Road to Victory Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 Top Coaches Eagles Must Consider to Replace Doug Pederson After Firing SCOTT POLACEKJANUARY 11, 2021 Philadelphia Eagles fans surely didn't expect their team to be looking for a new coach within a few years of Doug Pederson leading the team to a Super Bowl title in 2018, but life moves fast in the NFL. The Eagles confirmed they fired Pederson on Monday. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network added "after speaking with two people close to former Eagles coach Doug Pederson, it sounds like this is what it boiled down: Pederson was sick of people telling him what to do." Philadelphia was just 4-11-1 this season and finished in last place in an NFC East that did not feature a single team with a winning record. Making the playoffs as soon as next year in that division is not out of the question with the correct hire. With that in mind, here is a look at some of the coaches the Eagles should consider to replace Pederson: Eric Bieniemy, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Robert Saleh, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Arthur Smith, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator One thing that stands out about this list is how offensive-oriented it is, which is key for the Eagles. After all, they selected Jalen Hurts with a second-round pick in the 2020 draft and eventually benched Carson Wentz for the rookie in December. If Hurts truly is the quarterback of the future for the Eagles—or even if they want to rectify the situation with Wentz and hope the fifth-year pro discovers his old form—hiring an offensive coach makes sense. Bieniemy is seemingly mentioned for every head coaching opportunity recently—and for good reason. The Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator helped build a dynamic offense with Patrick Mahomes at the center of all of it. While expecting Hurts to be like Mahomes is unfair seeing how the Chiefs signal-caller is well on his way to becoming an all-time great, Bieniemy knows how to get the best out of an offense. The man who helped design plays to get Tyreek Hill in space and Travis Kelce open while Kansas City won the Super Bowl should be at the top of Philadelphia's list. Speaking of getting the best out of an offense, Daboll and Smith have done just that of late. Daboll's Bills won the AFC East this season with quarterback Josh Allen playing like an MVP candidate. Buffalo finished No. 2 in the league in scoring, tied for second in yards, No. 3 in passing yards and No. 1 in third-down efficiency during the 2020 campaign, with Allen throwing for 4,544 yards, 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Allen made noticeable throwing improvements each season since he was a rookie in 2018, and Daboll could help Hurts do the same. Smith's Titans tied for second in the league in total yards and were fourth in points this year. The AFC South champions relied on running back Derrick Henry, who ran for 2,027 yards and 17 touchdowns—both NFL bests—after also leading the league last year with 1,540 rushing yards and 16 rushing touchdowns. Considering Henry didn't even make a Pro Bowl before Smith was the OC, Eagles running back Miles Sanders might want to pull for him as the next head coach. It wasn't just the running back spot that saw improvements, as Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill was a Pro Bowler in 2019 and looked like one at times this year with 3,819 passing yards, 266 rushing yards and 40 total touchdowns. Elsewhere, Brady thrived working with a young quarterback as the passing game coordinator for LSU during the 2019 season. Joe Burrow won the Heisman Trophy and led the Tigers to the College Football Playoff national championship under Brady's tutelage, and it is not difficult to envision Hurts taking strides with him as a coach. While Carolina did not enjoy the same type of success as LSU, Teddy Bridgewater threw for a career-high 3,733 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2020 while adding another 279 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. The Panthers, who were without All-Pro back Christian McCaffrey for most of the season, ranked 24th in points last year. If Philadelphia does want to go with a more defense-minded coach, Saleh is the best choice. His 49ers unit was dominant last season on the way to the Super Bowl last season and still finished fifth in the league in yards allowed during the 2020 campaign even though it was devastated by injuries to many of the top playmakers. Considering Philadelphia was 19th in yards allowed and 20th in points allowed, perhaps a defensive boost is in order. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road to Victory Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 The thing that sticks out to me is that Doug got tired of people telling him what to do. That’s a poke at Howie who is really micromanaging the team and going to make this job much less attractive. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stine Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 I like Brian Daboll. Consider that Andy Ried is an offensive minded HC where McDermont is a defensive minded HC. That being said, there is a good chance that Daboll would be more inventive. Doug was under Andy and I saw no real offensive mind working. He ran the same plays that Ried ran as Eagles HC..... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Road to Victory Posted January 12, 2021 Author Share Posted January 12, 2021 Just found out Arthur Smith is the son of Fred Smith, the founder of Fed Ex. Fred Smith is a multi-billionaire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matchew88 Posted January 12, 2021 Share Posted January 12, 2021 20 hours ago, Road to Victory said: The thing that sticks out to me is that Doug got tired of people telling him what to do. That’s a poke at Howie who is really micromanaging the team and going to make this job much less attractive. Well, if you don't make bad moves (decide to keep Groh, reshuffle all in-house coaches for next year), people don't have to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procus Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 13 hours ago, Road to Victory said: Just found out Arthur Smith is the son of Fred Smith, the founder of Fed Ex. Fred Smith is a multi-billionaire. Let's see how good a coach Arthur Smith is without Derrick Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdman#12 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 Time to give Duce Staley a shot........over his career his been around some very good offensive coaches.....some he played for and some he coached with. The guy is well respected by just about everybody in the organization and he knows the city of philadelphia well...... Lurie should stop wasting time and give Duce the reigns..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr_Philly Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 1 hour ago, birdman#12 said: Time to give Duce Staley a shot........over his career his been around some very good offensive coaches.....some he played for and some he coached with. The guy is well respected by just about everybody in the organization and he knows the city of philadelphia well...... Lurie should stop wasting time and give Duce the reigns..... Sorry, I'm not on the Duce bandwagon, love the guy and all but I would feel better about that move if he had OC experience. I have no problem with the Eagles hiring from outside and if the new HC wants to tag Duce as OC that would be a plus, that likely won't happen though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike030270 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 1 hour ago, birdman#12 said: Time to give Duce Staley a shot........over his career his been around some very good offensive coaches.....some he played for and some he coached with. The guy is well respected by just about everybody in the organization and he knows the city of philadelphia well...... Lurie should stop wasting time and give Duce the reigns..... I just don't understand people wanting to make Duce an OC or HC. His RB rotation that would yank the hot hand. Has he ever had any interviews outside of the organization? