Fourteen years ago, Jeffrey Lurie mined a diamond in the rough. He hired a no-name assistant from Green Bay to coach his football team and watched his dark-horse hire build the Eagles into annual championship contenders.
Fourteen years later, Lurie?s diamond had lost its luster. Lurie announced on Monday that Reid, the franchise leader in regular-season wins and playoff wins, wouldn?t be back to coach season No. 15 (see story).
Calling Reid ?a gem of a man,? Lurie discussed his decision to part ways with Reid and what led to the coach?s downfall.
"It's a great question,? he said. ?I don't think there's a short answer. It's a complicated one.?
Lurie explained how Reid had lost his way after the 2010 season, stockpiling some of the biggest names in the industry -- on his coaching staff and his roster -- and then watching the toxic mix corrupt a foundation once built on homegrown talent.
"[When] you're so close to winning a Super Bowl, at some stage you have an opportunity to think that the next move, even if it's not consistent with all of your previous moves, will be the one that gives you the chance to win the Lombardi Trophy,? Lurie said, ?and I think that in the last year or so, last couple of years, we've done things that have not been as consistent. They?ve been more scattered in terms of decision-making.
"When you start to reach for short-term panaceas or short-term solutions that are not consistent with your culture and your football program, that's when you end up 4-12."
Lurie didn?t mention specific names but spoke candidly about the urgency Reid felt to win the franchise?s first Super Bowl in the home stretch of his Eagles career and how that seizing of the moment led to risky decisions that backfired.
Among those decisions include the hiring of underperforming assistants Jim Washburn, Bobby April and Howard Mudd; the promotion of Juan Castillo from offensive line coach to defensive coordinator; and the atypical free-agent spending spree that brought in Nnamdi Asomugha, Jason Babin, Vince Young and other disappointments.
?You notice it with any organization that has had a lot of success that you will start to reach, thinking, ?That?s the thing that?s going to [get us over the top], that?s the player, that?s the method, that?s the mechanism, that?s the coach, that?s the thing that is going to put us over the top,?? Lurie added. ?At the same time you?re dealing with a franchise quarterback [Donovan McNabb] that was descending and therefore you?re even more motivated before a player hits rock bottom or you?re without a franchise quarterback, that you?re going to reach and do certain things.
?So I think we lost some of the exact nature of the method that we?ve all shared that created the success, which was discipline, strategic thinking, and don?t do necessarily what is popular but do what?s right. It?s kind of a human thing and I take some responsibility for that because I was right out in the forefront for [the thought of], ?Let?s do anything we can to try to win a Super Bowl for the city and our fans.?
Lurie said he spoke with Reid about the team?s direction on Friday before the season finale --? a 42-7 loss Sunday to the Giants -- and then again early Monday morning. The conversation was an honest one, Lurie said, adding that Reid understood the situation.
All of Reid?s assistants are still working under contracts that Lurie said will be honored for now. The coaches will carry out evaluations of current players on the roster and work until their fates are decided upon by the next head coach.
Lurie flatly denied that he had offered Reid another job within the company, refuting an Associated Press report.
?I think Andy is an outstanding football coach. That?s what Andy wants to do,? Lurie said. ?He doesn?t want to transition to other aspects of football operations. He?s a football coach. He wants to coach right now. He was very excited about the future of this team and this franchise. He wanted to stay.
?We spent some time on Friday going over exactly what his plans would be for the team, knowing that there was a very good chance that he was going to be let go. And yet, I can?t tell you how excited he is about a lot of aspects of the team and what needs to be done to both turn it around, and return to the excellence and go further. He?s really energized and excited and someone is going to get one heck of a football coach.?
Six head coaching vacancies opened on ?Black Monday,? with firings also taking place in San Diego, Kansas City, Chicago, Buffalo and Cleveland. The Chargers are reportedly not interested in Reid and you can rule out the Browns, whose CEO Joe Banner earlier this year lost a power struggle with Reid and left his post as Eagles president.
Whatever owner hires Reid will know that the Eagles won just 12 of their past 32 games under Reid and went 4-12 in 2012 with a season-opening roster that boasted eight different players who had made at least one Pro Bowl.
It?s a roster and coaching staff that Lurie felt confidently about going into the season even after last year?s 8-8 mark.
?I think, as you know, I stood up here last year and went through some of the arguments for making a change, and decided not to,? Lurie said. ?One of the key arguments, for me, for not making a change at the end of last year was that every time our team under Andy Reid was 8-8 or less -- and it wasn?t very often -- but every single time after that the next season we were a double-digit [win], playoff team.
?That was the history. I really believed that this season, with our talent, that we would be a strong contender and a double-digit win team. Nobody is more disappointed or crushed than myself because I fully believed that that?s exactly where we were at in August as we started the season.?
E-mail Geoff Mosher at gmosher@comcastsportsnet.com.
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