Lurie didn’t answer all questions
Main one: Will Eagles owner give next head coach much latitude?
Less than three years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles were celebrating at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minnesota.
For the first time since the black-and-white era, they had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Super Bowl LII was all theirs.
“Emotional intelligence” was what owner Jeffrey Lurie said had to be restored when he dismissed Chip Kelly as head coach just 14 months earlier. And boy, did they hit the jackpot with Doug Pederson. He was just what the team needed.
Two more trips to the playoffs followed before the team collapsed in 2020 under the weight of a massive injury list that followed a coronavirus pandemic-restricted offseason that began with a shotgun wedding forcing Pederson and new senior offensive assistant Rich Scangarello to learn to love one other.
That the Eagles went 4-11-1 was shocking only because they won twice as many games as they should have, given the circumstances. Yet Lurie came to the puzzling conclusion that Pederson no longer was the best choice to lead the team under presumably more normal conditions in
2021 and beyond.
All of this led Lurie to the virtual podium for a Zoom news conference Tuesday in which he outlined how the search for Pederson’s replacement would go and why it should be considered such an attractive position for any candidate.
He answered many questions in a session that essentially served as a 40-minute infomercial for the organization, which he reminded us has been represented in six conference championship games and two Super Bowls over the last two decades, has first-class facilities and offers the kinds of resources that have helped every one of his coaching hires be successful.
But since the news conference was limited to 40 minutes, many crucial questions did not get asked or answered.
Among them:
Will the new coach have the authority to pick his own staff?
Because, you know, it’s a collaborative process here in Philadelphia, and any ideas about the assistant coaches that don’t line up with Lurie’s are liable to get you tossed aside for the next guy (or maybe even first gal).
Will the new coach have control of the 53-man roster?
Because the last guy didn’t. Once again, it’s a collaborative process in Philadelphia in which the owner and general manager Howie Roseman have input too. They just like it better that way.
Did Lurie seek input from any players about the competence of Pederson and his ability to lead before deciding to move on?
Because as poorly as the team performed, the effort always seemed to be there under Pederson, probably because of that emotional intelligence quotient.
Why did Lurie find it necessary to make so many changes after an aberration of a season that was turned upside down by the pandemic and by 35 trips to the injured-reserve list by his players, including a final-week total of 17, second in the NFL?
Because despite waiting until all of his other coaches missed the playoffs two years in a row to get rid of them, he didn’t do the same with the only coach who delivered them a Super Bowl championship.
Did the admission by Lurie and Roseman that they kept trying to recapture the veteran magic that won the Super Bowl undermine the coaching staff’s ability to develop younger players — or even from getting its hands on enough of them in the first place?
Because when wide receivers Alshon Jeffery and DeSean Jackson were healthy, they had to play. Same for left tackle Jason Peters and running back Darren Sproles.
Worse yet, when they weren’t healthy, which was most of the time, they occupied roster spots.
Will the new coach be comfortable joining a youth movement led by a general manager who’s drafted just one Pro Bowl player, embattled quarterback Carson Wentz, over the previous seven years?
Because Lurie can gush all he wants about resources and the number of quality people he has in the building for a support system and the extraordinary passion of the fan base, but the job will never be palatable to any top candidate in this year’s cycle until those issues are addressed.
Lurie is kidding himself, cheating his players and making a fool of Eagles fans if he thinks otherwise.