Posted: Tuesday, January 27, 2009, 8:31 PM | 13 comments |
 

Banner: Change is not on the way
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The theme of tonight's Comcast SportsNet interview with Eagles president Joe Banner was that change is not coming to the franchise.

Don't expect an elite wide receiver. Don't look for the Kevin Kolb era to begin. And don't expect Andy Reid to be headed out of town anytime soon.

I wrote a couple posts today about the interview after CSN aired snippets of it last night -- one focused on Banner addressing Reid and McNabb's future and another on his comparison of Reid to John Madden -- but he had some other interesting things to say as the sitdown with Michael Barkann aired in its entirety this evening.

The focus in large part was the head coach. Banner addressed the possible issue of Reid having too many responsibilities.

""Here’s my answer. It’s a totally valid question. The key to the answer to the question is the quality of the people he’s surrounded himself with," Banner said.. "… Really what we do for Andy is kind of narrow the width of the question and then get him focused on the things that he has to evaluate, watch film on, make decisions on. And he feels very confident with the people kind of narrowing the question. So if he was trying to do all of those things and was surrounded with mediocre people or less quantity even of good people, it probably wouldn’t be a manageable situation. …I don’t have concerns with the number of hats he’s wearing."

While the hierarchy in the Eagles' front office has sometimes been fuzzy, Banner said Reid has the final say on all matters.

"Absolutely. Every decision we make," Banner said. "People have opinions and views and sometimes lobby for things or argue for things, but in the end, he evaluates all the information, takes all the input and he makes the decision and that’s what we do."

Banner also added that fans and the media shouldn't read anything into the fact that Tom Heckert was not at the Senior Bowl. Per Banner, Heckert was simply needed more in Philadelphia last week.

When asked if there will be any front office changes this offseason, Banner said, "There will not be."

And how long will Reid be the team's head coach?

"My hope is it's a long time," Banner said.

Later in the interview, Banner was asked about the general process he goes through in the offseason and the need to tweak the roster. Unwarranted, he brought up the Terrell Owens situation.

"When we signed T.O., people don’t realize, one of the reasons we signed T.O. was we decided that maybe the team was too passive in its confidence and that we actually needed somebody who’s gonna shake things up a little bit," Banner said. "There was an area about signing T.O. that was more than how he played wide receiver."

Here are a couple more excerpts from the interview. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts (as if I have to tell you to do so).

Q: Do the Eagles need to add an elite wide receiver?

A: "If you look at the teams that have won the Super Bowl and been in the Super Bowls, a significant minority of them will have those guys. So do you want one of those guys? Of course. There’s a very, very small number of those guys. Can you win without one of those guys? Absolutely. So we signed T.O. I think we acknowledged as it was reported, we had interest this offseason in Randy Moss. We’ve had interest in other players that have been speculated."

Q: Is it tough to sell the fans on no change?

