I think It's Time for Andy Reid to Go
Hello All,
Before you flip, read on. I have been an Eagles fan now for many years. A few years ago I posted a thread called "The Eagles Are a Joke: Fire Andy Reid." This was the season after he was named Coach of the Year. I was cautioned on overreacting. That year they went to the NFC championship, but lost. I reconsidered and decided I was being emotional.
In any case: I think Andy Reid is a great guy. He has great knoweldge and great experience. He has done a good job with a team that was in bad shape when he took over. They have had some real successes in the last 7 years.
That said, I think it may be time for him to go. He simply does not motivate the team the way he should. He has admitted as much. There are too many mistakes, too many penalties, too many times where they don't show up. Certainly this is expected from time to time, but it's several times a year...every year. Then there is the horrific clock managmement and play calling, which Reid has also acknowledged. However, he keeps promising to fix it and it doesn't get fixed. Even this week, he's giving them the week off. I think that after three straight losses, that's a mistake.
Even if the Eagles turn it around this year and become the team I think they could be, I will likely feel the same way. They need a motivator...someone to get in their faces. They need to tell McNabb stop with his cavalier attitude....to be a little harder on himself when he throws three interceptions and then says "things like that will happen in this league and in this offense." They need urgency. They need to come out and play every week, and they don't. (disclaimer: I like McNabb!)
This is not a rant. I just think heads have to roll. It's time for big change. It's not the players...they have a talented QB and backs and an improving recieving corps. They need leadership...a slave driver if you will that will elmininate the mental mistakes. That man is not the laid back gentle giant that is Andy Reid.
Your Thoughts....
Before you flip, read on. I have been an Eagles fan now for many years. A few years ago I posted a thread called "The Eagles Are a Joke: Fire Andy Reid." This was the season after he was named Coach of the Year. I was cautioned on overreacting. That year they went to the NFC championship, but lost. I reconsidered and decided I was being emotional.
In any case: I think Andy Reid is a great guy. He has great knoweldge and great experience. He has done a good job with a team that was in bad shape when he took over. They have had some real successes in the last 7 years.
That said, I think it may be time for him to go. He simply does not motivate the team the way he should. He has admitted as much. There are too many mistakes, too many penalties, too many times where they don't show up. Certainly this is expected from time to time, but it's several times a year...every year. Then there is the horrific clock managmement and play calling, which Reid has also acknowledged. However, he keeps promising to fix it and it doesn't get fixed. Even this week, he's giving them the week off. I think that after three straight losses, that's a mistake.
Even if the Eagles turn it around this year and become the team I think they could be, I will likely feel the same way. They need a motivator...someone to get in their faces. They need to tell McNabb stop with his cavalier attitude....to be a little harder on himself when he throws three interceptions and then says "things like that will happen in this league and in this offense." They need urgency. They need to come out and play every week, and they don't. (disclaimer: I like McNabb!)
This is not a rant. I just think heads have to roll. It's time for big change. It's not the players...they have a talented QB and backs and an improving recieving corps. They need leadership...a slave driver if you will that will elmininate the mental mistakes. That man is not the laid back gentle giant that is Andy Reid.
Your Thoughts....
Comments
Their receivers are mediocre, the tight end is one of the worst at his position, and teams simply just focus their plan on Westbrook every week.
Also, the Eagles' defense is second to last in the league in TOP. It's hard to win many games when your defense is on the field the majority of the game.
And it's really not that bad SDW. For how shitty the Eagles offensive players are they still put up decent numbers despite their lack of stars. When mediocre players can put up better than average numbers obviously the system is correct. And unfortunately, because of the Eagles' current offensive roster, the west coast offense is really the only kind of offense they can run. To fire Andy Reid would be shooting themselves in the foot, as it would be hard to replace him with a coach with a entirely different system. There aren't too many available WCO coaches right now.
But hey, if you want to call Jim Fassel up, be my guest. I'd stick with Andy Reid...
I don't believe that. Andy Reid is not the problem, player personnel is.
Their receivers are mediocre, the tight end is one of the worst at his position, and teams simply just focus their plan on Westbrook every week.
