Eagles’ Reporter Hints That Coaching Search Was a Mess

If you thought the Philadelphia Eagles‘ coaching search went well, you were probably wrong.

According to Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News, the Eagles plan to hire Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Doug Pederson as their next coach once the Chiefs are eliminated from the playoffs. Multiple other reporters, both local and national have since confirmed this news.

Pederson may well turn out to be a very good coach, but the search that led to his hiring and the idea of hiring a coach who has never called plays and is coaching an offense that is the 27th best in the league, isn’t inspiring.

One thing that has become popular to do on Twitter is to trash reporters who report that a team is closing in on signing a candidate or very interested in a candidate, if that candidate doesn’t end up signing in that place.

In this case, some fans have tried to suggest that despite reports that suggested that the Eagles were more interested in Adam Gase, Ben McAdoo and Tom Coughlin than Pederson, the reporters who reported that information were just wrong.

Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer paints a picture of a search that saw the Eagles only pick Pederson after their first three candidates didn’t agree to take the job, with vice president of player personnel Howie Roseman not helping to improve the outlook of the job.

Gase:

"Gase, the former Bears offensive coordinator who signed with the Dolphins on Saturday, knew he could have had the Eagles’ job, but he has chosen a situation and a quarterback in Ryan Tannehill that he felt made Miami more equipped to win now, two sources familiar with his thinking said."

McAdoo: 

"The Eagles were prepared to offer the job to McAdoo, three independent sources said.But the New York Giants swooped in once the Eagles’ interest was reported – an obvious pressure tactic by McAdoo’s camp – and promoted their offensive coordinator to head coach.“Howie totally got left at the altar,” one source said."

Coughlin: 

"There were always doubts from both sides. Coughlin’s age, his recent record, and his headstrong ways seemed the opposite of what Lurie preferred. There were reports that Coughlin couldn’t pull together a coaching staff, but working with Roseman was also believed to be unappealing to him."

In the first situation, the idea that Gase felt that Tannehill made the Dolphins more likely to win than the Eagles is kind of foolish. The ceiling for the Eagles is about the same as it is for the Dolphins–an early playoff exit. But the Eagles obviously didn’t do a very good job of presenting their case to Gase, who appears to have been their favorite.

McAdoo is excusable in my mind. He was the Giants’ offensive coordinator, had an already established staff there and has successfully implemented his system. Him “leaving the Eagles at the alter” was fairly predictable, especially since he left to re-join Eli Manning and Odell Beckham. It’s kind of alarming that the Eagles were caught off guard by McAdoo’s camp using them for leverage.

Coughlin spurning the Eagles is probably the most telling of the three. Given that Kelly was named the 49ers’ head-coach within a few hours of him passing on the Eagles’ job, it’s fair to assume that he knew he wasn’t going to coach in the league in 2016 if he passed on the Eagles’ job. And since he’ll be 70 before next season, it’s also fair to assume he’s made peace with his head-coaching career being over. In other words, he elected to force himself into retirement over working with Roseman.

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Again, Pederson could end up being a very good head-coach. Roseman could change his stripes and work better with others now. But this process leads you to believe that in five years this organization may look very different than it will in 2016, which isn’t something you want to think in an off-season of change.