Andy Reid is out.
The longtime coach of the Philadelphia Eagles was fired Monday by owner Jeff Lurie following two disappointing seasons, including a 4-12 campaign that ended Sunday with an ugly loss against the New York Giants.
The Philadelphia Eagles announced on their website Monday morning that Reid's tenure as coach has ended.
"Andy Reid won the most games of any head coach in Eagles history and he is someone I respect greatly and will remain friends with for many years to come,” Lurie said in a statement. "But, it is time for the Eagles to move in a new direction. Coach Reid leaves us with a winning tradition that we can build upon. And we are very excited about the future.”
The Birds really didn't mesh the past two years as free agent signings of players who were supposedly superstars turned into busts, including Jason Babin and Nnamdi Asomugha.
Also questionable were moves Reid made as far as coaching, adding Jim Washburn to lead the defensive line scheme the "Wide Nine" and former offensive line coach Juan Castillo to serve as defensive coordinator.
Both were fired during the year.
The Michael Vick experiment at quarterback also wasn't successful.
Vick suffered a concussion that knocked him out for a chunk of the year following too many turnovers -- fumbles and interceptions -- and then was benched for rookie Nick Foles.
Reid also suffered on a personal end. His son Garrett died of a heroin overdose during training camp.
No one can argue with Reid's success as the team's coach. He is the winningest coach in Philadelphia Eagles history, having led the team to six NFC East titles, four NFC Championship game appearances and one visit to the Super Bowl during his tenure.
His 140 victories are a franchise record and rank 22nd on the all-time NFL coaching list.
But after a 3-1 start, the Birds crumbled, losing eight in a row. It was a painful season for Eagles fans, especially with Reid always defending his players and basically stating the same phrases after every press conference.
So now the Birds are in foreign territory for the first time since the late 1990s. It will be interesting to see who the team chooses as its new coach.
"The search for the new coach of the Philadelphia Eagles will begin immediately," said Lurie.
I am not a football fan myself (enjoy baseball) have a good one!
we do pay for the seats....Have a good year dajoepa75
Thank you for the warm wishes. I'm sorry for your loss, John. I hope the sadness lessens and the New Year brings you new friends and new companions and that the memories you shared with your wife bring you comfort and smiles when you think of them. Have a healthy and peaceful New Year.
Don't get me started on organized sports for kids. Today's youth are told what to do from the time they wake up 'till the time they go to bed. Between coaches, teachers, tutors, scout leaders, etc., kids these days have no time to experience freedom, or the responsibility that comes from it. Yes sports and physical activity are important, but we need to take care to attempt to raise a generation of Americans who can think on their own.
Vick was a Bad thing that happened to this team. Let him go back to the Dog Kennel
Many of these players will be better off from playing in the NFL and many will go bankrupt. The owners are responsible for the salaries. Since I have attended only 2 games in person, I don't care how much they make and am not jealous. Most Eagles fans are like me in that they haven't paid a lot of money to see the Eagles. Jimmy Johnson's defense won many games early in Reid's career. The fact that the Eastern Division had bozo coaches elsewhere also helped early on. Reid's time was positive overall but let's raise the bar. Good luck to him and his family. Happy New Year to all.
To this day, WIP and it's FM affiliate never appear on my radio pre-sets.
Then you said that Eagles have no incentive to pay for a winner? They've doled out big contracts to all of their core offensive players. They're brought in the biggest free agent names over the past 3 seasons, leading some to jump on the "Dream Team" bandwagon after Vince Young coined the phrase prior to the 2011 season. How can you possibly say they don't spend money? Not throwing money away is not the same as not spending money. Typical uneducated fairweather Eagles "fan" -- acts as if he knows something about the sport but the more you let one talk the more you realize they have no idea about the game or what they're complaining about.
Put most of the blame on the parents.