Although he really likes Tom Coughlin, there appears to be a “very serious initiative” between the coach and the San Francisco 49ers. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the team isn’t confirming interviews until they’re completed.
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Coughlin won two Super Bowls and is known as a disciplinarian and fatherly figure, which is ideal for a locker room that needs stabilization. Pederson played in the National Football League from 1996-2004 and quarterbacked the Eagles in 1999 as well worked as an assistant coach for Eagles under Reid from 2009-12.
The Eagles appear to have hit the pause button on their search for Chip Kelly’s replacement as head coach, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t front-runners for the job.
So when asked on Sunday how he felt about his offensive coordinator Doug Pederson interviewing for the Eagles head-coaching job on Sunday, Reid supported his man. Nine of his fourteen years in Philadelphia, Reid led the Eagles to nine playoff appearances and five NFC Championship games. Also, he could pry over Ben McAdoo to be his offensive coordinator, essentially sticking an extra thorn in the Giants side. Lurie has only had three coaches under his ownership of the Eagles. “There’s only 32 (head coaches) in the whole world, so when you have an opportunity to do it, it’s kind of a complement to your hard work and endurance, in some cases”. Stepped down in NY after 2015 finale.
Though Gase had his own strengths with his strategies of “adaptable defense” and his flexible personality, Pederson, too, is a right choice for the team since he played for the team and matches the qualities wanted by Lurie who said he wanted a coach that understood the city and its fans.
“You’ve got to open your heart to players and everybody you want to achieve peak performance”, he said after he dismissed Kelly. He was the Eagles’ QBs coach in 2011 and 2012 before he joined Andy Reid in Kansas City as the offensive coordinator.
There’s Tom Coughlin, a 69-year-old who insists he gas a few more years of coaching in him, two in-house candidate leftover from a 6-10 season and two coordinators without hefty experience. Or maybe Lurie, vice president of football operations Howie Roseman and president Dom Smolenski are simply regrouping and scouring the market for new names.
The Chiefs beat the Texans, 30-0, in the first round of the playoffs on Saturday.
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That’s not unprecedented. Last season, for example, the Atlanta Falcons waited until after the Super Bowl to hire former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, whose team lost to the New England Patriots in the NFL’s championship game.
