Somehow, the Philadelphia Eagles have become a very dysfunctional franchise. Oh, you disagree? Let’s take our emotions out of our arguments for a second. At the time of this story being published, we’ve moved past lunchtime on the East Coast on a Monday that follows four very entertaining games during the NFL’s Divisional Round. Two teams are now without head coaches, and guess what? They’re the two most dysfunctional and drama-filled franchises in the NFL.
Both the Eagles and Houston Texans continue their search on Martin Luther King Day. Philly’s now on the verge of being turned down by just about everybody that they’re interested in for the head coaching vacancy, but there is hope. There are a few options left, and some of them are pretty decent.
Like it or not Birds fans, Eagles Chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie is just as meddlesome as Jerry Jones and Daniel Snyder, and if we’re being honest, both the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Football Team are in a better position than Philadelphia is in right now.
We’ve heard rumors that Carson Wentz wanted out of town. Then, we heard that wasn’t really true. We’ve all heard that Lurie and the franchise’s vice president and general manager Howie Roseman want a coach that can ‘salvage Carson Wentz’, but if we’re being honest, aren’t we all a little concerned that the Birds won’t get anything close to what they want?
Here’s something to mull over if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan.
If you’re a Birds fan that’s looking around the web for some info about your favorite football team, here’s a nice landing spot. The Philly Inquirer’s Paul Domowitch spoke with former Eagles president Joe Banner recently. Banner’s been spot on with some of his theories recently, and his take on whether or not the Eagles’ head-coaching job is still desirable is a must-read. Take a quick look at this one.
"I can’t imagine any coach who has read the stories, including the ones about front-office influence on the coaches Doug could or couldn’t fire or keep, wouldn’t have concerns. It certainly will be a topic of conversation from the agent who initially will get the call to the actual applicant. He’ll certainly pursue that and make sure that he feels he has the control and authority to be successful."
No, wait. There’s more. Banner continued with his theory.
"They’ll have to answer that question to the satisfaction of these candidates. A coach will not look kindly on management feeling they know better who the coaches should be than the coach himself. That’s a concern the Eagles will have to speak to and make the coach comfortable, or it could be what makes him choose someplace else other than Philadelphia if he has options."
It’s not earth-shattering. To some of you, it’s a theory that you’ve heard more than once, but as we move through the process, it is something that you’d have to believe every candidate has in the back of their mind.
Howie Roseman has burned the last two Philadelphia Eagles coaches out mentally and emotionally now, and for some reason, the meddling owner can’t see that Howie is one of the biggest issues that his franchise has. Things will get worse before they get better, especially if there’s no change in the Eagles’ leadership structure.