By Peter Gleason
Former Dallas Cowboys great Michael Irvin is known as a loudmouth.
But every once in a while he ventures into the realm of possibility, if not the truth.
Take his opinion that the Eagles hired Doug Pederson as coach back in January as a mea culpa to Andy Reid, who weas fired four years ago.
Joining Howard Eskin on Friday’s 94WIP Morning Show, Irvin said that hiring Pederson was Jeffrey Lurie’s under-the-radar way of apologizing to the ex-Eagles head coach.
“I love Andy Reid,” Irvin said on 94WIP. “I think Andy Reid is one of the best coaches in the NFL. So, I knew that you were letting something go. We were not sure what would happen with Chip Kelly, but everybody was happy with what happened — letting Andy go and then bringing Chip in.
“It’s funny, and I joked with him a lot about this last time when I saw Andy at the [NFL] combine,” Irvin continued. “I was talking to him, we were hanging out. I said to him then, I said, ‘Man, I guess that’s the only way they could say I’m sorry. We messed up. They can’t bring you back, but they bring back your under-study. Like, aw man, we need Andy back!’ I always thought he was one of the greatest coaches — he’s one of the best coaches in the NFL.”
Reid, 57, was 130-93-1 in 14 seasons as Eagles’ head coach from 1999-2012 and 10-9 in the playoffs. He led the team to five NFC Championship appearances, resulting in just one Super Bowl appearance.
