Former Reid Assistants Speak Out About Former Boss
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Former Reid Assistants Speak Out About Former Boss
Paul Domowitch
PALM BEACH, Fla. -- I had an opportunity to spend a few minutes with two branches on the Andy Reid coaching tree – Browns head coach Pat Shurmur and Ravens head coach John Harbaugh -- Tuesday morning at the AFC coaches media breakfast at the NFL meetings.
Shurmur, 46, and Harbaugh, 49, spent a combined 19 years as assistants on Reid’s Eagles coaching staff. Shurmur worked for him from ’99 through ’08 before leaving to become the Rams’ offensive coordinator. Harbaugh was on his staff from ’99 through ’07 before the Ravens hired him. I asked both of them about working for Reid. This is what they had to say:
Shurmur: "There’s so many things I’ve learned from him. He’s very consistent. He has a plan and a vision for what he wants to do. I think he’s an outstanding head coach because he hires people, gives them direction and lets them do their jobs. That’s a rare quality.
There’s a quiet confidence there that rubs off on his players. They feel good about playing for him. Players emotionally are going like this (makes an up-and-down gesture) all the time. Andy’s steady. I think that’s something that’s reassuring for a player."
Harbaugh: "I’m an Andy guy. Whenever the Andy Reid era eventually ends in Philly, Eagles fans are going to look back on it and say that was a great run."
Some fans may beg to differ with Harbs, but that’s another story.
Harbaugh’s thoughts on Eagles defensive coordinator Juan Castillo: "Having a year under his belt, having a full offseason to prepare this year, that’s going to be huge for Juan. You’re either getting better or you’re getting worse. And if you know anything about Juan Castillo, you know he’s always getting better. He’ll be that much better this season because of what he learned last year. He’s a great coach. I have nothing but respect for Juan."
The owners will vote Wednesday on whether to expand the current playoff overtime rule to the regular-season. The proposal is expected to pass, and competition committee co-chair Rich McKay has said it has the support of the league’s coaches. Not all of them, though.
Harbaugh doesn’t like the overtime rule, which allows the kicking team a possession in overtime if the receiving team kicks a field goal.
"I think sudden death is fine," the Ravens coach said. "I think sudden death is what makes the National Football League great. I probably shouldn’t say this because we had a seminar yesterday where they told us if you wonder if you should say something, you probably shouldn’t say it.
"But I like sudden death. I don’t know how the Ravens are going to vote. But my two cents says (stick with) sudden death. It’s been around forever and it’s worked pretty good."
Comments (46)
1st.— osi is hurt boohoo- The Eagles haven't won a championship in 52 years. Guess which coach is responsible for 25% of those failures.
Worse yet, he's back for yet another season. - This is it man!
- Reid is gone after this year if the Eagles don't make it to the Super Bowl.— farley
Comment removed.- Publicly they love each other.— 4in5out7gone
- Andy's the best - appreciate him now...— robinlupe
- This will be the last year for Reid & Obama and their will be joy in Mudadelphia.— 5280philly
- Obama wins easily because Republicans consist of religious zealots and tea party loons, and not much else. They've never seen a fact they won't discard to meet their ideology. Being stupid is a good thing for Republicans. They'll drive the country off a cliff to prove how cool they are, as they did with the debt extension discussions. The Republican party is great if you're a white, evangelical male. For everyone else--not so much. It's an extremist party that is out of step with American tradition in every possible respect.
- Obama hater? check. Spelling or grammatical error in post? check. — bc3030
- This is the example of the stereotypical Obama-hater. Uneducated, racist, and totally-irrational with blind racism as a catalyst. — essell
- imagine if you failed to achieve the goal you set for yourself in 13 straight years at work? not your bosses goal for you? your goal for you! would you still be employed? would you be able to show your face everyday?— jb99
- I think if most companies had 31 competitors and you were the one responsible for consistently positioning your company among the top of that list then, yes, you would still be employed.
And if they fired you, a significant number of those competitors would be falling all over themselves to hire you, just like they will be in the NFL if Andy Reid is ever available.— bc3030 - These are the best of days. One day Andy Reid will leave Philadelphia and we'll be back in the muck with a new Rich Kotite or Ray Rhodes every few years, hoping we can just beat Dallas to soften the pain of our 5-11 records. We will fondly look back at the time when Eagles fans could complain about not winning Super Bowls rather than complain about not making the playoffs for 8 years straight.— bc3030
- That'sthe way its worked in sports. The ups and downs are hardly news to anyone who has watched sports. Losing will happen, in fact, losing is usually the harbinger of a coaching change. If memory serves, last season was nothing to build a career on. I'd welcome some losing seasons because moving on from the overrated oaf would be the first win for the real fans of the Eagles - not those customers who are easily distracted by regular season accolades.
