The Philadelphia Eagles are still scrambling to find a coach and a new staff. Yet their old coach Andy Reid is having an easier time in those tasks with the Kansas City Chiefs. In fact, he has already brought many old friends from Philadelphia on board, according to Comcast SportsNet on Jan. 11.
Several former Eagles staffers were named to the Chiefs’ staff on Jan. 11. The list includes defensive line coach Tommy Brasher, assistant head coach and receivers coach David Culley, tight ends coach Tom Melvin and conditioning coach Barry Rubin. Reid’s own son Britt is also on board as a quality control coach.
This follows up the news that Reid’s offensive coordinator in Kansas City will be his very first quarterback, as it turns out. Eagles fans may or may not remember that Doug Pederson was the starting quarterback for much of Reid’s debut season in 1999, not Donovan McNabb.
14 years later, Pederson is now Reid’s first offensive coordinator for the Chiefs, as Comcast SportsNet reported late on Jan. 10. He had been Philadelphia’s quarterbacks coach for two years, although it didn’t seem to have made a difference for Michael Vick. Nevertheless, with Brady Quinn and Matt Cassel giving the Chiefs their own quarterback problems, they couldn’t afford to be pickier.
These hirings appear to have turned the Chiefs into the Eagles of the Midwest. But given how the Eagles have performed in the last two years, this isn’t the best thing for the Chiefs to turn into. Nevertheless, even the 2011 and 2012 Philadelphia teams did better than Kansas City, so maybe it is a step up, if only by comparison.
Surprisingly, Reid didn’t hire an old Eagles coach in every position. His defensive coordinator came from the New York Jets instead, as Bob Sutton was hired after 12 years coaching various defensive positions in New York, according to UPI on Jan. 11. The Jets and their formerly formidable defense had their own collapse in 2011 and 2012, so Sutton has some making up to do for the last two years as well.
Reid is trying to recapture his old days, and he is certainly surrounding himself with old names -- albeit ones that were also part of his bad days at the end. Will the Eagles have a fresher start with their new coach than Reid may have with his new team?
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