ESPN’s reporting that the Browns are restarting the search without Kelly.
And the Eagles are going to Denver to interview Mike McCoy. Almost certain that Kelly stays at Oregon. Looks like the winner out of all this was the Bills… Go figure.
Gosh, maybe the Browns can hire Brian Daboll as head coach.
Fire marvin lewis!
The Chip Kelly story is quite the drama.
This comment stood out to me though. For the last decade the Eagles have been run in a oligarchy with Reid at the top. Giving Kelly total and complete control with a huge contract to boot would be exactly the same atmosphere that has been in place.
Looking at Armstrong’s resume I have to conclude that no, he doesn’t have a legit shot. He’s only been coaching in the NFL for 17 years after a less than notable run n college. That sounds like a long time, but I’d guess that in general this would make him light on experience by NFL HC standards.
Probably more telling are what his titles were over that time. In his last 3 positions he’s been the Special Teams coach 3 different teams (Bears, Dolphins and Falcons) over a span of 15 years. Now, there’s something to be said for excelling at a job and sticking with it, and as has been said often Special Teams coaches do touch every functional group on a roster on a day-to-day basis, but I see this as stagnation and inexperience. I also don’t view either the Falcons or Dolphins as Special Teams factories.
So, while it’s true that Armstrong’s resume looks very similar to John Harbaugh’s, I don’t really view him as a contender for the Bears job. He previous stint with the Bears might work to help him if the McCaskey’s have a hand in the hiring, but that doesn’t appear to be the case under Emery. All in all, Armstrong doesn’t have what the Bears are looking for and Emery can’t make that type of gamble. That said, Armstrong might land a job somewhere more low-profile if he kills it in his interviews.
While I understand the argument about black coaches being offended, it’s a common one, that last sentence is why it happens. Affirmative Action is screwed up in a lot of ways and at a certain point it causes more harm than good, but in the case of NFL coaching searches it gets guys in the room and allows them to make their case. And really that’s not too much to ask and it’s also a benefit to everyone. I wouldn’t bash a black coach for passing on an interview he feels is pointless, but in most cases these guys should grab onto every chance to get in front of NFL owners. You just never know, Armstrong might not get the Bears or Eagles jobs but because of this interview process he might get the Chargers job in 2016.
Not interested in another Bears’ retread?
With Maronne going to the Bills – that one came out of the blue, didn’t it – Lovie’s likely landing spot is gone. My guess would be that Arizona would be next on the list with Reid going to KC but Lovie would give the Browns much needed credibility and stability. There’s also been a interesting rumor about Lovie being secretly courted by Dallas in a package deal with Norv Turner, that would set the newspapers on fire but it’s probably just some hack’s pipe dream.
Dallas’s problem isn’t the coaching staff, it’s the GM.
Did you see the plays Garrett called this year? Do you really think the offense or defense is untalented? This is a lazy response, Jones isn’t perfect but he’s not whiffing on draft picks and signing insane contracts that handcuff the team.
Omni-I agree there’s a tendency to say,“Hey, even though that (black) guy didn’t get that job, I heard he interviewed great, let’s talk to him.”
Saying Reid had total and complete control is an oversimplification. It eventually got to that point in a way (which is part of the problem) but it certainly wasn’t that way from the first day. The power system within the Eagles was always a hotly debated topic. We “knew” that Reid had final say, but we never knew who actually made things happen. I get the feeling that Reid’s “final say” was just veto power, but that he made very few actual decisions.
What I meant originally is that the Eagles built their franchise on specific principles and those principles were abandoned in recent years. It’s hard to explain without typing out a 5,000 word post, but the atmosphere I mentioned was one where the Eagles were, above all else, focused on building a team two years at a time. They wanted to compete this year, of course, but they never lost sight of next year. This was an extremely patient organization, while at the same time being extremely aggressive in drafts and in handling their personnel contracts. They didn’t often make splashy moves to appease fans or generate interest. Giving out “huge contracts” never happened.
Chip Kelly would be a splashy move. Does he seem like the type of guy who is going to build a program for a decade? Or doesn’t he seem more like a guy who will come in and grab headlines and get things done right away? (Perception, I mean) Andy Reid was a no-name who surprised every Eagles fan when he was hired. Chip Kelly is not that. Chip Kelly seems like another Nnamdi signing - “the biggest name out there.” Lurie’s press conference made it sound as if the organization was going to go back to ignoring the itch to get the biggest name and back to building an engine that can compete yearly without collapsing and rebuilding.
I’ll not list everything from an IPhone but he signed the triplets to big contracts after the SB years were done, hired Barry frikkin Switzer, insisted on Quincy Carter, passed on Randy Moss, insisted on Roy Williams, Felix Jones, etc. He desperately wants to be known as a football guy so he can justify credit for their early success but history shows that was all Jimmy Johnson.
