Eagles Lurie: Reid Will Return, Maintain Control Over Staff

January 3, 2012 4:06 pm | By: Ryan Messick

Eagles owner <strong>Jeffrey Lurie</strong>

Jeffrey Lurie took to the podium today to describe the thought process that led to retaining Andy Reid as head coach.

NOVACARE COMPLEX, PHILADELPHIA, PA — Eagles head coach Andy Reid will return for his 14th season at the helm of the franchise after an announcement by owner Jeffrey Lurie. Given expectations heading into the 2011 season, Lurie called the Eagles’ 8-8 record unacceptable, unfathomable, bitter and disappointing and said it caused him anger and frustration. Lurie said the season-ending four-game winning streak came against teams that were not competitive, calling it “fools’ gold.”

After nearly 13 minutes describing his reasoning and thought process in an opening statement that felt more like a wandering monologue, Lurie finally made his announcement clear.

“Do our players and the coaches have that anger?” Lurie asked rhetorically “You’ve got to have the anger, you’ve got to have the motivation, the dedication, and the focus and the talent. My answer to those questions is yes.

“That’s why I want to see our team coached by Andy Reid next year and I can’t wait to see that team play.”

“There’s no doubt in my mind, if our focus is on trying to win a championship next year, the best coach for that is Andy.”

Lurie did not announce any firings of coaching staff, nor confirm that any will return. Juan Castillo’s job status as defensive coordinator has been widely speculated on, particularly with the firing of Steve Spagnuolo, a former Eagles defensive assistant, in St. Louis.

“We’ve had long discussions about player personnel, staff and everything and that’s Andy’s area and he will make the best judgment on that,” Lurie said.

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The owner did confirm that team president Joe Banner and general manager Howie Roseman will both be back next season and said that everyone inside the NovaCare Complex was to blame for this season’s struggles.

“Nobody in this building who is attached to this football team in any way feels good about it, it’s everyone’s accountability,” said Lurie. “If I didn’t think that next year would be substantially better, then I would be standing up here and announcing a coaching change or other changes and that’s not what I think is going to happen.”

As far as pinpointing a cause for the failure to meet expectations, Lurie pointed toward the lockout.

“I think there were so many reasons, and none of them are legitimate excuses,” Lurie said. “I think maybe there was a miscalculation in terms of implementing big scheme changes in a lockout situation. To me, I don’t know why, I would have thought we would have been able to, during the abbreviated training camp and preseason, adapt to some of those schematic changes. They were bold changes, but clearly the team was not gelling and maximizing those scheme changes early in the year.”

CONTINUE READING: DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR HIRES PAST AND FUTURE

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