Andy Reid will be the head coach for the Philadelphia Eagles at least for another 4 seasons. Andy signed a three-year extension to be the head coach until 2013, terms of which were not officially disclosed but it is believed to be in the neighborhood of $5-6 million per year. Jeffrey Lurie called the extension "inevitable" and does not see an end to the Reid era any time soon. "I've always valued stability," Lurie said, and the Eagles if anything are stable in the head coaching department. Reid is the second longest tenured coach in the NFL behind only Tennessee's Jeff Fisher. Reid has often been the object of many fan's gripes over the years whether it be over is time management deficiencies, lack of a dedication to the running game and mostly because he has never delivered the Lombardi trophy for a fan-base that is starving for one. Combined with the fact that there are many high-profile former head coaches waiting for teams to call them with job offers, this will inevitably rile up Eagles fans who have been waiting for the Reid era to end.
Through everything Reid has gone through, you cannot tell me that the man is not a successful NFL coach. All coaches have strengths and weaknesses, but there are not many like Andy Reid who have been this successful for this long. To put it into perspective, Andy Reid joined the Eagles in 1999 and has amassed 115 wins and a .611 win percentage. Inheriting a 3-13 team, in only his second season he led them to an 11-5 record and into the playoffs. In NFL history, there are only 4 coaches who have led the same franchise to 100 or more wins in a decade and they are Bill Belichick, Tom Landry, Don Shula and now Andy Reid. Not bad company. Combined with the family issues Reid had to endure and still is with one son still incarcerated, he has continued to lead this winning franchise with class. Not to mention the fact that Reid has ALWAYS appreciated the Philadelphia fans. "I love Philadelphia," Reid said. "The fans- there's nothing like them. They're always there." You always hear Reid thank the fans at his post-game press conferences, particularly on the road when the fans travel in droves to wherever the team is traveling to.
His fiercest critics point to the Eagles performance in the biggest games as one of Reid's biggest downfalls, going 1-for-5 in NFC Championship Game performances and losing their only Super Bowl appearance in 2004 to the Patriots 24-21. Not all of the blame should be on Reid because he wasn't the one who threw those 4th quarter interceptions or couldn't get off the line against Ricky Manning or couldn't stop Kurt Warner. I know the deal, it comes with the territory for coaches and quarterbacks. You never get the respect you deserve when you win and you get too much of the blame when you lose. But luckily there is a cure for all the criticism that Andy and Donovan take, and that is just win. We saw last year in this town a team in the Phillies that for years the city wanted David Montgomery to sell the team and get a WHOLE new regime in there. Then they win the championship and all is forgotten. A city that once destroyed Charlie Manuel now adores him, a city that cursed Pat Burrell will now give him a standing ovation when he returns. The same thing could happen for Reid if he leads this team to the promised land. The only way we'll know if this extension was a good move or not is if in 2013 there is a Lombardi trophy or two in the NovaCare complex.
No comments:
Post a Comment