Eagles coaching search update
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Eagles coaching search update
Zach Berman
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, thats brilliant "MikeP". Do I really have to explain everything. Keeping Andy in the same spot would NOT win a superbowl, same with those other guys. There are mistakes or things they may do that they learn to correct the 2nd time, by LEAVING THE SITUATION AND STARTING SOMEHWERE NEW. That is how it happens, so keeping Reid would not win anything. And even though is a guy that would fit that mold of a "2nd timer" which does win superbowls pretty often, the problem with him is his FAILED SYSTEM that WILL NOT WIN A SUEPRBOWL NO MATTER WHERE HE GOES. He 65% called passing will never win, anywhere, wheras Bellichek, Coughlin, Dungy, Love Smith and Ken Whisenhunt all know how to run the football (Whisenhunt was the OC for Cowher when the steelers won thier first SB with Roethlisburger...tons of power running and a superbowl championship...and then he takes a terrible cardinals team to a SB while outcoaching Andy Reid REPEATEDLY.) Whisenhunt and Lovie Smith would both be solid choices, although so would Gus Bradley, and Mike McCoy might be OK too, but I like the other guys more. Chip Kelly however would be a complete failure, and will get booed, repeatedly, if he is named as Eagles Head Coach. I am tired of gimmicky football and bad defense, its not going to do well. But I think Chip, like Andy is a control freak just looking for more money and power that he can get to stay at Oregon. Great guy.
Get Bradley - I'm tired of offensive gurus. Bradley reminds me of JJ & we need to get back to being a defense the NFC East fears & everyone respects.46 years old, tireless ethic, tutored by Monte Kifflin (who ate Andy up in 2002's championship game), knows talent, plays aggressive and smart— Ed3- Gus Bradley smells badly.— Sidewinder7
- Just saw the seahawks beat the skins. They won because of two things DEFENSE AND RUNNING. Hope the eagles was watching so they can learn how to win— mmarshall714
- Based on today's game and this season, the object of their affection should be Gus Bradley.— armchairGM
- From NFL.com
" Rapoport reported Sunday the Eagles are selling Oregon coach Chip Kelly on two major factors: First, a roster already stocked with the type of players Kelly recruited at Oregon, including a handful of short, fast wideouts. Second, a pair of in-house signal-callers that loom as a decent fit to operate Kelly's up-tempo, spread attack"
Let's address these " selling points":
Djack is too small and numbers have been going down
'11 whined about his contract and did not give his full effort
Not a team player. Just a "me" type
Avant, numbers are not great only 12.5 avg yards
McLain smal, 13.4 avg yards
Cooper much bigger and better numbers
Vick has not played a full season yet, injury prone, front line needs work AND he cannot lead a team.
Foles, not the runner that is needed in Chips offense.— stang66302 - "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."
now that andy is gone, everyone loves him? the chiefs will never make the playoffs with andy. he'll be there 3 years and never win more than 6 games. book it.— jakeAZ - It looks like Kelly's staying at Oregon which is probably better for the Eagles. I'm hoping they either hire Darrell Bevell, Mike McCoy, or Gus Bradley now that Bill O'Brien's staying put at PSU. Whichever coach it is, it'll really depend on who they hire as their DC unless they hire Bradley as their coach. Good luck!— uscwee
- Jim35, you've been making the same comment on every article for a week now, get some new material, you're boring.— JBinPA
- Kelly doesn't seem very interested. It's not like he hasn't thought about this before this week.— p-diddy
- Is it true that Kelly borrowed Andy Reid's binder for his interview with the Eagles?— Boru
- What about Ray Rhodes?— Leron
- The major concern should be how to transform the defense into an intimidating, smash mouth group that puts constant pressure on opposing offenses to execute with precision and creates turnovers. It's not simply a matter of a talent upgrade, although one is clearly needed at least in the secondary. I lean towards Bradley if he passes the test Lurie puts to him. My real worry is Lurie himself. I don't trust his judgement or what he tells us. When he says Roseman's talent evaluation is solid and can be judged this year does that include signing Bell and letting Assante go (for nothing in return, where he starts for the best team in the conference) so our other corners can play? Assante was the only playmaker we had on defense. How about the decision to cut Winston Justice and Mike McGlynn (who starts for Indy) and keep our other backup linemen? Were these Howie decisions, if he can only be accountable for personnel moves made in 2012 ? Or, are we to only look at the last draft ?— joe goldberg
- Does anyone really think that McCoy is why Denver's offense has improved so much? Come on now, really. Peyton Manning calls his own plays and is THE reason Denver is so much better. McCoy's offense was pathetic last year and was in the playoffs only because of it's defense. If the Eagles go in that direction wait for a long road back.— sdking1112
- Denver's defense wasn't so hot in 2011. It was in the bottom third of the league. — jtj06
