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Getting weird in Philly too

Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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New York apparently isn't the only place where things have taken a turn for the odd (and no, I don't mean Charlotte).

Interesting article from Jason LaCanfora about just how strange things are getting in Philly.

Scrutiny now settling on shaky Eagles GM

Jeffrey Lurie is so enamored with Howie Roseman as a GM that he sided with Roseman against longtime coach Andy Reid. Now Reid is in Kansas City and the Eagles are trying to get a coach, but according to LaCanfora some veteran coaches are telling candidates for the Eagles job that they shouldn't take it :blink:

No coaching search has been as meandering and bizarre as the Eagles' circuitous trek across America. If you are replacing the greatest coach in your franchise history, you might want to actually have a plan to replace him.

Chasing every hot college coach, scrambling to the media to confirm some coaching interviews, obscure others; releasing skewed information about your whereabouts and resorting to day-late spin tactics after being repeatedly left at the altar isn't going to fly in Philly. Not when the entire league knew Andy Reid was done there since about the middle of the season, and not with a young general manager, Howie Roseman, trying to fight a growing perception around the league that he is woefully out of his depth. (Say what you want about the Bears' exhaustive search, but they haven't been strung out by college coaches who were unlikely to leave campus anyway).

The last two seasons, culminating with Roseman's rise to power in Philadelphia, have been marred with horror signings like Nnamdi Asomugha, the firing of coordinators and assistants in-season, some pretty obvious situations where the personnel didn't fit the scheme, the demise of Reid. Jason Babin being waived in-season a year after challenging the single-season sack record pretty much sums up the Roseman Era. Some strange front office firings mixed in there too.

Oh, and also plenty of less-than-competitive football.

Couple that with this strange coaching search, and the pressure is mounting on Roseman. And now, there is no longer anyone to hide behind. Say what you want about former team president Joe Banner and his quirky coaching search in Cleveland, but a certain degree of chaos has seemed to permeate the Eagles building since he left. And, no longer are there out-sized characters around, like Reid and Banner, to take all the bullets when things fail. It's all on Roseman now. No more whispers about, oh, that wasn't Howie's guy, that wasn't Howie's signing, he never wanted him here in the first place.

Rather, very different chatter has been growing in NFL circles for weeks. What's up with the Eagles job? Why don't guys want it? What are their concerns?

I wish I had a dollar for every time someone told me one esteemed coach or another advised one of the Eagles' top candidates not to take the job precisely because of Roseman's presence there. Roseman isn't the general manager they should tie their wagon to. It's clear Chip Kelly wasn't leaving Oregon for anywhere unless he had a large measure of control over the organization, and owner Jeffrey Lurie has already entrusted that to Roseman. There has been trepidation by some candidates to go all-in given the questions about this existing power structure.

The rumblings about Roseman lacking nuance and foresight, about him turning people off with how drunk with power he's become, only grow louder as his coaching search grows stranger.

Now, the Eagles would tell you they are right where they thought they would be in this search, now going on Week 3. They'll tell you they just wanted to talk to a bunch of bright football minds and do their due diligence. All part of the process. They didn't really want Chip Kelly or Bill O'Brien or Doug Marrone or Brian Kelly, anyway. Riigghht. Sure. I mean, if you couldn't get anyone to take your job or work with you, wouldn't you indulge in the same revisionist history?

Problem is, they're replacing someone who lasted 14 years in that cauldron, who went to five NFC title games and one Super Bowl and who perpetually had the team in playoff position. They're not replacing Rich Kotite here. And they'd better hope the guy they finally hire isn't the next Kotite. Sure, things had come to an end with Reid, and, trust me, he wasn't going to stay in Philadelphia with this crew no matter what the Eagles would have wanted. But it's worth noting that Reid was unemployed for about 48 hours before he had effectively agreed to terms with the Chiefs, quickly getting total control of the building, a direct link to the owner and a salary that keeps him among top five in his craft.

And the Eagles, meantime, have spent much of their time inflating the rate of college coaching salaries around the country and boosting the stock of guys who certainly seem to have played them for rubes. So we'll see where this thing goes.

Philly's been a winning organization and a desirable place to play/coach for a while. If LaCanfora is right though, that might be changing.

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TheRumGone Grand Master

TheRumGone

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i lived in philadelphia for a while. Let me tell you their fans are fuging batshit crazy. You make one mistake and they rip you for it for months. They expect the superbowl every year regardless of the team they have. I have never seen fans not understanding a sport as much as philly fans. They ripped michael vick, and i mentioned that he has .0005 seconds to throw the ball cause the oline sucks. There response was, but he's michael vick he should be able to run around those dlineman. They are the stupidest, most unrealistic sports fans in the entire country. I couldn't imagine any coach wanting to be there with those fans, that cap situation, and that owner

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Goondal Newbie

Goondal

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Well the Eagles aren't the only ones with egg on their face. The Bears are looking rather foolish as well.

It could always be worse guys.

I am really surprised they fired Lovie. I mean the guy went 10-6 in the toughest division in football. Most years that makes you a playoff team. It is not his fault there were so many good teams in the NFC this year.

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TheRed Newbie

TheRed

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I am really surprised they fired Lovie. I mean the guy went 10-6 in the toughest division in football. Most years that makes you a playoff team. It is not his fault there were so many good teams in the NFC this year.

It was a bone headed move.

Just like in Philly, if you are going to fire a successful head coach you better have a rock solid backup plan.

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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The former main guy in Philly is getting some doubters too.

One local radio reporter in Cleveland thinks Joe Banner just wants to hire "yes men" for the front office. Thinks it'll be difficult to get a great talent evaluator for GM when you consider both that and the fact that they'd have to share control with a first time head coach.

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fieryprophet Newbie

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i lived in philadelphia for a while. Let me tell you their fans are fuging batshit crazy. You make one mistake and they rip you for it for months. They expect the superbowl every year regardless of the team they have. I have never seen fans not understanding a sport as much as philly fans. They ripped michael vick, and i mentioned that he has .0005 seconds to throw the ball cause the oline sucks. There response was, but he's michael vick he should be able to run around those dlineman. They are the stupidest, most unrealistic sports fans in the entire country. I couldn't imagine any coach wanting to be there with those fans, that cap situation, and that owner

Sounds very similar to another fanbase I know of. . .

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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Mind you, we shouldn't minimize how weird things are up in New York, especially not after the news that Dave Caldwell turned down a package that included a million dollar a year (yes, per year) housing allowance and chose instead to be the GM of...the Jaguars :unsure:

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Who Said What? Newbie

Who Said What?

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I am really surprised they fired Lovie. I mean the guy went 10-6 in the toughest division in football. Most years that makes you a playoff team. It is not his fault there were so many good teams in the NFC this year.

I am with you on 50% of this post. NFC north is not the toughest division in football. NFC South sir.

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