB that would get killed and would not last 3 games with this gimmick offense and Eagles will be 3-13...LOL.— jim35
- Dude are you just gonna cut and paste the same moronic comment over and over? Mindless babble, my dog knows more about football then you — DogBiscuitthedope
- Jjr....keep Marty around....good one
— Wakes - How does anybody know if Chip Kellys offense will work in the pros?? He would obviously have to tinker with it a little bit to be more successful in the nfl and he has already said that..I am intrigued by Chip Kelly and would love if he brought a dynamic offense to Philadelphia and like edmund said hire a big name defensive coordinator to handle that side of the ball..I am so tired of seeing the NO PLEASE NO CHIP KELLY.. You have no clue or idea if he will be successful absolutely NO IDEA..I for one am pumped up to see if it could work and if it does it will be something new and exciting and i am all for that..— KEITHYD
- What you don't realize is jim35 has extensive XBOX experience and maybe even played a little middle school JV so he certainly knows enough about the game to speak to Kelly's qualifications. — DogBiscuitthedope
- So that is where Howie got his NFL experience Xbox. Howie wants someone with no NFL exp., so then they do not have more than he does. There is amethod to what Howie is doing. If the new coach does not work out, Howie will step in. — stang66302
- jim35 - I'm not sure about one dude referring to another as a stud— Bobphxville
- None of these guys sound very appetizing. I forsee less than ten wins total during the next two years. Then we'll be doing this all over again, right around the time the Chiefs are preparing for their playoff game.— AngryGregR
- Why has Jim Hazlett's name not been mentioned and why isn't the brain trust considering him?
— azguy