Also, the Eagles' defense is second to last in the league in TOP. It's hard to win many games when your defense is on the field the majority of the game.
And it's really not that bad SDW. For how shitty the Eagles offensive players are they still put up decent numbers despite their lack of stars. When mediocre players can put up better than average numbers obviously the system is correct. And unfortunately, because of the Eagles' current offensive roster, the west coast offense is really the only kind of offense they can run. To fire Andy Reid would be shooting themselves in the foot, as it would be hard to replace him with a coach with a entirely different system. There aren't too many available WCO coaches right now.
But hey, if you want to call Jim Fassel up, be my guest. I'd stick with Andy Reid...
I don't agree that player personnel is the problem. McNabb has the potential to be a hall of fame quaterback. He just needs better coaching. I might agree with you on tight end and running backs. They need a power back...period. The recieivers have real potential...I blame their performance on age and coaching.
The defense is a problem, mostly due to TOP and passing defense. I think Jim Johnson needs to go ballistic on these guys in the secondary, young or not.
But what I'm talking about IS Andy Reid. Mental mistakes. False starts. Poor clock management. Not getting the play in fast enough. Not having the team emotionally ready...week after week, year after year. Shitty play calling and mea culpas every press conference. He knows it's his fault if you listen to him. I'm not saying fire him...I think he should resign at the end of the year. Thsi has been going on for years. He simply doesn't create emotion in the team. I remember when they started 0-2 a few years ago...it was the same thing. They are doing things poorly at a fundamental level, things that college coaches wouldn't put up with. If this was the first or second year for this kind of stuff, I might feel differently. But how many times should we go through this? Fool me once. Fool me twice. Fool me three and four times? Mea culpa or not....at some point the line must be drawn.
There's no point trying to appease SDW. It's embedded in their blood to be pissed off about something on their sports teams...
SDW2001, let me ask you this. Should the Steeler's have fired Bill Cowher 4 or 5 years ago (I'm not sure when exactly it was, but they had a couple down years in a row and there were calls for his firing)? There's something to be said for sticking with a guy.
Different situation. I agree with you in principle. But we're seeing the same mistakes again and again...unaccpetable and preventable mistakes. I'm not talking about some down years. I'm talking coaching specific things, like clock management, play calling, preparation, etc.
The NCAA is in it too, perhaps even worse. I refuse to patronize football until either the salary cap is ended or until the cartel with the NCAA is terminated. More Americans need to at least do some research into how the world's soccer leagues are constructed: ultra-competition in all regards, relegation/promotion, very few regulations. The competition is so cut-throat that the fans win tremendously. The only way I can see to do this with American football is to eliminate the salary cap and the ruse that NCAA is not a professional league. Fuck the draft. Set up two, three, or possibly even four minor leagues instead of using the university system. It's not like these players are at school to learn, anyhow.
Getting back, Andy Reid is a better coach than most. The problem with the Eagles is that they play in the NFL, and at that they play in the NFC East -- the most competitive market by a longshot. The NFL's current policies screw-over major markets the most. If the Colts played in the NFC East, they'd be lucky to make it to the playoffs. But Peyton is too marketable for the NFL to even consider scheduling any away games at cold or otherwise hostile, outdoor stadiums (other than the mandatory meeting in Foxboro).
It all stinks. If you can't smell it, then watch non-monopolized sports to see the kind of dynamics we're missing in football.
Edit - going back to your original comment, how are they screwing over the major markets? The current system makes everyone lots of money, which is why, once the requisite bitching and moaning was over, the major market teams agreed on a new revenue sharing agreement. If they hadn't, the salary cap would have been out the door in the near future, and then you can kiss the green bay packers goodbye.
What do you mean draw the division lines?
Basing divisions on geography seems like a good idea, but population density makes for major markets, and when only limited amount of major market teams are allowed to go through to the playoffs, it screws over a lot more fans than it would if the bulk of the midwest never went to the playoffs. Instead, the NFC East contains the bulk of the pre-cap glory teams, and certainly all of the major markets, which is ridiculous because the small markets seem to care more about NCAA ball anyway. The NFL wants to dilute talent and promote volatility (salary cap, heavy emphasis on divisional play) in order to bring more money out of otherwise small markets.
