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By David Aldridge
Inquirer Columnist
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - There is one guarantee going into the Eagles season: Andy Reid couldn't change if you gave him a dressing room and six tuxedos to try on.
For the Eagles, that's a good thing.
The last thing they need is a coach who overreacts to 6-10, who alters practice times and gets away from what he believes in, who fires assistants instead of taking responsibility. You don't need a players' coach to try to become a tough guy or vice versa. Players see right through that. And credibility in a football coach trumps all.
That's why it was reassuring yesterday to hear Reid giving those one- and two-sentence non-answers that have been a staple of his Eagles tenure.
Bill Parcells can hold court with reporters for a half hour or more, at times combative, hysterically funny, droll, and challenging. If you've got a brain, it's kind of fun to watch him work over a press corps - as long as you're not the punching bag. Brian Billick is in your face from the moment you open your mouth with a question, but again, that's who he is.
Reid, though, is from the minimalist school of coaches, where the Belichicks and the Gibbses live. He doesn't do nuance, and he certainly won't do mea culpa. Whatever mistakes he thought he and his coaches made during last season's train wreck he's keeping to himself.
"I think everyone goes back through and analyzes and thinks what they need to do a little better, whether you're a coach or a player, head coach included," Reid said yesterday during his opening-day news conference. "And you focus in a little bit more, make sure that you've gone through and analyzed everything you need to do, self-scout-wise."
That's it.
What, you were expecting him to jump on the shrink's couch and spill his guts?
Yes, Reid must stick with his pledge to have more run-pass balance this season; we saw what happened when Donovan McNabb had to throw one pass too many last season with a bad hernia. His abdomen is still healing in all likelihood, which makes it crucial to protect it as much as possible.
But Reid's biggest challenge isn't getting himself off the floor, it's convincing his veteran players that they still have the stuff that got them to four consecutive NFC title games. Yes, the Eagles made a lot of changes in the off-season, and they need big seasons from free-agent defensive end Darren Howard and rookie Brodrick Bunkley and the rest of that draft class.
But they need their core group - McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, Michael Lewis, Sheldon Brown, Jon Runyan, Jevon Kearse - to return to the Pro Bowl and near-Pro Bowl level at which they played before 2005. Veterans are what make any team successful, and the Eagles are no different; they have to believe what Reid's selling. If they don't, the locker room can turn south in a hurry.
One bad season can be explained away; two are a trend.
So this season will require all of Reid's skills and gifts of persuasion, and sticking to his principles - the ones that made him 71-37 as a head coach going into last season.
"We're going to do what we do," Reid said.
To that end, Reid and Eagles president Joe Banner didn't go Dan Snyder-crazy in the off-season and start signing free agents left and right. And no, they didn't get everyone they wanted, such as LeCharles Bentley, but they didn't strike out, either. This group believes in cap room and draft picks, and it still has a lot of each.
No, the Eagles won't run the table against the NFC East as they did in the first half of the decade. But they're not going to be patsies, either. Each team in the division is good, but no one is dominant.
Dallas' defense will be formidable, but the Cowboys have major question marks on the offensive line, and that means they have major questions about running the football and protecting Drew Bledsoe.
The Giants are strong on both lines of scrimmage, but quarterback Eli Manning tailed off noticeably at the end of last season and melted down completely in the playoffs.
The Commanders can run the ball with anyone; Santana Moss is a load to handle; and their defense will be good as long as they keep paying coordinator Gregg Williams head coaching money. But quarterback Mark Brunell has to remain healthy, which he hasn't been able to do for several seasons.
At the least, Reid already is several steps ahead of where he was last year. Going into this camp, there are no veteran holdouts. None of his projected rotation players has been shot. And when the hitting starts for real next week, Terrell Owens will be 2,752.44 miles away, with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif.
So at the end yesterday, there was just the hint of a smile on Reid's face when he was asked whether he had read Owens' new book.
"No," he said. "I was here."
Living through it once, apparently, being more than enough.
