When Ray Rhodes took over the helm of the Eagles back in 1995, he coached the team to back-to-back 10-win seasons.
Rich Kotite? Even better. Kotite led the Eagles to 10-6 record in his first season followed by 11-5 campaign in 1992. Search for Rich Kotite and he bubbles to the top of your favorite search engine as one of the worst coaches of all time, showing up on multiple lists.
Looking back, it’s difficult to imagine that four seasons of Rhodes' and Kotite’s tenures amounted to 41-23.
Even more surprising is the fact that Rich Kotite had a 0.563 cumulative win percentage during his run in Philadelphia. Would you consider Kotite’s run as head coach a successful one?
When Chip Kelly was brought in to succeed Andy Reid, I admit to being a huge skeptic of the selection. Personally I was hoping for a coach with NFL head coaching experience. Given the state of the franchise handed to Kelly, this team was not supposed to contend, at least not for the foreseeable future.
But 2013 was the year of Chip. Watching the Eagles offense was like being in the front row of a rock and roll concert. The team had Rhythm. And it kept opposing defenses off balance in a way that astounded a lot of experts.
This offense was about more than football. It gave you a sense that anything was possible. Not just on the field but in life.
The excitement generated by the offense raised expectations to unreasonable levels.
Sometimes in life success arrives before we are ready for it. Success has a way of masking underlying problems. Last year many suggested Super Bowl possibilities despite the fact that the Eagles 2013 pass defense was ranked #32 in the NFL.
What happens to the plan when success comes knocking at the door before you expected it to?
Looking back at 2014, it’s hard to imagine that the Eagles had a 10-6 season. The defense did not make huge strides. And while the offensive numbers still looked good on paper, something was missing.
The Rhythm of the offense was not the same. As a spectator, you didn’t walk away from the early season wins with a lot of confidence. Still, the level of vitriol aimed at Kelly as the season wore on was disappointing to me. If a player showed the level of upside Kelly and his system had shown in 2013, would the media attempt to run him out of town?
Proving the effectiveness of a good plan and system requires time. Especially in the early stages of a plan’s development, it’s important to focus more on the plan’s execution than the results. Repetition of the components of the well-designed plan will produce results over time.
I certainly don’t agree with every one of the moves being made this offseason. However I’m also not shocked at the overhaul. Last year’s team was not a 10-win caliber team.
The timing of the recent personnel moves is certainly unorthodox. Anything less wouldn’t be Chip. Are these moves the original plan, or part of a new plan?
As is the case with a pitcher in baseball, the win and loss record is not always an accurate indicator of the quality of the pitcher’s performance. Would you look at Chip’s rebuild and corresponding moves differently if the 2013 and 2014 Eagles had not finished 10-6?
What if Six was Nine?
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