EMB Blog: 2021 Offseason

[Ipiggles]

4 minutes ago, Maga301 said:

Watching that has me hoping Sirianni and his coaches can turn Wentz around. We need that type of Wentz back, what a fun year. 

Wentz has shown he is capable. I believe he can do it again. 

[NCiggles]

15 minutes ago, UK Eagle said:

Bieniemy has a choice to make.  Take a sideways move or become a college HC to prove you can do it where ever your hat lays and miss out on Super Bowl rings in KC, or stay at KC and be left in late January looking at this from the outside but potentially multiple Super Bowl rings at the end of his career. I assume he is a smart, innovative coach, but if you aren't available, it makes it tough to get another job.

Teams won't wait forever and it's a sad reality for many other coaches out there too.

I mean he could still end up in Texas.  I am not sure how interested he is in being a head coach.  His name is out there a bunch but it's not like he seemed interested in a lot of jobs.  

[eagle45]

2 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

So working under a HOF coach and helping develop a HOF QB, TE, and WR are knocks against him? 

It’s a credit and a critique at the same time.  I think it’s more than enough to justify a HC opportunity.  Heck, I’d have chosen him over Sirianni myself.  But I don’t have the benefit of an interview and I also suspect AR told him not to come here, but that’s a separate issue.

A HOF coach, HOF qb, the best WRs in the nfl, and a historically great offense should be enough to get him hired by the "proximity rule.”  But there is always going to be the concern that he was just a passenger on the train, which is amplified if his interviews reportedly aren’t so hot.

[eagle45]

2 minutes ago, ManuManu said:

 

The Ertz injury and frequent in game Goedert injuries substantially lowered our 12 percentage below what we would have otherwise done.

[DaEagles4Life]

7 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

So working under a HOF coach and helping develop a HOF QB, TE, and WR are knocks against him? 

They must be if can't get an interview 

[bpac55]

15 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

Had to look up legal issues. He got a DUI 20 years ago. The rest was stuff that happened in the late 80s/early 90s. Owners will sign players who admittedly beat the crap out of women. His legal issues has nothing to do with it. 
 

Perhaps he does interview poorly and ultimately may be a poor head coach but there have been way less qualified candidates who get opportunities. Yes, life’s not fair and playing the race card 9/10 times is usually ridiculous. However, I have a tough time arguing against anyone claiming he’d be a HC if he were white.
 

There’s no way to know that for sure but interviewing poorly and legal issues seem like BS. 

He had quite a bit more than a DUI...

The players with legal issues argument can be made but then you think about a coach vs. a player.

The head coach is the face of the franchise, the leader of men the one person every player on the team has to follow.  You 100% don't want that man to have legal issues, questionable character flaws and a history of making bad decisions.

The NFL is not reality.  Guys like Tyreek HIll, who is a piece of trash human, can make millions of dollars.  However, it's much easier to cut ties with a player than it is to fire a coach.  You need to make sure every page is turned when hiring a coach.  I think EB just has a few too many pages that don't look good.

[eagle45]

3 minutes ago, bpac55 said:

He had quite a bit more than a DUI...

The players with legal issues argument can be made but then you think about a coach vs. a player.

The head coach is the face of the franchise, the leader of men the one person every player on the team has to follow.  You 100% don't want that man to have legal issues, questionable character flaws and a history of making bad decisions.

The NFL is not reality.  Guys like Tyreek HIll, who is a piece of trash human, can make millions of dollars.  However, it's much easier to cut ties with a player than it is to fire a coach.  You need to make sure every page is turned when hiring a coach.  I think EB just has a few too many pages that don't look good.

I have friends who can’t get medical licenses because of old DUIs.  This stuff isn’t unprecedented.
 

Would that take someone off my board as HC?  For me, no.  Like I said, I probably would have hired this guy over Sirianni.  Then again, Mcdaniels was my top choice, so I’m a little crazy.  But I’m not going to cry racism if others let that history impact the opportunity.  

[Ace Nova]

 

Contract negotiations maybe?

[Alphagrand]

31 minutes ago, EaglePhan1986 said:

So working under a HOF coach and helping develop a HOF QB, TE, and WR are knocks against him? 

Perhaps people assume, because he has an OC title that he has the entire offense in the palm of his hand, when his entire coaching history before that was as a RB coach and he takes very little interest in the passing game.  Maybe he gets asked in interviews to recite certain Chiefs alignments and schemes and the strategy of formations, and he can’t do it.

Some people are just better at their jobs than others.  Just like certain positions like RB and LB are devalued, I don’t see many RB or LB coaches getting head coaching interviews (I still believe Jerod Mayo might have been a DC interview in fact).  When I look at these head coaching hires, a lot of them have experience coaching at several different position groups. 