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdman#12 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 36 minutes ago, Mr_Philly said: Sorry, I'm not on the Duce bandwagon, love the guy and all but I would feel better about that move if he had OC experience. I have no problem with the Eagles hiring from outside and if the new HC wants to tag Duce as OC that would be a plus, that likely won't happen though. 2 minutes ago, Mike030270 said: I just don't understand people wanting to make Duce an OC or HC. His RB rotation that would yank the hot hand. Has he ever had any interviews outside of the organization? If you look at Bienemy's history, he had 2 years at OC at University of Colorado and they sucked. Andy Reid mad him RB coach for 1 season before he was promoted to OC...... RB, QB and WR coaches are around OC constantly, involved in the game plan, involved in play design........it's not like he's coming in as QC control guy. There's plenty of "name" guys who can't get the job done.....it's a crap shoot......some dam good coordinators just didn't do well as head coaches......so what's to lose? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike030270 Posted January 13, 2021 Share Posted January 13, 2021 19 minutes ago, birdman#12 said: If you look at Bienemy's history, he had 2 years at OC at University of Colorado and they sucked. Andy Reid mad him RB coach for 1 season before he was promoted to OC...... RB, QB and WR coaches are around OC constantly, involved in the game plan, involved in play design........it's not like he's coming in as QC control guy. There's plenty of "name" guys who can't get the job done.....it's a crap shoot......some dam good coordinators just didn't do well as head coaches......so what's to lose? A lot. Pick the wrong HC and you're likely firing him in a year or less. Keep doing it and you're the Jets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time2rock Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 9:42 PM, Road to Victory said: The thing that sticks out to me is that Doug got tired of people telling him what to do. That’s a poke at Howie who is really micromanaging the team and going to make this job much less attractive. I'd say it was a poke at Lurie as much as it was Howie. Those two meddle much more than an owner/GM should in the daily operation of a football team. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time2rock Posted January 14, 2021 Share Posted January 14, 2021 Quote Bieniemy is seemingly mentioned for every head coaching opportunity recently—and for good reason. The Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator helped build a dynamic offense with Patrick Mahomes at the center of all of it. While expecting Hurts to be like Mahomes is unfair seeing how the Chiefs signal-caller is well on his way to becoming an all-time great, Bieniemy knows how to get the best out of an offense. Have to wonder just how much say Bieniemy has on the offense in KC ... is it mostly Reid's say or does he have a strong influence? And I would say having Mahomes and all of those weapons at his disposal (Hill, Kelce, Hardman, etc.) makes the job of any OC quite easy. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PoconoDon Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 The pool is drying up. What if every single decent candidate turns them down because their reputation for meddling is just too bad? Anyone think they'd recognize that? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CheesesteakNBeer Posted January 16, 2021 Share Posted January 16, 2021 46 minutes ago, PoconoDon said: The pool is drying up. What if every single decent candidate turns them down because their reputation for meddling is just too bad? Anyone think they'd recognize that? Than they will just turn to Duce and Lurie will tell everyone that he was the one they wanted all along blah blah blah. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birdman#12 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 On 1/13/2021 at 1:40 PM, Mike030270 said: A lot. Pick the wrong HC and you're likely firing him in a year or less. Keep doing it and you're the Jets They're already the jets and the old browns......4-10-1.......fire a super bowl winning coach 3 years after the super bowl?? How do you know who the "right" coach is? Of the 8 new head coaches hired this year 5-6 will be fired within 3 years by their new teams. So again, how do you know if Staley is the "wrong" coach? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eglz1 Posted January 17, 2021 Share Posted January 17, 2021 23 hours ago, PoconoDon said: The pool is drying up. What if every single decent candidate turns them down because their reputation for meddling is just too bad? Anyone think they'd recognize that? They'll figure it out sooner or later I'd think. That's likely to mean substandard coaching to go along with the substandard talent due to cap issues and Howie's drafting acumen for the next few years. Ho Hum. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procus Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 On 1/11/2021 at 9:42 PM, Road to Victory said: The thing that sticks out to me is that Doug got tired of people telling him what to do. That’s a poke at Howie who is really micromanaging the team and going to make this job much less attractive. I just think the Eagles brass saw the limitations in Doug. Initially, the front office interference actually set Doug up for success. Toward the end, it got to cumbersome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procus Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 On 1/16/2021 at 10:43 AM, PoconoDon said: The pool is drying up. What if every single decent candidate turns them down because their reputation for meddling is just too bad? Anyone think they'd recognize that? They'll find a good coach. NFL head coaching jobs are plums. Who here is willing to turn down a job that can set you up financially for life? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
time2rock Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 On 1/17/2021 at 11:37 PM, Procus said: I just think the Eagles brass saw the limitations in Doug. Initially, the front office interference actually set Doug up for success. Toward the end, it got to cumbersome. I think it is a combination of both. As you said, the FO set up Doug with a strong staff initially (they likely felt the need to do so because of his limitations, as you stated). Then when they started taking the training wheels off he made really bad decisions (to promote Groh to replace Reich, to retain Groh and Walch when they were obviously doing a terrible job, and most recently wanting to promote Taylor). He probably felt as a HC he should be afforded the liberty of making those decisions on his own. And really, he should be - and then you let him sink or swim with those decisions he made. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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