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.
So Arians hears the Eagles are interested and he gets so nauseous he has to go to the hospital? He really doesn't want to come back to Philadelphia....— jlmfl- If we go with Chip Kelly that means we will almost have to draft someone like Gino from W.V. Vick is too fragile to run that system and Nick Foles cannot run his version of his offense. Maybe they tank year one so they get Johnny football next year.
- I've been posting this alot but it is relevant. 10 out of the last 15 Super Bowls were won by "retread" head coaches. The other 5 were won by coaches who came into their jobs with significant experience as NFL assistants and coordinators. If you want to win the Super Bowl, your best bet is hiring an experienced NFL head coach (Whisenhunt, Mangini, Nolan, Smith). Short of that, the focus should be on experienced coordinators (McCoy, Arians, Bradley). Of course, gimmicky Lurie would rather reinvent the sport rather than pursue a title. Imagine Vick running Kelly's offense. He'd get killed, miss half the games, and have an enormous amount of turnovers. Sounds like a winner!— jtj06
- Cg25's knowledge of Chip kelly and what he runs in Oregon is equivalent to his knowledge of pyschyology...
No charlie, Chip Kelly is not an Irish cookie. "I have to explain everything"...hahahahahahaa, that from a guy that knows nothing about college football. You can't make it up.— tpizza - Cg25's knowledge of Chip kelly and what he runs in Oregon is equivalent to his knowledge of pyschyology...No charlie, Chip Kelly is not an Irish cookie. "I have to explain everything"...hahahahahahaa, that from a guy that knows nothing about college football. You can't make it up. (HTML deleted)— tpizza
- Like Gavin McLeod said in "Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry" toward the end of the movie, "He's playing YOU." Kelly will end up back in Oregon, in my opinion.— ghost of callison
- Kelly is "entertaining offers"? Who is hiring who?— jman
- Thanks Chippy for staying with the Ducks. What NFL team will hire you now. I mean you can't decide to make the jump to the NFL after two years what makes you think you can coach and manage an NFL team. Again, thanks Chippy. Oh and best of luck with your NCAA investigation, perhaps you could entertain them for 9 hrs as to why you don't deserve them! Ha!— gbreen88
- Any top college coach enjoying a wealth-laden alumni will likely be bribed to stay at that school.
Chip Kelly will be no different.— wbramh - Gus Bradley. Lets get back to a defense that we used to know when teams were not anxious to come to Philly.— olddog
- I would prefer Bradley. You saw what his defense did against a banged up RGIII. Despite falling to a 14 - 0 deficit, he made adjustments and the Skins didn't score again. The Eagles have offense and talent but we need a serious overhaul in defense and defensive philosophy. Bradley is just what we need. He will bring back the big, physical, nasty defense we grew accustomed to over the years.— blackknight
- Bradley sounds good as Seattle doesn't have top name talent but plays like they do and that is what we need most! Get a good offesnive coordinator like Norv Turner and pair him with Bradley!— connorjr
- hire Harry from musical group "One Direction" dude looks fierce. Plus he got alot closer to drew brees than our defense ever did— sammydelphia
