In yesterday’s presser I couldn’t help but notice Eagles’ owner Jeff Lurie’s body language was a tad ambiguous… He even let go a Freudian slip as he endorsed Andy Reid for 2012, to wit, and to paraphrase, “Andy is our best hope…for now…”
Nine playoff appearances in 13 seasons, 136 wins, including 10 in the playoffs, and a personality that enables the Eagles to attract top free-agent talent have earned coach Reid a mulligan, team owner Jeffrey Lurie announced Tuesday.
However, the overall picture Lurie painted suggests Reid has just one more year to deliver. Lurie, who tempered his praise of Reid with strong revelations of disappointment and anger about how the non-playoff 2011 season unfolded, said the bottom line was that he still believes Reid is the best option to lead the team in 2012.
Furthermore, Lurie plans to stand behind any decisions Reid makes on his coaching staff, particularly regarding defensive coordinator Juan Castillo, who struggled in his first year on the job after spending the previous 12 seasons as the team’s offensive line coach.
“If I have to get involved with telling Andy what to do with assistant coaches,” Lurie said, “then I have the wrong coach. … I have full confidence he’ll make the right decisions there.”
Without stating it outright, Lurie strongly hinted that next year will be Reid’s last if he doesn’t win big. “If I didn’t think next year would be substantially better, I’d be standing up here announcing a coaching change,” said Lurie, who doesn’t anticipate a contract extension now for his coach, who is signed only through 2013.
No interest in extending Reid is the best evidence that the owner’s patience is coming to an end. “This season was without question the most disappointing season since I’ve owned the team,” Lurie said. “You’re only human and you go through all the range of emotions during the season, but the primary emotions I think are anger and frustration.
“… Anyone who in my mind both doesn’t feel the disappointment and anger is just not getting what we’re all about. We’re a team, and Andy is a coach who has been in the playoffs nine out of the last 12 years, and it’s just completely unacceptable to be 8-8 and watching these other teams play starting next week. Incredibly, incredibly disappointing.”
Nevertheless, Lurie was compelling in his praise of Reid as a coach capable of bouncing back stronger than ever from what was perhaps his worst coaching job ever. He cited Reid’s intangibles “as the overriding factor for me.”
“Attracting talent, having the energy to succeed and motivation in a huge way, having the anger to move forward — do our players and coaches have that anger? You have to have the anger, motivation, dedication, the focus and the talent,” Lurie said. “My answer to all those questions is yes. That’s why I want to see our team coached by Andy Reid next year, and I can’t wait to see that team play.”
Reid had never gone more than one season without winning at least one playoff game before beginning the current streak of three in a row without winning one. What’s more, his decision to make Castillo the defensive coordinator turned out to be a huge factor in missing the playoffs, as Castillo struggled to learn on the job and the Eagles blew five fourth-quarter leads on their way to a 3-6 start. Although the defense turned it around by the end of the season and keyed four straight victories, the wins were mostly hollow, even in Lurie’s optimistic vision.
“We proved we could dominate against teams the last half of the year who weren’t that competitive,” he said. “There’s a lot to be said for the players coming together and the coaching staff holding this group together in a way that was impressive. To hold onto that as the reason to be completely optimistic is, I think, fool’s gold.”
Yet Reid will stay, and Castillo as well, if that’s what Reid wants. “He has all of the ingredients to take the team to the playoffs and take them far,” Lurie said. “And the players love this guy. They’re absolutely ready to roll with him.
“And another aspect I’ll just say about Andy is he’s not afraid to make changes, and you know sometimes the changes work and sometimes they don’t. But very few coaches will change quarterbacks and succeed, change schemes and succeed, change GMs and succeed. So this is a man who’s open to change.”
Reid has not been available since his postgame press conference following Sunday’s 34-10 win over Washington. He is expected to hold a press conference this week, but no date has been announced.
Reid met the media the day after last season ended and said Sean McDermott would be back as defensive coordinator before turning around and firing him less than a week later. His delayed appearance this year could be an attempt to avoid an embarrassing repeat of the same situation. Lurie prudently declined to say Reid’s job would be on the line next season, but the message was perfectly clear.
“Every year, every year the goal is to win the Super Bowl,” Lurie said. “I think we’ll let the process play out. There’s no ultimatums. That’s our goal, and every year that’s the plan. And only one team can do it. There will be 31 disappointed teams this year. But I have to tell you that nobody will lead this team or owner in anger and frustration, because that’s where it’s coming from.”
Hmmmmm….
Personally, I think the whole Lurie rant was a performance worthy of an Emmy for one of his made-for-TV docudramas. Who is Lurie trying to kid? Andy Reid is the soul of this nice little 14-year run Lurie has going in Philly. Andy Reid does not run, block, tackle, catch, throw or kick the football— his players do… and they simply have to do a better job of it. Lurie knows this.
Lurie is a master of delegation. To whom better to delegate the day-to-day hassles of running an NFL football team than Reid? Think about it— it’s a hard, road-tested, day-to-day grind that’s really not that much fun even when you’re winning. Do you really think Jeff Lurie wants to cast his own movies or build his own sets? I think not… and that’s why Andy Reid’s job as the “Director” of the Philadelphia Eagles is safe. Say what you will about Andy, but he holds the production crew together… and his employees for the most part love him… and the Eagles sell out stadiums and turn a profit every year.
Lurie would be a fool to dump Andy now. Heck, the Eagles get more attention when they lose than when they win. That’s a ratings hit in show biz. And there’s always a bunch of back-stories with the Eagles that keep the spotlight on Lurie’s toy. If it’s not McNabb, it’s Vick, and then it’s DeSean, and so on…
Lurie has no interest in dumping Reid or changing the course of Eagles management. It’s in his best interest to keep things status quo. You don’t pull the mask off the Lone Ranger, and you don’t mess with a formula for fan interest in a team that for the most part wins but always delivers media coverage and ratings.
Props to Jeff Lurie for playing his scene well and knowing his role… You keep this Chicago Cubs/Buffalo Bills/Susan Lucci “All My Children” drama going for as long as it takes for Reid to break through… and I believe he eventually will come up aces if given enough chances and quality players to do so… because when it happens (and it will), Lurie will have a mega-hit script to turn into a movie… call it “Eagles’ Landing”… it will be bigger than “The Blind Side”… with twice as many Oscars to hand out.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
