Put Players In Position - Written by Mike Gilligan July 25, 2015

Wow.  This guy really comes right out at you.  Andy Reid, the greatest coach in Philadelphia Sports history had made his impression on Jeff Lurie.   One of the key reasons cited for the hiring of Reid was his attention to detail, and his book-length strategy and analysis on the long snapper became the stuff of legends.  

Although Chip Kelly’s rebuild process is grabbing headlines and generating excitement locally and nationally, we hope as fans that Chip and the Eagles Brass make use of the history that’s been built here as part of the process of shaping the Super Bowl Champion version of the Eagles.

Looking back, Andy came to town as an unpopular, relatively unheralded selection.  We probably learned more about Andy at the time of hiring than we would over the next 14 years. His choices for assistants were not high profile, well known types. Andy had kept tabs on a group of people whom he respected, and hated to face weekly.  When given the opportunity, Andy already knew which direction he would go for these key positions in the organization.

As fans, our concerns were allayed some after reading that the likes of Brett Favre had endorsed Andy as one of the keys behind Mike Holmgren’s success in Green Bay.  

Despite the unprecedented levels of success achieved by Reid’s Eagles teams, he was surprisingly unpopular in town.  

Why?

Andy didn’t let out much about his strategy, especially when it came to week-to-week.  His focus was on his players not antagonizing the opposition, and that the organization as a whole focused 100% of its energy on preparation for the next opponent only.   As coach, he demanded consistency from the operation.

While accepted initially - over time, that level of consistent opacity in the media began to wear on the fan base.

On some level, we probably were spoiled by the success.  

On other levels, we became frustrated with the repeated mistakes.  Two-minute drills that repeatedly failed, timeouts used at inopportune times, passes thrown behind receivers when the offense is designed for Yards After Catch, and refusal to draft and develop Wide Receivers and Linebackers.  

Ultimately, Reid brought to Philadelphia a plan to build a winner around good guys.  

Reid was going to draft and develop these players because they had the right attitude.  But the pressure of winning the title led Reid to draw at least one incorrect conclusion that sealed his fate.

The Eagles began to recruit high-profile free agent players with disregard for their attitude and contract requests.  

Andy Reid had gotten away from who he was.  Gotten away from what made him a success.  So far away that he lost the team, the city, the fans, and ultimately his job as coach.

It’s not easy to find a coach the caliber of Andy Reid.  But I believe in Chip Kelly.  Chip Kelly can be Andy Reid 2.0 here.  Chip needs to put the process before the results and stay on the path that he designed.  Chip needs to stay true to his plan.  And when the time is right, Chip needs to win.

“My job is to put players in position to win” was one of Andy’s favorite quotes.  Was the gap between an Eagles NFC championship and a Super Bowl championship just a few words in Reid’s understanding of the job description?