The Philadelphia Eagles Need Change
Teams that went to the Super Bowl and lost the previous season have routinely come back and had a rough year. A lot of times the following year the losing team misses the playoffs. Attribute it up to a few things: tougher schedule, less time to rest before training camp starts, losing assistant coaches to the hiring process. There are many reasons and proof that Super Bowl participants take a step backwards the following season. Owners don’t usually part with those head coaches after a down season.
The Eagles down season post Super Bowl loss is a different type of bad. It wasn’t a down season until after Thanksgiving. People thought this team was an absolute juggernaut getting to 10-1. Then Rome fell. What the hell happened in that locker room after Thanksgiving? Stories are going to start coming out now that players are more open to talking since the season is finished. We’ll get a better understanding of what went down with this team for the last month and a half. Whatever it is we learn, it’s not going to change the fact that the Philadelphia Eagles need change.
An owner rarely wants to fire a head coach who just took their team to the Super Bowl, but sometimes it might be the only answer. Something happened with the Eagles players and Nick Sirianni. We know all year the offensive coordinator, Brian Johnson, was a problem. We know that defensive coordinator Sean Desai was a problem. Matt Patricia was no better. All of this gets tossed on a head coach, as it should.
Jeffrey Lurie isn’t one to lash out and make rash decisions, but this might be the right time to send a message. I don’t say this lightly, but the whole coaching staff needs to be wiped out, except Jeff Stoutland. Keep that man for life. This was a collapse of historical proportions. It’s embarrassing for Jeffrey Lurie, Howie Roseman and the entire Eagles organization. If the Eagles lost a close game last night things would be different for Sirianni. The coordinators are cooked, but Sirianni may have survived. Getting completely embarrassed by a 9-8 team, and the players showing absolutely no fight, puts his head clearly on the chopping block. Jeff Lurie has to bring the hammer down.
It’s rare there are multiple very good to great head coaching candidates are on the open market. Maybe that makes this move easier for Jeffrey Lurie. Normally retread coaches don’t work out. Bill Belichick and Mike Vrabel (and possibly Mike Tomlin) are the best retread coaches we’ve ever seen available. A move must be made after that embarrassing collapse, the Eagles need change.