Andy Reid had a fantastic start to his career in Philadelphia. What went wrong?
2012 has been hugely disappointing for the Philadelphia Eagles. Taking all things into consideration, head coach Andy Reid has had a fantastic career in Philadelphia.
Since 1999, Reid has a record of 129-86-1 with a win percentage of .597. He has taken the team to five NFC Championship games, four straight from 2001-2004 and in 2004 reached the Super Bowl.
In 2001, Reid also took over as the executive vice president of football operations, giving him final say over all football decisions. Some of his decisions were genius; taking Brian Westbrook in the third round of the draft was brilliant, but then drafting washout Freddie Mitchell in the first round may go down as the worst move in his tenure.
Reid’s play calling and his time management have been called into question. Many of the Andy Reid’s critics claim those two things were the main reason why the Eagles lost to the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXIX in 2004.
The quarterback play and the defense are two specific pieces to a football team that have led to the Eagles sudden demise.
In 1999 Andy Reid named Jimmy Johnson to be his defensive coordinator.
The defense under Johnson was not only one of the best in the league but was also one of the most feared. From 2000-2007, Johnson’s units ranked tied for first in the NFL with 342 sacks, second in the league in 3rd down efficiency at 34.3% and red zone touchdown percentage at 43.0%, and fourth in fewest points allowed per game 17.6.
Since Johnson’s death in 2009 the Eagles are on their third defensive coordinator and are still searching for someone to fill the enormous shoes of Johnson.
In 1999 Reid drafted a quarterback out of Syracuse with the second overall pick who was booed on draft night. That quarterback went on to team up with Andy Reid to be the best coach-quarterback duo in Philadelphia Eagles history. His name? Donovan McNabb.
As the quarterback of the Eagles McNabb holds 14 team records including, most career passing yards (32,873), most career passing touchdowns (216), most career game winning drives (23), and most career wins (92).
Since McNabb’s final season in Philadelphia the quarterback play for the Eagles has been extremely inconsistent. Michael Vick had a great season in 2010, a good season in 2011 and a bad season in 2012.
There are already rumored replacements in place should Coach Reid be let go at the end of season.
The names that are being put out their most frequently have been Jon Gruden, a Super Bowl winning coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Brian Billick, a Super Bowl Winning coach with the Baltimore Ravens, Bill Cowher, a Super Bowl Winning coach with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the new up and coming offensive genius coaching at the University of Oregon, Chip Kelly.
In 1999 Lurie hired a little known quarterback’s coach from a winning franchise who had never even been a coordinator at the NFL level and he ended up being the most successful coach in Eagles history.
Don’t be surprised if Lurie goes that same route again.