Posted: Tuesday, January 31, 2012, 2:26 PM | 29 comments |
 

Did the Eagles really want Spagnuolo?
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Steve Spagnuolo was offered a job with the Eagles as a "place to land," Andy Reid announced. (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP file photo)

We can just add this to the list of questions, when it comes to the history of the Eagles franchise, to which we are never going to receive a satisfactory answer.

What if they had hired Jeff Fisher instead of Rich Kotite?

Did Donovan McNabb throw up at the Super Bowl?

Did they really want Steve Spagnuolo?

Andy Reid tried Tuesday to answer the question, but he was typically all over the place. In his first pass at the issue, Reid said that he offered Spagnuolo a job as a "place to land" in case nothing else came open. Then, with more probing, he said that it wasn't really like that, and that he really did try to get Spagnuolo to come back to the Eagles after being fired as the Rams' head coach.

Reid said he never got to the point where he considered replacing defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, and that even if Spagnuolo had agreed to join the Eagles' staff, it would have been because they liked the idea of bringing in that kind of defensive mind and that titles didn't really matter.

All of which means that, even though Reid did discuss this at a greater length than most people expected, given his history, we still really don't know the Eagles' level of interest, and what would have been the hierarchy on the defensive staff if Spagnuolo had been brought in. We also don't know if new secondary coach Todd Bowles will have a greater voice than a typical secondary coach.

We don't know anything, execpt this:

That Spagnuolo did have a job offer here, and that he chose to become the New Orleans Saints' defensive coordinator instead, and that he did it for a very good reason:

The Saints' job was the better job. Period.

That is the real truth of the off-season so far.

*********

Read a transcript of Reid's comments by clicking HERE.
Posted by Rich Hofmann @ 2:26 PM  Permalink | 29 comments
29
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:37 PM, 01/31/2012
    listening to Andy Reid is like being in pre school listing to children talk going off every different direction
    — tgo2go
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 7:00 PM, 01/31/2012
    Knowing that Andy will be fired in one year, why in the world would Spags choose to become a lame-duck DC? It really doesn't take a rocket-scientist.
    — Lonewolf11
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:55 PM, 02/01/2012
    I'm sure that had a lot to do with his decision, but even if Andy's job was safe, why come back to a place you've already been, unless its a clear promotion from the job he had when he was here before? In fact, he was (according to Andy) being asked to take a position of less authority than he had when he was with the Giants. Why do that when you are offered a fresh start as DC in New Orleans, with a team that has a good chance of getting to the Super Bowl and winning it?
    — SteveS11
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:46 PM, 01/31/2012
    Perhaps Spagnuolo doesn't have as many Groupies in Philly as I had thought?

    Andy over the years has done very well with the overachievers he puts on the field in a League where the stars determine a team's fate.
    — Dexter
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 2:59 PM, 01/31/2012
    No. If they wanted him they would have got him....this is jsut lip service and spin by Andy to placate the fans and make it look like they did something.....
    — nuggett
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:13 PM, 01/31/2012
    Gee Rich what is he supposed to say . . . Yeah I wanted Spagnuolo but he went to the Saints so I guess I'm stuck with Castillo? If the Daily News haad the opportunity to land a hot shot columnist from New York but the columnist decided to go to Los Angeles instead would you like management to issue a statement saying "Yeah we really wanted that guy but we'll make do with Hoffmann instead"?
    — degbert1012
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:19 PM, 01/31/2012
    What degbert said. Maybe the DN should try improving its own staff before it lectures the Eagles how to improve theirs.
    — eaglesfan
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:20 PM, 01/31/2012
    Darn right Reid wanted Spags. But as most everything, Reid screwed it up with all sorts of wacky conditions about who is in charge of the defense. Spags did not want any part of not having full control over his own defense. Another bad set of decisions by Reid.
    — Lets Eat
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:28 PM, 01/31/2012
    The defensive staff should coexist and have a fine season.
    11-5, playoffs, and maybe that final step this year. Go Eagles.
    — Willysoup
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:29 PM, 01/31/2012
    That would have been admitting that Arrogant Andy made a mistake and as we all know, Arrogant Andy has never made a mistake in his life!
    — younged
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:42 PM, 01/31/2012
    younged: I'm pretty sure Andy always takes responsibility for the team's mistakes/losses.
    — Leegles
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:57 PM, 01/31/2012
    It figures. With Eagle fans apparantly hope and wishful thinking springs eternal, which must be the reason that they see nothing wrong with Andy Reid's coaching and coaching changes.
    A reality check is in order.
    1)-If Andy hasn't done anything in 13 years of re-building, it'll never happen!
    2)-Andy Reid's coaching changes he's made, or will make in the future, are nothing more than moving the deck chairs around on a sinking Titanic.
    3)-Andy Reid has proven that he's clueless in the draft and has no balls to trade up, so don't expect much in the up-coming one. Ergo it's samo, samo in the 2012 season.
    My guess is that the Eagles unfortunatly will be at, or around 8-8 again.
    — AmRifleman
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:57 PM, 01/31/2012
    Seems like this could have been the same deal as Marty Mornhinweg - he came after losing the Lions job and signed on as an Offensive Advisor or some-such while Childress was the OC. Just another coach in the mix... He got the OC job later when Childress bolted for Minny...
    — HornHiAceDeuce
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 4:13 PM, 01/31/2012
    It's clear to me what Andy was doing. In case he HAD to stick with Juan as the DC, he did NOT want to undermine the confidence of a man already being fired by everybody except WHO COUNTED. His employer. If nothing else, Andy drives his own (sometimes peculiar) race. I'm also confident, given the schedule next year...HOO BOY!!...that Andy & Co. will be accepting a job offer by one of MANY teams licking their chops waiting for the fruit to drop from the tree. I fear that we will be entering a new Dark Age starting with a 2012 season that MIGHT be no better than 9-7. I wish the very best of luck to the Coaching Staff and the players that have to face EIGHT games against 2011 Playoff teams. Oh, and one against the Panthers...Cam Newton anyone?
    — TBear


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About Rich Hofmann
Rich Hofmann arrived at the Daily News in 1980 for a job whose status was officially designated as "full-time, temporary." A senior at Penn at the time, he was hired to fill in on the copy desk during a staff illness. The notion of him covering the Eagles or being a columnist did not exist in anyone's imagination. It was supposed to be six weeks and out, but he never left. It is only one of the reasons why so many people have concerns about him as a potential house guest. Rich has blogged the postseasons of the Flyers and Eagles. E-mail Rich at hofmanr@phillynews.com

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