LINK
Inquirer Columnist
BETHLEHEM, Pa. - There is one guarantee going into the Eagles season: Andy Reid couldn't change if you gave him a dressing room and six tuxedos to try on.
For the Eagles, that's a good thing.
The last thing they need is a coach who overreacts to 6-10, who alters practice times and gets away from what he believes in, who fires assistants instead of taking responsibility. You don't need a players' coach to try to become a tough guy or vice versa. Players see right through that. And credibility in a football coach trumps all.
That's why it was reassuring yesterday to hear Reid giving those one- and two-sentence non-answers that have been a staple of his Eagles tenure.
Bill Parcells can hold court with reporters for a half hour or more, at times combative, hysterically funny, droll, and challenging. If you've got a brain, it's kind of fun to watch him work over a press corps - as long as you're not the punching bag. Brian Billick is in your face from the moment you open your mouth with a question, but again, that's who he is.
Reid, though, is from the minimalist school of coaches, where the Belichicks and the Gibbses live. He doesn't do nuance, and he certainly won't do mea culpa. Whatever mistakes he thought he and his coaches made during last season's train wreck he's keeping to himself.
"I think everyone goes back through and analyzes and thinks what they need to do a little better, whether you're a coach or a player, head coach included," Reid said yesterday during his opening-day news conference. "And you focus in a little bit more, make sure that you've gone through and analyzed everything you need to do, self-scout-wise."
That's it.
What, you were expecting him to jump on the shrink's couch and spill his guts?
Yes, Reid must stick with his pledge to have more run-pass balance this season; we saw what happened when Donovan McNabb had to throw one pass too many last season with a bad hernia. His abdomen is still healing in all likelihood, which makes it crucial to protect it as much as possible.
But Reid's biggest challenge isn't getting himself off the floor, it's convincing his veteran players that they still have the stuff that got them to four consecutive NFC title games. Yes, the Eagles made a lot of changes in the off-season, and they need big seasons from free-agent defensive end Darren Howard and rookie Brodrick Bunkley and the rest of that draft class.
But they need their core group - McNabb, Brian Westbrook, Brian Dawkins, Michael Lewis, Sheldon Brown, Jon Runyan, Jevon Kearse - to return to the Pro Bowl and near-Pro Bowl level at which they played before 2005. Veterans are what make any team successful, and the Eagles are no different; they have to believe what Reid's selling. If they don't, the locker room can turn south in a hurry.
One bad season can be explained away; two are a trend.
So this season will require all of Reid's skills and gifts of persuasion, and sticking to his principles - the ones that made him 71-37 as a head coach going into last season.
"We're going to do what we do," Reid said.
To that end, Reid and Eagles president Joe Banner didn't go Dan Snyder-crazy in the off-season and start signing free agents left and right. And no, they didn't get everyone they wanted, such as LeCharles Bentley, but they didn't strike out, either. This group believes in cap room and draft picks, and it still has a lot of each.
No, the Eagles won't run the table against the NFC East as they did in the first half of the decade. But they're not going to be patsies, either. Each team in the division is good, but no one is dominant.
Dallas' defense will be formidable, but the Cowboys have major question marks on the offensive line, and that means they have major questions about running the football and protecting Drew Bledsoe.
The Giants are strong on both lines of scrimmage, but quarterback Eli Manning tailed off noticeably at the end of last season and melted down completely in the playoffs.
The Commanders can run the ball with anyone; Santana Moss is a load to handle; and their defense will be good as long as they keep paying coordinator Gregg Williams head coaching money. But quarterback Mark Brunell has to remain healthy, which he hasn't been able to do for several seasons.
At the least, Reid already is several steps ahead of where he was last year. Going into this camp, there are no veteran holdouts. None of his projected rotation players has been shot. And when the hitting starts for real next week, Terrell Owens will be 2,752.44 miles away, with the Cowboys in Oxnard, Calif.
So at the end yesterday, there was just the hint of a smile on Reid's face when he was asked whether he had read Owens' new book.
"No," he said. "I was here."
Living through it once, apparently, being more than enough.
LINK