Philadelphia Eagles Can’t Lose With Pederson Hire
It’s been a busy week of Philadelphia Eagles news. Let’s jump right into it with the Monday Morning Touchdown.
I wanted Sean McDermott to be the next head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. I absolutely did not want Tom Coughlin to be the next head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
Like the Rolling Stones said, you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.
Enter Doug Pederson.
It’s the kind of hire that generates more shrugs than anything else. There really isn’t any reason to not like the hire. Pederson is an unknown, much like a certain portly fellow who was plucked from a job as quarterbacks coach with the Green Bay Packers and led the Eagles to unprecedented franchise success.
Apparently, ESPN has ranked the hire as the worst of the offseason. Since ESPN is full of idiots, Eagles fans should take this as a compliment.
2) Howie Roseman
It’s hard to understand just how Howie Roseman keeps hanging around the Eagles. He hasn’t done anything great in his entire tenure. His contracts put the Eagles on a course for salary cap hell and necessitated moves to get rid of guys like DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy. His drafts have decimated the Eagles roster.
And if you’re of the opinion Chip Kelly was the wrong guy for the Eagles, then his coaching-search decisions have yielded no positive results.
Yet, he’s still around, while so many other people are gone.
You have to believe that this is it for Howie. No matter how much Jeffrey Lurie loves him, if Pederson flops, Howie will be 0-for-2 and will have set the franchise back decades. He’d finally have to go.
That’s a win.
Of course, things would work out with Pederson, too, and he could lead the Eagles back to prominence.
That, too, is a win.
So, when you think about it, there’s no way the Eagles can lose with this hiring, in the long run.
3) Endorsements
When you think about players who have come and gone through Philadelphia in the last five years, few match the intelligence, integrity and influence of Jeremy Maclin and Jason Avant.
Now with the Chiefs, they’ve had experience working with Pederson and had great things to say about him.
Those are the kinds of endorsements that make me pretty comfortable with this hire.
4) Assembling a staff
First things first in assembling a staff is identifying and retaining talent. Pederson seems well on his way to making some great choices, with reports Sunday that the popular running backs coach Duce Staley will return, as will special teams guru Dave Fipp.
Retaining Fipp is a stunner, as I thought he’d surely be gone to San Francisco to follow Chip Kelly. The guess here is the overall special teams talent (read Darren Sproles) helped keep Fipp in Philadelphia as he, too, will look to one day become a head coach in the NFL.
5) Bringing in new blood
There are reports that former NFL quarterback Frank Reich, who authored that unbelievable playoff comeback by the Buffalo Bills against the Houston Oilers in what seems a lifetime ago, is Pederson’s top choice for offensive coordinator.
Reich had been the offensive coordinator in San Diego for the last few seasons. The Chargers ranked ninth in the NFL in offense last year.
As for the defensive jobs, there have been rumors about Steve Sapgnuolo, which I really, really don’t like. You’re talking about a guy who cashed in a good year for a head coaching gig and has been trash ever since.
But if it’s a choice between Billy Davis and Spags, give me Spags. Heck, if it’s a choice between Davis and an actual bag of trash, I’ll take the trash.
6) Sam Bradford
The big question is what Reich’s hiring would do to a guy like Pat Shurmur and his status with the Eagles. Would Shurmur be retained in some way? Would that matter? We’ve been led to believe that Shurmur might be the best bet in retaining Bradford as the Eagles quarterback. This is an idea many fans, myself included, have warmed up to, especially when you consider the dearth of talent at the position around the league.
It might behoove Pederson to sit down with Bradford before making too many decisions regarding his offensive staff.
7) Chip Kelly
Interesting that a franchise with five Super Bowl championships and an appearance in one much, much more recent than our own Philadelphia Eagles would jump on a guy who so many around here have written off as not being able to coach in the NFL.
Time will tell, but here’s a guess: Chip Kelly wins a Super Bowl before the Philadelphia Eagles.