HEADLINES

Jeffrey Lurie

NFC Coaching, GM Notes: Bears, Bucs, Eagles

January 3rd, 2015 at 4:37pm CST by Rob DiRe

The Bears have tried to hire young assistant coaches time and time again, and as much as they hope the next one might be the best, they could just end up with another Marc Trestman, writes David Haugh of the Chicago Tribune. Rather than go after Broncos offensive coordinator Adam Gase, Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, or Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, Haugh believes the Bears should go in a different direction.

He suggests the team seriously consider Chiefs director of player personnel Chris Ballard, who worked as a scout for the Bears for over a decade. Haugh thinks that it makes sense to pair him with Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub, who had one of the best units in the league for years with the Bears before moving to Kansas City.

Here are some other notes from around the NFC:

  • The Buccaneers are interviewing Falcons offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter for their open offensive coordinator job, reports Adam Schefter of ESPN (via Twitter). Schefter reports that there is mutual interest between the two parties.
  • The Eagles have changed up their organizational structure, Sheil Kapadia of PhillyMag.com looks at the relationship between owner Jeffrey Lurie, executive vice president of football operations Howie Roseman, and head coach Chip Kelly, and how those relationships have evolved over the past week.
  • Bob Ford of the Philadelphia Inquirer also wrote about Kelly’s power grab against Roseman. Even though it resulted in promotions for both, Kelly clearly grabbed the upper hand in the Eagles’ organization in terms of executing his own vision for the team.
  • Washington requested permission to speak with Bills defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz for the team’s own defensive coordinator opening, but the Bills denied Washington’s request, reports Schefter (via Twitter).

Eagles Links: McCoy, Sanchez, Roseman

December 28th, 2014 at 10:13pm CST by Rob DiRe

After beating the Giants in Week 17, a number of writers for the Philadelphia Inquirer came out to eulogize a promising season that ended in disappointment.

One of the biggest questions the Eagles have heading into the offseason is the contract of Pro Bowl running back LeSean McCoy. Zach Berman caught some of what McCoy said about his future with that team in a series of tweets.

“I’m an Eagle, I love it here. My six years here have been excellent. I’ve been very, very, very productive here,” said McCoy. “We’ll see what happens. It’s a business. Anything can happen; I know that. But I’m sure we can work something out.” 

“It depends how they want to do it. …I love this team, and I’ll do whatever it takes. …We’ve got some time.”

While he has made it clear that he would be willing to restructure his deal, Jeff McClane writes that he would be surprised if McCoy took a pay cut to remain with the team (via Twitter).

  • McCoy may be the most talented player on the offense, but Chip Kelly’s offense needs a quarterback to make it go. Mark Sanchez has likely played his final game as the team’s starting quarterback, and his time as an Eagle in general may be up, writes Mike Sielski.
  • Owner Jeffrey Lurie was unwilling to commit to the team’s other quarterback, Nick Foles, according to McClane (via Twitter). He said the team would know more by March about the situation developing at the position.
  • The Eagles are coming off two good seasons, one that ended in a playoff appearance and one that fell just short of the mark. Bob Ford believes the team needs to make the next step, which won’t be easy. “The hardest part is to go from good to great,” Lurie said. “We’re at the good, but we don’t want that. We want to be great. I just look at what we could have accomplished this year. It’s exciting. We’re not sitting here 2-14 or 4-12 or whatever. . . . I think we’re pretty close. We know exactly what we need to upgrade. We’ve got a great group of young players, a lot of up-and-coming stars in this league. It’s all in front of us.”
  • One big decision for Lurie that could be the difference between taking the team from good to great is the choice to keep or move on from general manager Howie Roseman, writes McClane. As of now, Lurie says that Roseman will be back with the team. Roseman’s first-round pick in 2014 was unable to see much playing time, and reports have it that the hierarchy is unclear between himself and Kelly.
  • A weakness of the 2014 Eagles was the secondary, and that will be a priority this offseason, according to Marc Narducci. He writes about how they fared without Bradley Fletcher, and with inconsistent play even in the Week 17 win, there will surely be changes in time for 2015.