[JayEcho]

2 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

 

Contract negotiations maybe?

he's heading back to indy and we're hiring mcdaniels. 

[RLC]

4 minutes ago, Ace Nova said:

It's not weird. It usually takes an extra day or two.

[Freshmilk]

2 hours ago, John_C said:

Jesus H, I suffer through all of your nonsensical defenses of the Eagles front office, please keep these ideas in the appropriate forum.  There is a reason more than 75% of Rs and 60% of independents believe the election was stolen.  Because it was.  You will never have a voice again, because election outcomes are now controlled.  Hooray!  Accept what the oligarchy allows and be grateful.

Besides all of the evidence that people saw, the videos of balllots being dropped off in the middle of the night, all of the sworn testimony by poll workers, the vote switching in real time, the 5 am ballot drops, bullet marked, uncreased , etc etc. ballot "adjudication” for electronic votes, by software, give me a break.  People will believe their own eyes.  Hopefully you enjoyed the "installation” with 25000 military troops and no one there.  Looked like China, didn’t it?  Or the PRK.

The suburban vote wasn’t off much from the prior election.  What you cannot explain, no one can, is why an R candidate had historic levels of support from minorities (double last time) except in 5 large counties D controlled in swing states where he was down 75%.  No logic can explain it because there is none.  It’s called fraud.  You don’t win Fl by 4 times the margin last time and lose.  You don’t win Ohio by 9 points and lose Michigan and Wisconsin.  The problem with fraud is the artificial timelines to "certify” and judges that want no part of any challenge make it easy to get away with.  Otherwise the cases would be easy to prove.

Instead of parroting CNN talking points you could read a report on where the votes came from based on known info... here is one:

 https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/be36dc6d-0df4-4c20-addf-fca72be46150/The Navarro Report Volume III Final 1.13.21-0001.pdf

I don’t know what can be done unless the mindless indoctrinated wake up.  Maybe when their lives become worse, enough places will demand in person voting with ID and we can have elections again.  Until then, the whole Americs thing is over.

This sucks take it elsewhere, private message each other, but please leave this out of our ridiculous Eagle arguments.   Not just you, of course, all of you who are talking politics- just insufferable.  

 

[xxeaglesfanxx]

First step of the offseason is completed basically with the hiring of a HC.  Now he needs to determine who his assistants will be.

[austinfan]

1 hour ago, ManuManu said:

 

 

And people wonder why Pederson was fired?

Let's see, my OL is in shambles so let's call lots of vertical routes so my QB has to hold the ball as long as possible because it'll take the other team by surprise.

[RLC]

With competent coaching this year, the Eagles make the playoffs in a terrible NFCE. That's not an over-exaggeration.

[Iggles_Phan]

This in a nut shell is the state of 'journalism' today and why I generally don't give a lot of credibility to a lot of the 'reports' these guys share. 

Quote

 

The last time the Eagles went through the process of hiring a head coach and assembling a staff around him, Doug Pederson didn't end up with a staff of guys he knew. 

He had never worked with Jim Schwartz or Frank Reich before. 

 

https://www.nbcsports.com/philadelphia/eagles/nick-sirianni-coaching-staff-eagles-offensive-coordinator-defensive-coordinator

 

This is just lazy journalism and a flat out false understanding of things.   

First of all, Doug came in with Duce Staley as a holdover on the roster - Doug and Duce were in the starting backfield for the Eagles in 1999 in Doug's brief stint here as the starting QB.  Duce took over as the offensive quality control coach here in 2011 and 2012 - the same position Doug had held in 2009 and 2010. Doug was elevated to QB coach in 2011 and 2012 under Andy Reid.  Duce was very well known to Doug, so that's nonsense right there.

But, specifically about Frank Reich... their paths crossed in 1995 as both were backup QBs (Doug was cut after the preseason) with the Carolina Panthers and became friends, there were a BUNCH of articles about it at the time, and was widely known.  So, Doug had a lot of familiarity with Frank, even if they hadn't 'worked' together.  There was a lot of knowledge shared between the two long before Doug ever got interviewed by the Eagles for the HC spot.

 

But, the reality is that the NFL is a fraternity.  Doug was part of that fraternity as a player for over a decade, and bounced around a fair amount... Dolphins, Packers, Eagles, Browns, Packers during those years.   And the players talk to other players, and have connections that we may not recognize, which is why they congregate so frequently on the field together after games.   What connection does Aaron Rodgers have with Carson Wentz?   Plenty, apparently.  Which is why Aaron felt the need to talk to Wentz after the game in which he was benched.   And, I'll add, these players often times share agents, so there are again, unseen connections.  