— Atomic Fury - What, exactly, have we won? We've won games in each of the 52 years since our last championship. Yet, we've been in decline for the past 4 seasons and last year's all-in debacle was our worse yet, in terms of expectations versus results.
We can't allow fear of the unknown to paralyze us. If nothing changes, nothing changes. In making a coaching change, we may not know what we're getting, but we already know what we have, and it ain't good.
Other teams have hired new coaches and passed us in only one season. Vince Lombardi was not the last great coach to be discovered. When you think of it, who was Reid before being hired by the Eagles? It's time for our "brilliant" front office to find a "brilliant" NFL coach. Captain Neck Fatt must go! - Comment removed.
- If Juan is so great how come nobody's tried to steal him from us?— ej610
- @— robynk
when they replace Vick i will. lol. :)— osi is hurt boohoo - I love these "pro-Reid" Kook Aid posts. What the posters don't realize is that it's not 2004 anymore. Since then Andy Reid IS Rich Kotite and Ray Rhodes. Don't believe me. Check out their winning percentages. The Eagles winning % and playoff making frequency is almost identical since 2005 as it was from 1988 to 1999 (The so-called dreaded era). So if we fire Reid, there is another Ryan, Kotite and Rhodes who can do the exact same thing waiting in the wings. It’s not so bad Philadelphia.— guyguy4
- And the Chief Negadelphian states "Some fans may beg to differ with Harbs (on Reid's era being a "great run"), but that’s another story." 1) Us fans don't need you to be our spokesperson and 2) I'd like to see more pieces without the negative b.s. slant you always seem to take.
The people who play and work for Andy - both past and present - have nothing but positive things to say about the man. Why not leave it to their quotes to tell the story and stay away from sarcastic remarks?— Commish - What Commish said. Can we please hire some writers who actually get us??!! Alas, the migration to Spadaro continues....— eaglesfan
- Guyguy4, everyone knows we peaked in 2004. But, since then? Not as bad as you'd have us believe. In the last seven seasons, we're 62-49-1 (.553) and made the playoffs four out of seven times, including the Conf Championship. maybe Reid hasn't won it all yet, but he is still the best coach this franchise has ever had and I'll be sorry when this run of winning and playoff appearances is over. The grass isn't always greener.— Commish
- Ole boys network at its best.— phillyceltic
- I will never understand the philosophy that no one can do what Andy Reid has done with the Eagles. a) He has never won anything. b) There is always another coach out there. Harbaugh, Tomlin, etc.— phillyceltic
- He's won playoff games. That's more than Buddy Ryan ever did. — bc3030
- Of course the guys he got jobs will praise him....but realists and fans not willing to settle for "nothing" and NO Lomardi Trophies will point to his record....NO SUPER BOWLS WINS IN 14 YEARS....His record against clubs with a below 500 record is less than 50%, His record against clubs with winning records is below 45% ....Facts: 24 out of 25 of SB winning coaches did it in under 5 years.....In the division during his tenure the Giants have one twice, Dallas once....His draft choices, number one's and nuimber two's has been abysmal...and his record has more to do with the defensive genius of Jim Johnson than his offensive schemes.....and for those afraid to face reality....Andy leaving does not mean a ritchie kotie clone comes back...There are qualtliy guys out there....remember, when he was selected he was a QB coach for Brett Favre (and you know how much he listened to anyone....and where over the years have you heard Bret priase AR...never happened) you yahoos never heard of him either....so Sheep, stop the koolade drinking and the fear of success and realize the man will never win a SB and now that the mailboy is making the draft selections the talent level will go down even more...— nuggett
- Why are you using ellipses as if they are periods? Who taught you that? Stop doing it. — bc3030
- After Reid is mercifully gone, the only thing stopping the Eagles from improving will be Lurie hiring another idiot to replace him. The best chance for Philly to win a SB is if Lurie moves this godforsaken franchise to LA and a real owner starts anew in Philly.— eaglephanatic
- Commish...Sorry your are one of those willing "to settle" Think Phillies, they won 102 games and had a fantastic season but lost in the first round....What part of that makes them Great and to man they are all disappointed with the year........(that may be the difference between you and them)....There is only one Winner....Everyone else is an also ran or a loser.....and remember if you think like a loser you are one.....Unless you are the lead dog, you are looking at someone else's behind.....and after 14 years, if that makes you happy, I feel sorry for you....Did you accept the second or third best girl in your life or did you marry your number one choice,....Did you accept a job jsut to get a check or is your job one you love.....Are you happy when you kids get C's and D's and just get by or do you want an honor roll student who continually strives to get better....YOUR call.....You can be a winner or a loser and if you GOAL is jsut to play, to be average, then I fell sorry for you and your koolade drinking buddies...— nuggett
