Eagles Wake-Up Call: With Andy, Locals Know Best

The national media has been singing Andy Reid‘s praises so loudly in recent weeks, you can’t help but think they are overcompensating for what they feel is a lack of appreciation for the head coach here in Philadelphia.

The Eagles fan base has been told over and over to be careful what they wish for, because they will never find a coach as good as Reid again. A  couple quotes that caught my attention:

…with a record of 130-92-1, Reid goes down as a Philadelphia sports legend, as unappreciated as he was underrated.

— Adam Schefter

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“There are going to be some excellent candidates for the Philadelphia Eagles job that have all the right credentials…the guy you get — and he may very well be exactly what the Eagles need — I’m telling you that with all that success, I’m telling you that at the end of the day, however you want to measure it, he’s not going to be play-for-play, game plan for game plan, evaluation for evaluation, a better coach over a 14-year period of time than Andy Reid. He may have two or three or four Super Bowls and if that’s the outcome he should be admired for it, but I’m telling you that as someone who measures that on a daily basis that [he won’t be better than Reid.]

— Brian Billick with Mike Missanelli

All due respect to Schefter, whether Reid becomes a Philadelphia sports legend is up to Philadelphia. As for Billick’s comments: if any coach wins between two and four Super Bowls over a 14-year span, he will be in a different stratosphere than Reid. Arguing the other way defies logic.

In an attempt to provide the necessary corrections to what they see as an overly harsh fan base, some national pundits miss one crucial point: they are defending an Andy Reid that doesn’t currently exist. It may be true that it would be difficult to upgrade from the 2003 Reid, say. But the 2012 Reid is not nearly as irreplaceable.

As Sal Paolantonio noted on This Week in Pro Football, Reid’s record over the last four seasons (33-30) falls short of Rich Kotite‘s mark in his four seasons with the Eagles (36-28). There has not been a playoff win since 2008.

Where he once had few on his level, a look across the league reveals coaches like Bill Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, the Harbaugh brothers, Mike Tomlin and John Fox who have pulled even or ahead of Reid.

Reid will be admired for his accomplishments in Philadelphia. His run is as good as there has been in modern Eagles history.

But the dominance has faded in recent years, and the situation is aching for change. The fans, the organization and likely even the coach recognizes this. Philadelphia knows what they had in Reid. And they know that what they had is gone.

WHAT YOU MISSED

Greg Cosell says that he is “not blown away by anything” when it comes to Nick Foles.

Sheil takes a look at what the national media are saying about the Eagles.

As the team made their way up north, it was business as usual.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Mike Florio is reporting that Reid has his sights set on San Diego.

The Los Angeles native wants to coach the Chargers, according to a league source.  Per the source, Reid is making his intentions known as he lines up a potential coaching staff — part of the “multi-level musical chairs” tournament unfolding throughout the league.

Reid arrived in Philly 14 years ago, vaulting from quarterbacks coach of the Packers to head coach and V.P. of football operations for the Eagles.  In San Diego, Reid may not have the same degree of power he enjoyed with the Eagles, if as reported by Kevin Acee of U-T San Diego the plan is to elevate Jimmy Raye and give more duties to John Spanos.

Tommy Lawlor provides a thorough look at Chip Kelly:

When Jon Gruden was fired, Kelly is one of the first people he sought out. Gruden wanted to learn Oregon’s offense. Think about that for a second. Gruden, arguably the most knowledgeable West Coast Offense guru on the planet Earth, chose Kelly above all the other brilliant coaches out there. That was the one guy he wanted to learn from. That speaks volumes.

What was Kelly’s response? Sure, I’ll teach you. Kelly went one beyond that and offered to hire Gruden as his offensive coordinator. Kelly thought they could spend a year together and learn from each other. Gruden thought about the offer, as crazy as that sounds, but his wife made it clear that wasn’t going to happen.

Bill Belichick brought Kelly in to Foxboro so the Patriots staff could pick his brain. Pete Carroll met with him so he could learn about the Oregon offense. Coaches with national titles and Super Bowls are seeking out Kelly to see just what he does and how it works. They want to learn from him.

Ron Burke mentions Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael as a name that could get Jeffrey Lurie’s attention.

Carmichael has been the Saints’ OC since 2009. Prior to that, he was the team’s quarterbacks coach, arriving in New Orleans with his pupil Drew Brees in 2006. Carmichael was Brees’ quarterbacks coach in San Diego. Before that he had NFL stints in Cleveland and Washington.

Collectively, Carmichael, Brees and head coach Sean Payton have engineered one of the NFL’s most consistent scoring juggernauts.

COMING UP

Regular-season finale  and almost certainly Reid’s final game as Eagles coach. Sheil and I will have it covered from MetLife Stadium.