Whatever good draft have come since are due in large part to Tuna, Payton, Garrett, etc. Jones knows how to market but he’s a dismal GM. My take anyway.
Does someone know the reason Boldin left AZ? Was it money, cap issues, personalities, play for a contender? I just can’t imagine why they’d let him go.
Nevermind, I thought I was in the playoff thread. I’ll move the question there.
Boldin was traded for draft picks in 2010. Don’t know if there was a conflict in Arizona, but he brought them a third, fourth, and fifth round pick in that draft.
I don’t understand why you’re trying to link together the way the Eagles operate with respect to the talent on the field and the man making the decisions off of it. They aren’t similar and they aren’t related for a lot of reasons. They key one being that the Eagles roster management is always with an eye on the cap and the draft, there are neither for front office guys. The Nhamdi deal and Kelly have exactly nothing in common.
The Eagles have never had a well defined power structure in my memory. The deal that Kelly will probably get from whomever matches that. Reid was one of the leagues highest paid coaches, Kelly would probably be too. Kelly will be the one working the drafts and calling the plays, just like Reid. Reid was a hot candidate and “offensive genius” when he was hired, just like Kelly.
I’m sure they’ll be different dudes but there’s no history with this organization of hiring executives and coaches in a traditional, top-down manner.
I agree that the Eagles stopped managing their roster in a certain way in recent years as Reid’s seat got hotter. That’s typical in all organizations. Kelly’s coming from college and presumably in the short term will be focused on building through the draft due to his familiarity there.
Just because Lurie is looking to make a splash by hiring Kelly and giving him carte blanche it doesn’t mean Kelly will start spending willy-nilly in free agency. Kelly will be picking the players and building the team, there isn’t a track record of highly paid and empowered coach/GMs spending frivolously.
Now if you think Lurie is trending toward becoming a Jerry Jones/Dan Snyder type who meddles in personnel matters that’s a different story and it won’t matter who the coach is. Actually a credible candidate like Kelly actually has a better chance of stopping that than a first time converted OC like McCoy or Arians.
All that stuff is ancient history. This team this year was well constructed and they don’t have any albatross contracts to dump. The team is young and improving at key positions. If you want to point fingers you point them at Garrett and Ryan and maybe, if you’re feeling bitter, Romo. What did Jones do that cost them a game this year?
They let him go for 2 reasons.
- Money, Fitzgerald got a huge contract and wasn’t going anywhere and they couldn’t afford to pay Boldin what he was asking and Fitzy too. They franchised Boldin as long as they could to keep them together but Boldin eventually just had enough.
- Injuries/Age. Boldin’s effectiveness was declining when they moved him and he’s lost like 3 steps since Arizona. He’s still an effective possession receiver but he’s drastically under performed in Baltimore based on what was expected of him.
It was a great deal then and still is. Boldin is okay, but the Ravens offense has been desperate for a dynamic WR since Boldin came to town and put on his cement shoes. As noted, there was conflict. Boldin was holding out and pissed about being franchised. They couldn’t pay him but they knew he was valuable. They did what smart teams do with veterans right before they decline.
Rick Dennison joins list of Bears candidates
Another new name on the Bears list of candidates. Another OC from a playoff team. You can’t say the Bears aren’t being thorough and methodical. My snap judgement is to steer away from Texans coaches, that team just has a certain stink of underachievement to it. Still, I’d love to replicate a Houston style play-action and running game in Chicago. I’m not convinced bringing in their OC would have much to do with that, their success seems to start with great talent and Kubiak might be the game planner and play caller. Still, I like the idea of interviewing all these guys while you can. I don’t think there’s any harm and who knows, maybe Kubiak is the loser in that equation holding Dennison back.
Fire Marvin Lewis!
Are the Chargers interested? I thought that sounded like an interesting fit.
Question about the “Rooney Rule”-If he refuses the interview (because it’s a sham interview) is the team still in compliance?
Omni, you have completely missed my point. You cannot see the forest for the trees.
The Eagles have completely lost the big-picture macro focus for a series of micro decisions related in that they all reveal obvious desperation. The Kelly hire would be emblematic of more of that rash, desperate decision making. That’s the last I’ll say about that because I don’t want to derail an entire thread when we clearly aren’t having the same argument.
I’ll say this though, Andy Reid was not a big name when he was hired. He was a relative unknown who had gained some measure of respect for his outstanding work, but he was never even an offensive coordinator. He was a long-time line coach (and QB coach) before being hired by the Eagles. There was some controversy and criticism that his hire was too outside the box considering other candidates who had been out there at the time. There is no way you can consider Chip Kelly in the same realm as Andy Reid when he was hired, except that they’re both offensive minded. Which is too shallow a comparison to be meaningful anyway.