December 2nd, 2012
Via the Czabe:
Reid is a strange–really, really strange–case. He is, hands down, the most successful coach in Eagles history. You could make a case that he’s one of the three or four best coaches in the NFL over the last 15 years. And yet not only is he going to leave town utterly despised–he was never really liked in the first place. Part of this might be that the closer you get to Reid, the less attractive he is as a person. For instance, in an industry full of a-hole managers, he wasn’t just the worst boss in the NFL–he might have been the worst boss in America. He had lots of real strengths as a coach, but he was never able to improve on any of his professional weaknesses. All of the things that drove Eagles’ fans nuts in the first season he is still doing today. (Clock management, in-game adjustments, draft player evaluation.)
All of which is why Eagles fans are going to be thrilled to see Reid go, even as they understand that (1) they’ve never had it so good and (2) they’re probably about to head into a nuclear winter of bad Eagle football. It’s strange.
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One of the three or four best coaches in the NFL over the past 15 years… really? That’s the bulk of Belichick, Coughlin, Cowher, Dungy, and 15 includes the two Denver Super Bowl wins and for Shanahan. Granted it’s with a better team, but I’d argue Mike Tomlin has accomplished more in five years even in the face of major injuries than Reid has done in 13. Swap Reid for any of the above coaches (plus Mike McCarthy, Sean Payton, and either of the Harbaughs) I think the Eagles would have at least one and maybe two Super Bowls in that period.
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Yeah I’m with you.
I was at my brother’s house in North Carolina two years back watching the Blizzard Game when we played the Vikings. The offense was stalling out and then Vick got hit on a corner blitz and fumbled. My brother picked up the remote, turned the TV off, and said “And that’s that.”
You and I as Eagles fans know what he meant – not the end of that game but the end of the idea of that Vick (and Reid) would somehow lead us to the promised land. The Vikes figured Vick out and so would the rest of the league. All Vick was going to give us at best was the same think Donovan did: success in the regular season, a playoff run, and an early flame out.
Let’s face it except for some playoff wins all Reid is Buddy Ryan II.
This doesn’t end with running up the score 35-0 on the Redskins on MNF, it doesn’t end with making the playoffs most years in a league where the Seahawks can make the Show at 7-9, and it doesn’t end in a Super Bowl where you’re running a slow-down offense with your QB puking on the field.
It end when you win it all.
If you think we’re going to get there with the Reid Administration then you’re deluded – and probably have been in an area like DC too long where they are giddy this morning because they are actual .500 in December.
I don’t want that. I don’t want to celebrate mediocrity. I want to dance on the unmarked graves of my enemies and I’m willing to take more punishment to get it
BJ December 3, 2012 at 12:17 pm
I agree with everything except the notion that the Eagles are about to head into a nuclear winter of bad football. They’re already there.