Phil Sears – USAToday Sports
In the wake of Chip Kelly’s firing from the Philadelphia Eagles, all eyes are on who owner Jeff Lurie will choose to run this team next. The “hot” names are already being thrown around, like Sean McDermott, Josh McDaniels, and Hue Jackson. Even the lesser-temperature names like Jon Gruden and Bill Cowher are being mentioned, which is crazy, but it is what it is.
With all eyes focused on who’s out there, people are starting to turn their eyes to who’s already in house, particularly Pat Shurmur who ran the offense with Kelly these past three years. It seems like a nice idea on paper, and he might check some of Lurie’s boxes, but he would not be a great fit to coach this team.
Forget the fact that the locker room might love him, that he might take Kelly’s ideas and mesh them with his own, or that he clicked once with Sam Bradford his rookie year.
Let’s start with the first of those boxes, the locker room. So what if the locker room likes him? They’re perfectly capable of liking another coach, too. I don’t see where that gives Shurmur any kind of advantage over any other candidate. Besides, if the next coach gets this team winning, that locker room will start loving whoever makes that happen regardless.
Next, the “innovative thinker” angle. People like Shurmur because he’s going to take the best of Kelly’s ideas and mix them with his own? Guess what – that was his job the past three years. Shurmur was specifically brought here for that exact purpose already, and he had three years to get it right. The combination of Kelly and Shurmur kind of worked, kind of didn’t without overwhelming success. Why would it work without Kelly here and Shurmur doing the exact same thing?
Finally, his chemistry with Bradford is a complete non-factor for me at the immediate moment. You can’t sign Bradford before hiring a coach because a new coach will want to pick his own quarterback. What happens if Shurmur is hired and Bradford walks? Whatever synergy you’re hoping to maintain by keeping them both is out the door. So far I’ve seen nothing that will assure Bradford’s return to the team if Shurmur is here – Bradford might walk anyway. To me, that synergy is a bonus, but not something that should be used as a valid reason.
If this is the route Lurie wants to take this team, I’d rather him see it through all the way. Go find a brand new coach, one with a different vision and approach to the game, and let him shape this roster however he sees fit. If he wanted anything less, he should’ve just kept Kelly.
Doug Green is a Featured Writer for www.RantSports.com covering the Philadelphia Eagles and the NFL. Follow him on Twitter @DGreenNFL.