- I agree with your 'never be content with being a runner-up' mentality on life in general, but how would that apply to how we view the Eagles? I'm a longtime season tix holder, and I consider myself a fairly active fan, but how I conduct everyday business and how I lead my private life has nothing to do with how I root for the Birds. If I were to be content with them just making the playoffs, does that make the standard of my work any less? Or my stance on stocks any less aggressive? Or the discipline of my children any less strict? I should think not. If anything of the sort happens in your home, I suggest you get your priorities in order immediately. Enjoying and being a good fan of a sport is one thing, letting it affect your everyday life is another thing altogether. — goeagles87
- as if any former reid assistant coach is gonna talk bad about him to reporters.— bloodymess
- After watching Sound FX on the NFL Network last night which featured a miked-up Andy Reid's interaction with his players, I'm tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt now. The public persona of the reluctant participant that he presents through his news conferences is misleading and does not appear to be a true representation of his off-camera character. His coaching/teaching appeared to be delivered with charismatic effectiveness and well appreciated by (many) of those on the receiving end. The quality of some of the players may have quite a bit to do with the under-achievement of the team as a whole and that may, or may not, lay with Reid as he has previously insisted that final say on player selection is his responsibility. But if a player is not completely receptive, or focused on being coached-up, or unable to comprehend what the coach wants or expects out of him, is this the coach's fault or the inability of the player to focus? Either way, the responsibility lay with the coach to either ensure the player understands or replace that player with one who has the skill, intelligence and temperament to execute the coach's scheme employing the precise fundamentals required of him.— essell
- Yeah, we're gonna sit back a remember all of those NFC Championship losses, where he was out coached in every big game he was ever in. The problem with reid is that everyone and their mother knows exactly what play he's gonna run. people in the stands just sit and say, pass, pass, run, pass, run, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, run, run, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass, pass... all game. I'm close to 90% correct on andy reids play calling. his scheme is broken. all of his teams have been about the big play which don't work vs. good teams or in the playoffs. football is about consistency, converting and field position and he's not good at any of these. in a decade of work with mcnabb they still could run a 2 minute drill. i cant wait to see him go...— Apollo Creed
- I don't think Andy is as good a coach as the other Eagle coaches that have won Super Bowls.— tommy_the_k
- I don't think Andy is as good a coach as the other Eagle coaches that have won Super Bowls.— tommy_the_k
- All that love for someone who holds no one accountable! I can't say the asame things about Tom Couglan but he won 2 super bowls. big red - zero!— jtcigar
- If the Eagles could only win one Super Bowl, they'd get a pass for the next 20 years. If the Giants can win Super Bowls after having so-so regular seasons, then why can't the Eagles win one. Only one is all we're asking.— SteveS11
- From Germany.
God Post. But you forget that the NFC have no dominat team in the era of AR. Maybe B Farve or K Warner.
In 2004 we beat only the 9-7 Ravens and GB with winnig records. Against all other good Teams we lost (Patriots, Steellers).
Ok we beat Atlanta, but guess who the Qb was? MV!!!!!!!!!!!!
Best year under AR was 2008. But lost in the NFC Conference Final.
— joroho68 - PS: @nuggett — joroho68
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Next thing you know, Bad Andy invented the football.
Get the overrated oaf outta here.— Atomic Fury - 'He’s a great coach. I have nothing but respect for Juan." All right than John, why didn't you or Shurmer hire him. I've made this post several times, and I'm stil waiting for a sports writer or radio host to ask the question. With so make ex Eagle assistant coaches now head coaches, why didn't any of them hire Juan as a coach if he is that great?
— watsonmr - He referred to him as "Harbs"? Really? What, is the article supposed to appeal to Canadians and/or Flyers' fans?— beegal99
- What the heck is going on today? Did the Eagles buy the newspaper?— PhillySportsAddict1969
- I would not expect anything but what was said, even if they loathed Reid. The NFL is a small universe with a penchant for "incest." Coaches are continually recycled. Why upset the apple cart?— lgroniko
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