The Philadelphia Eagles Are Winners

Within this same week we saw perfect examples in the tales of two Philadelphia pro sports organizations, one a winner and one a loser. First, the big 'L' gets hung on the forehead of the Philadelphia 76ers organization for signing one of its all-time loser players in Allen Iverson. I covered that topic already earlier in the week.

It's time now to highlight Philly's winning winter sports organization, the Philadelphia Eagles. This past week the Birds signed head coach Andy Reid, the winningest coach in franchise history, to a contract extension that will keep 'Big Red' as the football boss through 2013. By the conclusion of the contract, Reid will have been the head coach for 15 seasons, nearly unheard of in today's pro sports world.

After a decade in Philadelphia, Andy Reid is now the 2nd longest tenured head coach in the entire NFL, trailing only Tennessee head man Jeff Fisher. He has already passed Greasy Neale (1941-50) as the longest tenured coach in Eagles history. He has led the club to a regular season record of 105-66-1 and another 10 wins in the playoffs, which his teams have participated in 7 times. He has 5 NFC East titles and 1 NFC Championship and Super Bowl appearance to his credit.

Andy Reid's teams have fashioned a regular season .614 winning percentage which is the 16th highest in NFL history. The names ahead of him are all legends of the game with names like Lombardi, Madden, Halas, Lambeau, Shula, and Walsh. But the list of the 15 coaches ahead of him also highlights what his detractors see as his one weakness: he has never won a Super Bowl.

On that list of coaches ahead of Reid, 10 of them have won multiple NFL Championships. Only George Allen, the longtime head coach of the Washington Redskins who owns the 3rd-highest winning percentage of all-time, joins Reid in the frustration of never having won a title.

But that inability to win the ultimate prize is not a fatal flaw, it is simply a remaining goal. Only 3 of the men ahead of him on that all-time winning coaches list had fewer games than Reid has coached. He is in the prime of his head coaching career, his team is relatively young and talented, and he should have a number of shots at getting that ring in the coming years.

I grew up in an era of Eagles football during the 1970's in which you expected to lose, one in which the division rival Cowboys and Redskins were always expected to finish ahead of the Birds. That didn't change until a young Dick Vermiel came along and led the Eagles to their first Super Bowl appearance in January 1981. Vermiel burned out quickly and the Birds took a decade to recover until the boisterous Buddy Ryan-led teams. But Ryan could never win in the playoffs.

Andy Reid is quite simply the best coach in the history of the Philadelphia Eagles, and it isn't really even close. He has created a sustained winning atmosphere and record for more than a decade that has now led to head coaching jobs for three of his former assistants: Brad Childress (Minnesota), John Harbaugh (Baltimore), and Steve Spagnuolo (Saint Louis) all served under Reid. This has always been considered a hallmark of great head coaches, the ability of their assistants to move on to head jobs.

Owner Jeff Lurie took over the Philadelphia Eagles in 1994, and promised the rabid football fans of the city that the franchise goal was not only to win a title, but to win multiple Super Bowls. While that has not yet materialized, the organization of Lurie, Reid, and team president Joe Banner has kept the team as a legitimate contender throughout their time at the helm.

The Philadelphia Eagles are winners in any way that you want to measure that fact. While they have not yet won the ultimate prize in their profession, they have always contended for that title and remain a strong contender for the crown. With the signing of Reid and the continuity that provides the organization, the Birds should remain a winner well into the future.

Faith in Eagles Management

There has been much lamenting and gnashing of teeth in Eagles Nation over the past week or so as players like Lito Sheppard, Sean Considine, Correll Buckhalter, and most especially Brian Dawkins have either been traded away or left the team via free agency. You also have the two twin towers of the offensive line for the past decade, Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan, very much in doubt as to their own returning for next season. Tight End L.J. Smith is shopping his services and is believed not wanted back by the Birds. These players make up a huge portion of the success that the Philadelphia Eagles football team has enjoyed over the past decade. But as they leave it is important to note something that is extremely important: this current Philadelphia Eagles management team of owner Jeffrey Lurie, team President Joe Banner, and GM/Coach Andy Reid almost always knows when to say 'when' with a player, no matter that player's reputation or popularity. From Duce Staley to Jeremiah Trotter to Hugh Douglas, the Eagles knew when it was time to say goodbye. Probably the only exception was Terrell Owens, and is there anyone out there as an Eagles fan who really wanted him to stay after all the histrionics and drama that he created? He moved on to the Eagles greatest rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, and put up some great stats. He has also continued his controversial ways there, and has helped the Cowboys achieve exactly nothing of note as a team in his two seasons in 'Big D' so far. Since the end of Andy Reid's first season as head coach in 1999, and since Donovan McNabb took over as the starting quarterback, the Eagles have fashioned a regular season record of 92-51-1. They have had just one losing season in that stretch, the injury and T.O. drama-marred 2005 season following their Super Bowl near-miss vs. New England. They have won five NFC East titles, and are coming off a 2008 season that saw them advance to the NFC Championship game for the fifth time. Eagles fans are easily among the handful of most passionate and knowledgeable fan bases in the entire NFL community. They are also notoriously emotional. They form bonds with their heroes that are commendable, but that would be disastrous if such emotion was demonstrated similarly and then operated on by the organization. The Eagles brain trust has to make difficult decisions to remain competitive year-in and year-out. Ask an Eagles fan if he would trade one single Super Bowl victory for ten losing seasons and most fans would take the Super Bowl. Ask the team management if they would prefer to win one Super Bowl and then lose for a decade, or continue to be a competitive club that wins division titles and is in the playoffs most years over the next decade, and I would bet the management would take the latter. That is because management is smart, whereas fans generally are not. 'Smart' in this respect meaning that there comes a time when every player has to move on, and management has to make those tough decisions no matter what the fans feel. It has happened with the popular players already mentioned, and it will happen sometime in the next couple of seasons with players like McNabb, David Akers, and Brian Westbrook. Father Time catches up with everyone, including pro athletes, and especially pro football players who take a pounding in one of the most violent sports ever devised by man. The management team in charge of the Philadelphia Eagles pro football team has proven itself over a decade that it knows what it is doing in keeping the team a strong competitor every year in perhaps football's toughest division. A great deal of leadership has aged and is now moving on as the team says goodbye to Dawkins and Thomas and perhaps to Runyan. But my money right now is on that management team to further develop the players still on the roster, and to bring in more complimentary players via the draft and free agency, and remain strong competitors for that fan base. Due simply to their track record, if for no other reason, I for one have faith in Eagles management to keep the team a winner.