Football Friday: Final Fight!

So, next week is the Superbowl… the “Final Fight” if you will… honestly, who cares?

What I care about is what is going to happen to my Birds. At the moment I type this, the Eagles have no Defensive Coordinator, no DB coach, and no LB coach. Their star QB is unsigned, they are set to have a large number of players hit free agency, and the coach has not addressed the media since the day after the season ended.

The biggest topic of the team’s immediate future is the search for quality coaches to coach up a young Defense. Washburn was already brought on to work on a line that seemingly has some talent, but needs something more. Maybe the coach is all they need, maybe another big body to play DT, but either way, bringing in the most respect DL coach in the league is certainly a solid first move.

Before the vacancies of LB coach and DB coach are filled, I suspect the Defensive Coordinator will be brought aboard. Who that will be is anyone’s guess, but it’s hard to believe that there isn’t a method to the Eagles brass’s madness. In fact, the Eagles seem to be one of the most calculating and exacting teams when it comes to the moves they make… one must assume that the firing of McDermott means there are a couple of plans in place at this point.

A coach involved in the Superbowl is one of the most obvious theories. Be it Winston Moss, Keith Butler, Mike Trgovac, Darren Perry, or someone else, it’s a huge likelihood that this is the Reid/Banner plan. Winston Moss seems an obvious choice. Darren Perry seems the other most logical choice. Trgovac has said he’s not looking for coordinator jobs (though we all know better than to trust what a coach says to the media). Butler is a 3-4 guy (and the likely DC candidate for Arizona, if you ask me).

Of course the Jeff Fisher firing makes for an interesting storyline, as well. Many keep pointing to Reid and Fisher’s friendship, as well as possibility that Reid may want to leave the coaching world and move into Banner’s role one day… this, however, seems like more of a tabloid story than a reality-based one.

Whatever the decision, best guess is that the Eagles won’t show their hand until decisions are made, likely after the Superbowl. The new DC, along with Reid, Banner, and Roseman, will choose the new DB and LB coaches and the staff will be whole once again. The peasants (myself included) will rejoice.

Couple this move with the signings of Asomugha and Greenway on Defense and the future is bright, though only the future can tell on that side of the ball. On offense, the future is almost nearly set. With the lack of a CBA, it’s nearly impossible to sign Vick to a long-term deal right now, so he’ll see the 20 million dollar tag (not to shabby for one season if you ask me). The team and Vick’s camp will worry about the long-term deal one that tag is applied.

The Kolb question likely comes down to the offers, if no 1st is offered, he’ll be the backup next year it seems… which would be a nice problem to have once again. If the team lands a nice package for him, they could use the pick(s) for a stud RT to protect Vick’s blindside (Gabe Carimi comes to mind) or to fill one of several defensive holes.

The rest of the Offense is relatively set. Marginal contributors (#2 RB, #5 WR, etc) will be determined in camp, but the major players are all set to return…

But, I guess, I am getting ahead of the pack, here… some people may actually care about the Superbowl, I guess I’m just not one of them. I’ll be watching, with a brew in my hand and a bowl of chips on the table next to me, and I’ll tell you this: the commercials better not suck this year!

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~ by thepaintedman on January 28, 2011.