But, Doug was also part of the coaching fraternity, just for a shorter time.  He started in 2008 as a quality control assistant, and was networked into Andy's network, which was connected to Holmgren's network, connected to Walsh's network, etc.  These guys get together and chat a great deal together at the Scouting Combine, Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine Game, etc.  They know more people than they have worked with.  

The classic story is of Jeff Lurie's first introduction to Andy Reid.  It wasn't when he was interviewed to be the HC with the Eagles.  It was either at the Senior Bowl practices, or the Scouting Combine - I can't recall... but Rhodes was sitting in the stands with Lurie (and others), and Reid came up to join Rhodes... and Ray mentioned that Andy was a young up and coming offensive mind and was one to keep an eye on.  Yes, Ray and Andy had a connection from their shared time in GB.  But, Lurie didn't share that connection, but the two were linked via a common acquaintance.  And from that moment, Andy Reid sat on Lurie's radar as one to watch, even though they had no real connection of their own.

Lazy work Zangaro.

 

 

Now, on a side topic: The interesting thing about all of this, is that each of Lurie's coaching hires have come back to the previous permutation, with the exception of Chip Kelly, which was a disaster.   So, for the future, we should keep that in mind in all future coaching searches.  The degrees of separation between the new coach and the last coach is usually very short with Lurie.

 

In 1994, Lurie came in being a big fan of the WCO.  He got the DC from the Super Bowl winner (a WCO team) as the OC went elsewhere.  That DC brought in Gruden, from GB (WCO), and Rhodes lasted 4 years.   Rhodes, during that time, introduces Lurie to Andy Reid (from GB).  The next coaching search then lands on Reid, whom had been recommended as one to watch for the future by Rhodes.  Andy lasts 13 years... and Lurie goes for the hot new shiny toy and gets burned.  So, he goes back to what he knows... Ray Rhodes' old friend, Andy Reid... and his top assistant Doug Pederson, whom brings with him Frank Reich.  During that time, I wonder if Reich said anything to Lurie about Sirianni, because he sure had a lot of positive things to say about him when he was hired in Indy in 2018.  So, then when Lurie goes looking for a HC... he casts a wide net, but ultimately comes back to the offensive guy in that whole bunch that he has some tie with... Sirianni, the current OC with his old OC Frank Reich.   

There were a lot of names out there, but it seems, Lurie wants to stick to what he knows, or the guys that know who he knows.  Rhodes to Reid was a direction connection.  Reid to Kelly was out of left field.  Back to Pederson was a direct connection and a call back to a former player and assistant coach.  Pederson to Sirianni is bridged by Reich.  Small circle.  

 

[eagle45]

I do not believe that the Eagles ran the most "vertical routes” in the NFL.
 

Not only did they have the fewest yards per pass attempt in the nfl, but they also had the fewest air yards per pass in the nfl...be it complete, incomplete, int, or otherwise.  
 

 

[NCiggles]

8 minutes ago, eagle45 said:

Personally, I do think Bieniemy has qualifications befitting someone who gets a HC job.

There are black HCs in the league.  There are players demanding black HCs.  The owners have now agreed to toss around draft capital to preferentially favor black HCs.  There is a rule forcing owners to interview them.  And there are unlimited articles bemoaning that there aren’t more black HCs.

Half of those things above are racist and disparaging in and of themselves.  
 

So I’m not going to cry foul that one individual doesn’t have a HC job.  No one cares that there aren’t more white cbs, rbs, or WRs in the league, nor should they.  You can’t just artificially dictate population averages in the work place based on race, which is what people are trying to do here.  

 

I don't think people are trying to dictate that teams hire black coaches.  I think the concern and the question people have is whether black coaches are being treated fairly.  I don't think any coach wants to be hired because they are a token.  I think they want to be seen as the best candidate for the job.  I do think that is the primary issue for Bieniemy.  I think when players push for a coach like Duce it's because they trust his ability to coach the team.  I think asking why and calling attention to qualified candidates doesn't have to be divisive.  I think we should be able to ask whether racial bias is playing a role in decision making without worrying about peoples feeling like they are being called members of the KKK.  Racial bias exists and most of us have some level of bias about decision making.  I don't think recognizing that we have potential bias is a bad thing.  I think the click bait and hot take manner which the media addresses it isn't great. Also, it's not like hiring 32 black head coaches fixes the problem.  

[Iggles_Phan]

4 minutes ago, RLC said:

With competent coaching this year, the Eagles make the playoffs in a terrible NFCE. That's not an over-exaggeration.

I really hope they don't... they need to do a massive roster purge and would greatly benefit from back to back draft selections in the top 10.

[Iggles_Phan]

1 minute ago, eagle45 said:

I do not believe that the Eagles ran the most "vertical routes” in the NFL.
 

Not only did they have the fewest yards per pass attempt in the nfl, but they also had the fewest air yards per pass in the nfl...be it complete, incomplete, int, or otherwise.  
 

