Grotz: Why the Eagles may be looking for a new Big Red
The Eagles were so pathetic at the end of the Andy Reid era, Gus Bradley came off as a savior. Can’t win with him. The Eagles are so lost after three years of Chip Kelly, it looks like the owner is searching for the next Big Red. Can’t win without him. Has there been a better time to hire a football mind outside of the organization, not part of the endless drama, and pay them to thoroughly evaluate what’s gone wrong? And it would be a good idea for this person to find the head coach that can turn it around.
Instead the three club executives who chased Kelly, gave him the keys to the kingdom and then changed the locks with two years left on his fiveyear contract are at it again. Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and Don Smolenski are well intentioned. So was Kelly.
Tuesday the Eagles announced they’d interviewed Adam Gase, the offensive coordinator who, with Chicago Bears head coach John Fox, got quarterback Jay Cutler to stop moping and play football.
Anyone else prefer Pat Shurmur, the offensive coordinator or Duce Staley, the running backs coach over Gase? Thank you.
This isn’t about slamming the search committee. It’s about reminding you what happened when non-football guys put their heads together. It’s about cautioning you against expecting different results.
It’s Lurie’s money. He basically signs the checks. May we suggest he politely disqualify finalists who want to train football players with a guy who used to school Navy SEALS?
Three years ago Bradley was the only legitimate candidate who really, really, really wanted to be the next head coach of the Eagles. He’d never been a head coach but he knew the NFL, having been defensive coordinator of the Super Bowl winning Seahawks.
Kelly was coming off a win in the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and a couple of long NFL interviews that must have bored him. Kelly snubbed the Eagles and the Browns.
Having run out of coaching candidates the Eagles were about to hire Bradley. He made it to the Annenberg Estate in Wynnewood for the omelette test. Eagles fans were OK with it. The Gus Bus, everyone called it.
But Kelly squeezed back into the picture when the Eagles offered him crazy money. The NCAA was closing in, as well. Kelly was about to be slammed with the show-cause penalty. Just the deposition process sounds like an unending drag.
The rest is history. Kelly got the Eagles job. Bradley took the Jaguars job. Bradley outlasted the Oregon genius with the up-tempo offense, the sports science advantage and the Navy SEALS trainer.
Even if next season is Bradley’s last with the Jags, he’s developed an outstanding quarterback in Blake Bortles. That’s more than you can say for what Kelly did with the Eagles (7-9), who have to decide whether to make a huge financial commitment to retain free agent-to-be Sam Bradford, the guy Kelly acquired for a second-round pick and Nick Foles.
Eagles players, in the wake of the tough season, think they can be competitive next year with the right coach. Some have to say that, at least the players who want to be around for the 2016 season.
Veteran linebacker DeMeco Ryans, who might not be around anyway, can say whatever he wants to say as he would be playing for his fourth head coach in six years if Shurmur gets the job, and his fifth in six years if someone else gets the nod.
Ryans thinks the Eagles should rewind to the way they were.
“For me the coach that comes in has to definitely be like a father figure type of guy,” Ryans said. “A guy that really commands respect. Similar to Andy Reid. He was a really cool, unique guy. Andy meant a lot to a lot of guys. You could tell. Playing here just one year, just to see his presence, it meant a lot. So, someone similar to Andy.”
Ryans isn’t the only Eagles player to reference Reid. He was just the most vocal. Lurie has said he’s seeking as much, without of course, mentioning Big Red by name.
The Eagles have other candidates on their list including David Shaw, the head coach at Stanford who also has extensive NFL experience and Dirk Koetter, the offensive coordinator with the Buccaneers.
Whoever the next head coach is it would help if he has a real vision, not a lovehate relationship with quarterbacks.
The Eagles’ search committee would be wise to ask Ryans how he feels about Bradford, who has a synergy with Shurmur dating back to their days with the Rams.
“Sam is a very talented guy,” Ryans said. “I think he proved a lot coming off injury and battling this year. I think he’s going to be the quarterback to stick around here for a while.
“The talent is here. We’ve just got to put it all together, play smarter with guys going out and playing for each other. The guys are here to get it done. They just have to be guided in the right direction.”