So I get back to talent dilution. Football games are a shadow of what they used to be. There are never any big matches anymore. The Superbowl and the playoffs aren't spectacular. At all. Again, fans getting screwed.
Anyway, I don't expect for any changes to be made because the league and the teams, and the D1 Universities are making tons of money by exploiting the current system. But it makes for a shitty sport, which is why I have given up on football. I'm happy to watch soccer and baseball instead.
Edit: Also, superbowls are hit and miss because it's just one game, and it's always been that way. All thos superbowls where the NFC rolled over the AFC in the late 80's were pre-salary cap era.
Recently, we've had such spectacular superbowls at St. Louis / Tennessee in 2000 and New England / St. Louis in 2002. In the 7 superbowls this century, there have been 2 classics (mentioned above) two good games (The other two New England victories) and three duds (Baltimore / NY, Tampa / Oakland, and Pittsburgh / Seattle). The quality of playoff games (beyond superbowls) has been overall excellent. You just haven't been watching.
Recently, we've had such spectacular superbowls at St. Louis / Tennessee in 2000 and New England / St. Louis in 2002. In the 7 superbowls this century, there have been 2 classics (mentioned above) two good games (The other two New England victories) and three duds (Baltimore / NY, Tampa / Oakland, and Pittsburgh / Seattle). The quality of playoff games (beyond superbowls) has been overall excellent. You just haven't been watching.
It has been NOTHING in comparision to the 80's/90's. Big, brutal games. You just don't see that anymore, since there's never enough talent density on any two single teams to make that happen. (It wasn't until this season that I stopped watching football).
Minor leagues are there to represent second-tier markets. That's always how it has been until recently, when the league has regulated itself. There are several major markets outside of the northeast. In fact, I think there are quite a few. The league would be a little smaller, but the games would be much better. The uppermost minor league would probably still be quite good -- Certainly much better than NCAA, which is the league that most non-major-markets are so attached to anyway. What aside from the amount of support (money, buzz, etc) a market can give to its team should decide whether that market deserves an NFL team? Please tell me, because that seems to me like the only equitable way to conduct a league.
But, as I said, it's going to take some kind of major falling-out in order for this more natural, more competitive league model to materialize. In the meantime, I'm not going to watch football. Simple enough. I'm not requiring you to do the same.
It has been NOTHING in comparision to the 80's/90's.
Big brutal games? Which ones? Most of them were blowouts...
http://www.superbowl.com/history/recaps
I guess I just don't buy the argument teams from the past were more talented than teams now. It's an age-old argument that has been argued for decades and in all professional sports.
I'm sure Art Monk and Joe Theismann were good in their respective days. But I'd put their teams against the salary capped 2006 Bears defense any day of the week. (Well, actually only on Sundays or Monday nights...)
If you look back through superbowl history, roughly half of the games aren't competetive, and it's been that way since Superbowl I. You're romanticizing the past.
Wait a minute! I forgot. We're talking to a Philly fan here.
There's no point trying to appease SDW. It's embedded in their blood to be pissed off about something on their sports teams...
hahaha. True. But really, I think I'm being pretty reasoned here. If you obectively look at the mistakes that have been made over the years, it becomes clear.
And I say again: I like Andy Reid. He's a great guy. He knows a lot about football to say the least.
But think about the mistakes that shouldn't be happening. Consecutive false starts? Absurdly shitty clock management? Over conservative play calling? Maybe half a dozen games over 3 years where the team just didn't "show up?" Blown leads? I think a lot of this comes back to Reid. If you're willing to just let him go and keep hoping things get better, maybe you're the "philly sports fan" type!
The thing about being in California, most fans here are very forgiving. Midwest and East Coast fans aren't like that. They're for the most part extremely knowledgable (sometimes too knowledgable), and will be the first to point out imperfections rather than positive contributions. But then again, when you're cooped up in cold weather for half the year, there's nothing to do other than boil over at your teams...