 

That goes back to the number of sacks and QB scrambles though... Those stats only count when they actually throw the ball, not what happens on sacks and QB escapes.   I'm not sure they were 32nd, but they did have a lot of slow developing plays.

[NCiggles]

9 minutes ago, austinfan said:

And people wonder why Pederson was fired?

Let's see, my OL is in shambles so let's call lots of vertical routes so my QB has to hold the ball as long as possible because it'll take the other team by surprise.

Well I'm not sure Wentz threw the ball downfield that much but let's also not pretend that we didn't want the team to throw the ball downfield. 

2 minutes ago, Iggles_Phan said:

I really hope they don't... they need to do a massive roster purge and would greatly benefit from back to back draft selections in the top 10.

I think the team really needs a re-build with draft picks but if Wentz turns it around under Sirianni I am not sure that they need another top 10 pick type draft to compete.  That being said, I don't see them as potential NFCE Champions next year.  I think every other team is in a potentially better position.  I do think it's probably between Washington and the Giants next year.  I think Washington could run away with it if they find a QB.  

[austinfan]

The worst thing the Eagles can do is aim for the playoffs this season.

Rather, they should emulate Miami, who cleared out their veterans, garnered cap room and draft picks, and still went 10-6 on the backs of a lot of young players - that is, focus on the rebuild, and if everything goes right, great, but don't fool yourself into thinking you're still a playoff team.

I'd start by focusing on 2023 and start drafting guys to replace anyone unlikely to be on the roster in two years, beginning with the OL. Use the remaining veterans to mentor and provide support for the kids, but don't fool yourself into thinking if we just got healthy we can make another run.

 

[Iggles_Phan]

2 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

I don't think people are trying to dictate that teams hire black coaches.  I think the concern and the question people have is whether black coaches are being treated fairly.  I don't think any coach wants to be hired because they are a token.  I think they want to be seen as the best candidate for the job.  I do think that is the primary issue for Bieniemy.  I think when players push for a coach like Duce it's because they trust his ability to coach the team.  I think asking why and calling attention to qualified candidates doesn't have to be divisive.  I think we should be able to ask whether racial bias is playing a role in decision making without worrying about peoples feeling like they are being called members of the KKK.  Racial bias exists and most of us have some level of bias about decision making.  I don't think recognizing that we have potential bias is a bad thing.  I think the click bait and hot take manner which the media addresses it isn't great. Also, it's not like hiring 32 black head coaches fixes the problem.  

The answer to me is rather simple... it comes down to the QB position, plain and simple. 

Black QBs were late in getting opportunities, and many of them were running threats, rather than passing threats.  There were very few 'Warren Moon' types, compared to the Randall Cunninghams, Michael Vicks and Steve McNairs.  These were guys who were so athletic that they didn't have to have proper mechanics all the time, proper reads, etc. but could win.  But, that's not sustainable in the NFL.  So, if you want get ahead in the NFL HC ranks, you really need to work with QBs.  Duce is a RB coach.  Bieniemy rose to OC through the RB coach path.  The NFL is a passing league now.    So, when seeking a new offensive coach, the guy you look for is going to come from a passing attack background... WR coaches, turned QB coaches, turned OCs.  The RB route is just a tough road to take.   

Defensive black coaches have gotten a shot more than offensive black coaches.  Why?   LBs, DBs - these guys understand the passing game from a defensive standpoint.   But, I can't think of many offensive black coaches, and its just lagging behind, as the black QB did.  It will happen, but it won't happen because they want it to.  It will happen when the right people are there, and they need to be trained.  The black offensive coaches really need to get more QB coaching opportunities... that's where the change will happen.   Keep an eye on Byron Leftwich.  He's the most likely next one, if Bieniemy is passed over this rotation.

[Iggles_Phan]

3 minutes ago, NCiggles said:

Well I'm not sure Wentz threw the ball downfield that much but let's also not pretend that we didn't want the team to throw the ball downfield. 

I think the team really needs a re-build with draft picks but if Wentz turns it around under Sirianni I am not sure that they need another top 10 pick type draft to compete.  That being said, I don't see them as potential NFCE Champions next year.  I think every other team is in a potentially better position.  I do think it's probably between Washington and the Giants next year.  I think Washington could run away with it if they find a QB.  

To compete for what?    To win this crappy division?   Sure.  To compete for a Super Bowl championship?   yeah, that might be a stretch.  A great QB can take a team with dreck to the playoffs, but the lack of talent on the rest of the roster will have a really hard time competing in the playoffs.  

[greend]

1 hour ago, Ipiggles said:

Back when Frank Reich was the OC and was the guy who developed plays designed around our players strengths. 

 

 

Man I forgot that we used to be able to do quick passes and slants