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The Monday morning firing of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid after a miserable 4-12 season comes as absolutely no surprise.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made it clear to Reid after last season, following an 8-8 campaign, that another .500 season would not be acceptable in the eyes of the organization.
After starting the 2012 season at 3-1, the Eagles lost a ridiculous eight straight contests. In Week 14 the birds finally beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a last-second comeback effort, but then went on to cap off their awful season with three straight losses.
The city of Philly and Eagles fans everywhere have known nobody but Reid as their head coach for the past 14 seasons. With the acronym ‘NFL‘ largely mocked to stand for “not for long,” because of how teams tend to be very quick in axing players and coaches, 14 years is an incredibly impressive tenure.
Plenty of analysts and fans alike have been calling for Reid’s departure for some time now after a string of disappointing playoff appearances with QB Donovan McNabb.
But the hot seat became scorching after the Eagles looked to be a “dream-team” (thanks again, Vince Young) heading into the 2011 season, before falling well short of expectations with two consecutive horrid years.
Eagles QB Michael Vick had a remarkable campaign in 2010 before signing a $100 million deal with Philly. But after a few woeful, turnover ridden couple of years, Vick is expected to be released early this off-season, as the team will owe the QB no more money if they cut him within three days after the Super Bowl.
Only die-hard, life-long Eagles fans really understand the impact of Reid’s canning. Reid is one of the most respected, mild-mannered, team-first gentlemen that have ever coach in the NFL, and I feel like that goes largely under-appreciated.
Philly fans have been incredibly critical of Reid throughout his entire 14-year stint, as making the playoffs was never good enough because they always wanted and needed a Super Bowl title.
While he did get close with his Super Bowl XXXIX loss with McNabb, Reid never did reach his goal of corralling the Lombardi Trophy in Philadelphia, but he sure made a heck of a run at it.
I wish the best of luck to Coach Reid in his future endeavors, and I can promise that the city of Philadelphia will never forget their sometimes debated, but greatly beloved, ‘Big Red.’
Please follow Joe on Twitter @Joe_RantNFL for all Eagles/NFL insight.
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