Andy Reid should still be the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, that is, unless he decided to leave under his own terms. Andy Reid has been the Eagles coach in Philadelphia for the past 14 seasons. He held the title of being the longest currently tenured coach. Some people may say that is too many years for one person to be head coach, but I think that’s called loyalty.
Reid has had a tough year. His son died during training camp this past summer. The time between his son’s death and the beginning of the regular season was only a month. How can someone recover that soon from a family member’s death without it affecting their everyday lives?
Reid then went into the football season and the Eagles’ inability to win games all fell on him. Yes, he is the head coach. Yes, he was the main one who called the plays. But no, he was not the one who under performed like most of the players on the roster.
It was not Andy Reid’s fault that the ball was turned over numerous times per game every week. It was not Andy Reid’s fault that the ball was fumbled constantly. It also was not Reid’s fault that the quarterback kept throwing interception after interception.
Also, many of the players were brought in through free agency, and thus had a sense of entitlement. They signed high paying contracts to join the Eagles and felt their reputation was more important than the team’s. This was evident in Jason Babin, who was cut from the team late in the season because he felt he was better than the team. Babin was just one example of the many free agents who under performed this season, for which Reid was not responsible.
Andy Reid was the best coach the Eagles have ever had. In the 30 seasons before Reid was the coach, the Eagles made the playoffs 11 times and the Super Bowl once, with a 5-10 record. In Reid’s 14 seasons as coach, the Eagles made the playoffs nine times and the Super Bowl once, with a 10-9 record. These statistics are evidence of why Reid was the most successful coach in franchise history.
After all of the good things that Reid did in Philadelphia it just seems like all that was focused on was this season.
Exactly six days after the Eagles released Reid, the Kansas City Chiefs hired him. If that doesn’t tell you how much of a good coach Andy Reid is, I don’t know what will.
