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Philadelphia Eagles Rumors: Tom Coughlin To Interview For Coaching Job Next Week, Could Be Frontrunner

By Nathan Francis
Published on: 03:06 PST, Jan 9, 2016

The Philadelphia Eagles are rumored to be making a move for Tom Coughlin, with an interview already scheduled for the former New York Giants coach, and insiders believe he is the frontrunner for the next coaching job.

The Eagles kickstarted the NFL firing season early, letting go of head coach Chip Kelly with two weeks left to play in the season. Though they’ve had a head start on nearly every team in surveying the coaching landscape, it was not until their rival Giants parted ways with the long-tenured Coughlin that the Eagles may have found their man.

ESPN‘s Adam Schefter reported that the Philadelphia Eagles are interviewing Tom Coughlin next Monday before the NFL owners’ meeting in Houston.

There have been rumors throughout the week that the Philadelphia Eagles were high on Coughlin, but Saturday’s report was the first confirmation that they were moving forward on it.

As ESPN reported, Coughlin could be very interested in the job, as well.

“Coughlin, who resigned Monday after his third straight losing season with the Giants, is intrigued by the Eagles’ job because of his familiarity with the organization and because of Philadelphia’s proximity to his family in New Jersey, sources told ESPN’s Dan Graziano.

“Fox Sports reported late Friday that Coughlin was expected to speak to the Eagles at some point this coming week.”

Though Tom Coughlin resigned, sources close to the team say it was a quit-or-be-fired scenario. Even Giants owner John Mara hinted at that.

“I just think 12 years is a lifetime, more than a lifetime in the NFL,” Mara said last week on ESPN New York radio (via the New York Post). “It was time for us to go in different directions. We did not give him the best possible personnel to play with, he did the best he could with what he had. That’s on us as an organization, that was a failure on our part, to try to provide him with better players, although certainly he’s a very big of those discussions as well.”

The Eagles are already deep in the interviewing process, but may be losing out on their previous top candidate. Sources close to the team said that the Eagles were high on Chicago Bears assistant Adam Gase, and there were reports that he was due to come in for a second interview, but not it appears he is taking his talents to South Beach instead.

On Saturday, Gase was reportedly lose to finalizing a deal to become the Miami Dolphins head coach, ESPN reported, and had already met with Ndamukong Suh and Ryan Tannehill.

The pairing seems to be a good fit. Gase is seen as something of a quarterback guru, and Tannehill has show flashes of very strong play but is plagued by inconsistency. And after an offseason of improving their defense, it was largely the offense holding the Dolphins back this season.

The leaves the Philadelphia Eagles back to the drawing board, and Tom Coughlin is now rumored to be a strong candidate. Though the Giants only made the playoffs twice in the last eight years, Coughlin led the team to Super Bowl titles both those years, and has a strong track record of success. He was also 68-60 with the expansion Jacksonville Jaguars, leading the team to near immediate success including two AFC Championship games in the first five years.

[Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images]

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