A: "We spend more money than probably any team in professional sports doing focus groups and research, and then we also have the obvious measurables out there like TV ratings and ticket waiting lists and merchandise sales. We hire a national, independent, not from Philadelphia, company that does most of the sports research for... I don’t care whether it’s the Budweisers of the world, or the Yankees of the world, whoever’s doing it. The results are just overwhelming. I mean the popularity of Andy Reid in this city is as high as any coach in any sport in the country. The popularity of Donovan McNabb is as high as any athlete almost anywhere ever here in Philadelphia. …When you put things on balance and compare them to the rest of our league and professional sports and see what they’ve achieved, it’s phenomenal. And our fans overwhelmingly recognize that.
Posted by Sheil Kapadia @ 8:31 PM  Permalink | 13 comments
13
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:33 PM, 01/27/2009
    Isn't Banner the guy who, after the Eagles lost for the fourth time in five NFC title games, said that sticking with something that isn't working is insanity? Here's true insanity: spending money on a team run by guys who care more about the bottom line than winning championships.
    — iceman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:39 PM, 01/27/2009
    The only hope Philly has is to force Laurie,Banner and Reid out of town! Stop making Laurie richer! Demand he sells the team to a buyer that is local and will want to win!
    — losteagle
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 9:44 PM, 01/27/2009
    Why do the vocal minority want to ignore the fact that Donovan is the most successful Eagles QB, ever....Andy is the the most successful Coach, ever....and the Lurie/Banner team is the the most successful ownership, ever? How quickly these people forget Rich Kotite, et al.
    — amblereagles
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:04 PM, 01/27/2009
    He is so out of touch it's ridiculous. The fans DON'T like staying the same, the fans DON'T like losing every year, and the fans DON'T like knowing the draft will bring us nothing more than a traded first-round pick and a few o-linemen. The only thing I agree on is taking away Andy Reid's power, which I don't think they will ever do.
    — xphile101
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:08 PM, 01/27/2009
    What a bunch of BS. How insulting! Banner is patting himself on the back and is trying to preserve his job. The more I hear from this organization, the more I am out the door. I will now make sure that my kids don't become Eagles fans. For the rest of you, keep buying those tickets and jerseys, suckers. And amblereagles, quit trying to compare this loser regime with other loser regimes. It proves nothing.
    — eaglephanatic
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:16 PM, 01/27/2009
    he didn't answer the last question. banner, instead of blowing $ on research groups, how about you max out of the salary cap for once? what a joke - go phils
    — main liner
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:31 PM, 01/27/2009
    right on amblereagle the people with no life and time to stay on hold 4 hours 4 a 30 second radio comment who havent accomplished anything r always griping and unfortunately negativity sells so people think that the whole city hates donovan and reid and it just aint so...good old negadelphia glad i moved to LA...if ur gonna make sure ur kids arent phans then dont call urself eagle phanatic...move to camden
    — dsoul
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:57 PM, 01/27/2009
    Can someone say big smash mouth running back to compliment Westbrook and take the pressure of McNabb so he doesn't have to carry the offense?
    — joedoc3
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:01 PM, 01/27/2009
    When the eagles were playing poorly no saw or heard from banner or lurie. Now they're all over the place, patting themselves on the back. Congratulating themselves on getting to another "championship" game. The actual championship is this weekend guys. Hopefully all your research money will tell you that this is what is important to then fans.
    — bababooey2yall
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:10 PM, 01/27/2009
    In case anyone hasn't noticed what has Jery jones done with the Cryboys with all his money. If we get the receiver from Cincinnati (Huzzmzadah) and posibly Jacobs from the Giants as Sporting News suggest what else do we need. Over the last 10 years who is better then Reid and McNabb. Sign McNabb long term, sign Runyan short term and let Thomas leave. As far as Shephard use him as trade bait why deal with Rosenhaus again. Who has he been succesful with. I add my sentiments to amblereagles...stop being passive Eagle fans and be real ones!!!
    — hrlevine
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:05 AM, 01/28/2009
    If all you're looking at is statistics-yes McNabb is the best quarterback the Eagles ever had-wins yards etc. If you are looking at winning National Footbal League championships he is not. I have been a McNabb fan since the day he was drafted but history shows he can only get you two steps from winning it all. You can look for excuses or blame other players (or the lack of them) but the bottom line is a winning quarterback (such as Brady) more times than not will find a way to win. Personally I always thought Banner was good at the business end of the game but when it comes to knowing the difference between a running back and a defensive end he is lost. Do everyone a fovor Joe-stay in the office where you belong.
    — #1 efan


13 comments
About Sheil Kapadia
Sheil Kapadia is in his fourth season writing about the Eagles and the NFL for philly.com. His earliest memories as a sports fan include several trips to Veterans Stadium with his Dad. He's not a beat writer or an Insider, but is here to discuss the NFL 365 days a year. E-mail him at skapadia@philly.com or by clicking here

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