According to reports, Tom Coughlin is expected to interview with the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday to fill their head coaching vacancy. Tom Coughlin is clearly a big-name candidate with a long resume and a championship pedigree, having won two Super Bowl championships during a 12-year run with the New York Giants. However, the question has to be asked as to whether Coughlin is the right man to lead the Philadelphia Eagles at this point in time.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made the decisive move to fire head coach Chip Kelly with one game left to play in the 2015 season. Despite leading the team to winning seasons in each of his first two years as Eagles head coach, the team appeared to be heading in the wrong direction. After making a power play for GM, Kelly made some very unpopular personnel decisions which backfired, and reports were being leaked that Kelly had lost the locker room. Once the Eagles were officially eliminated from playoff contention, Lurie determined that it would be in the best interest for the team in the long term to move forward without Kelly.
The Eagles have already interviewed several potential head coaching candidates, but after two weeks, the job is still available. Adam Gase was apparently high on their list, but he just signed on to coach the Miami Dolphins.
That brings us to Coughlin, who failed to lead the Giants to the playoffs in each of the last four years and is coming off what may arguably have been one of the toughest seasons of his coaching career. The Giants lost five games in which they led in the final two minutes of regulation, tying an NFL record. However, despite the fact that Coughlin will turn 70 this year, he insists that his resignation from the Giants is "not necessarily" the end of his coaching career".
The possibility that Coughlin would consider coaching one of the division rivals of his former team is rather intriguing. However, the Eagles may need to retool their roster after trading away some of their key offensive pieces last year. Is Coughlin really ready to be part of a rebuilding project at this stage of his career?
As for Chip Kelly, there is much speculation as to where he end up coaching next. Kelly has interviewed with San Francisco, but does not appear to be the Niners' first choice, and no other teams have come calling yet. One has to wonder if Kelly's issues with the Eagles locker room are causing NFL teams to consider him "damaged goods". A return to the college ranks once seemed like a realistic fallback option for Kelly, but most of the top FBS vacancies have already been filled.
Would Kelly be willing to settle for an offensive coordinator position? Well, Lane Kiffin joined on with Nick Saban at Alabama and has been pretty successful since making the move, so maybe Kelly will do the same. Otherwise, Kelly may hold out to see what head coaching openings pop up. Sometimes it's all about timing and being at the right place at the right time. Should be interesting to see what happens.
Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie made the decisive move to fire head coach Chip Kelly with one game left to play in the 2015 season. Despite leading the team to winning seasons in each of his first two years as Eagles head coach, the team appeared to be heading in the wrong direction. After making a power play for GM, Kelly made some very unpopular personnel decisions which backfired, and reports were being leaked that Kelly had lost the locker room. Once the Eagles were officially eliminated from playoff contention, Lurie determined that it would be in the best interest for the team in the long term to move forward without Kelly.
The Eagles have already interviewed several potential head coaching candidates, but after two weeks, the job is still available. Adam Gase was apparently high on their list, but he just signed on to coach the Miami Dolphins.
That brings us to Coughlin, who failed to lead the Giants to the playoffs in each of the last four years and is coming off what may arguably have been one of the toughest seasons of his coaching career. The Giants lost five games in which they led in the final two minutes of regulation, tying an NFL record. However, despite the fact that Coughlin will turn 70 this year, he insists that his resignation from the Giants is "not necessarily" the end of his coaching career".
The possibility that Coughlin would consider coaching one of the division rivals of his former team is rather intriguing. However, the Eagles may need to retool their roster after trading away some of their key offensive pieces last year. Is Coughlin really ready to be part of a rebuilding project at this stage of his career?
As for Chip Kelly, there is much speculation as to where he end up coaching next. Kelly has interviewed with San Francisco, but does not appear to be the Niners' first choice, and no other teams have come calling yet. One has to wonder if Kelly's issues with the Eagles locker room are causing NFL teams to consider him "damaged goods". A return to the college ranks once seemed like a realistic fallback option for Kelly, but most of the top FBS vacancies have already been filled.
Would Kelly be willing to settle for an offensive coordinator position? Well, Lane Kiffin joined on with Nick Saban at Alabama and has been pretty successful since making the move, so maybe Kelly will do the same. Otherwise, Kelly may hold out to see what head coaching openings pop up. Sometimes it's all about timing and being at the right place at the right time. Should be interesting to see what happens.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
