After 14 years with the Philadelphia Eagles, head coach Andy Reid was fired following two consecutive seasons of disappointment.
In the wake of Reid’s firing and immediate hiring by the Kansas City Chiefs, the Eagles organization has started an extensive search for a new head coach. The one candidate that the team appeared to have at the top of the list was Oregon’s Chip Kelly, but then Kelly decided to return to the Ducks instead of accepting a position with the Cleveland Browns or Eagles.
On Tuesday, rumors began to circulate of Jon Gruden’s interest in becoming the team’s new head coach in Philadelphia. It remains to be seen if there’s any truth to the rumors, but Gruden has been flirting with the idea of returning to coaching since seven coaching vacancies opened up recently.
Although Gruden may be at the top of the team’s wish list moving forward, another option that has intrigued the Eagles is Lovie Smith formerly of the Chicago Bears.
Reportedly, Smith is set to be interviewed by the Eagles on Thursday according to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk:
The Eagles have announced that former Bears head coach Lovie Smith will interview for the vacant job on Thursday.
Smith’s firing by the Bears was arguably one of the most surprising of the seven sent packing last week with the veteran head coach leading Chicago to 10 wins this season. The Bears got off to a red-hot start to the season with 7 wins in the first eight games, but then began to collapse in the second half of the season following the loss to the Houston Texans in Week 10.
Chicago simply couldn’t get back to form as one of the elite teams in the NFC after the loss to the Texans and as a result lost four of the last seven games of the season. Despite winning the final two games in an effort to clinch a playoff berth, the Minnesota Vikings were able to clinch the playoff spot that was seemingly destine for the Bears to clinch.
