Andy Reid always has to prove he’s smarter than everyone else.
Remember when he said the team did not need a No. 1 wide receiver, that his plan to spread the ball around would suffice? Eventually he went out and signed Terrell Owens. The ticking time bomb wide receiver took the Eagles to a Super Bowl before blowing up in their face the following year. But he proved beyond all doubt the value of a No. 1 wideout.
This is old hat for Reid. He's done the same thing over the years with linebacker, a position he has traditionally downplayed, much to the team’s peril. Last year, after introducing Jim Washburn’s Wide 9 defense, the Eagles threadbare linebacking corps was savaged again and again, failing to fill the gaping holes in the line. This offseason the Eagles signed DeMeco Ryans to man the middle linebacker slot and drafted Mychal Kendricks for the key outside spot.
Reid insisted Kevin Kolb was a starting quarterback in the NFL. It took him all of 24 hours to change his mind and give the job to Michael Vick. Kolb would later be traded to the Arizona Cardinals.
And in perhaps his biggest bit of hubris, Reid scoffed at those who questioned his decision to make longtime offensive line coach Juan Castillo his new defensive coordinator. The haughty Reid insisted he had no problem with turning over this key position to a guy who had not dealt with that side of the ball since his college days.
That’s because Andy knows better. He always does. Right up until the second he changes his mind.
Yesterday he fired his old pal Castillo in the smoldering fallout of two consecutive blown fourth-quarter leads, on the heels of a series of similar collapses last season.
Reid was right to make a move. But he fired the wrong coordinator.
The defense has not really been this team’s big problem.
The offense is, in no small part because Reid insists on throwing the ball the majority of the time, despite the fact that his patchwork offensive line is going to get Michael Vick killed.
Reid doesn’t put much weight in the argument that he and Marty Mornhinweg are pass-happy, ignoring the team’s true strength, which is having the league’s best running back in Shady McCoy.
That’s because Reid knows better than everyone else.
He always does.
Right up until he changes his mind.
For more on the Castillo stunner, check out beat writer Bob Grotz, who believes the move smacks of desperation, and columnist Dennis Deitch says fans should not hold their breath waiting for Nick Foles.
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