By Art Beitchman, DOCBLOG
Comparisons of the Eagles’ current top management to the last regime are inevitable.
The past was stale, predictable, undisciplined. It got so bad my buddies and I could call the plays out from the couch. The opposing defenses didn’t have much of a problem either. It got ugly very quickly.
The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was when coach Andy Reid named former O-line coach Juan Castillo defensive coordinator, even though there were much more qualified candidates to choose from.
Reid sealed his fate as Eagles coach with either the buddy-buddy choice or the politically correct one, which led to the disastrous 3-13 2012 season, Reid’s last in Philly.
Owner Jeff Lurie and current GM Howie Roseman (photo above)— who replaced the boring and incompetent Joe Banner — set their sights on Oregon’s Chip Kelly as Reid’s replacement for good reason. Kelly’s up-tempo offense and cutting edge innovations had produced a 46-7 record in four years, a winning percentage of .868, numbers that easily pass the eye test.
After some reluctance, Kelly came to his senses and accepted the Eagles’ job, a position he earned coming up the ranks of college football.
Kelly and his staff of assistants and strength coaches have done a great job of changing the culture, with high character players that certainly make a difference on game day.
The trajectory of the whole franchise, top to bottom, has spiked, with a sharpness and attention to detail I’ve not seen, and I have been an Eagles observer since 1960, the year they won their last NFL title.
Attention is being paid to all three phases, offense, defense, special teams, and they all have had a big impact on their 5-1 record and gives the team a good chance to win every game they play.
Even though there still remain some naysayers about Kelly’s Eagles, it’s clear that the team Reid left, and the team Kelly has built are as different as night and day, with the 2014 edition being a playoff and Super Bowl contender
