Philadelphia Eagles To Offer Second Coaching Interview To Bears OC Adam Gase
The Philadelphia Eagles confirmed that it will offer a return interview to Chicago Bears’ assistant coach Adam Gase, just one day removed from the offensive coordinator’s visit to the city in pursuit of his first NFL head coaching job.
According to the Philadelphia Daily News, citing NFL”insider” Ian Rapoport, Gase — who is on a short list of Eagles’ HC candidates — will be the first coaching applicant in the league this season to be granted a second look by a team. The news comes just one day after Gase first interviewed to try on deposed coach Chip Kelly’s shoes.
Sounds like Adam Gase impressed in Philly. I'm told the #Eagles plan to bring him back for a second interview this weekend.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 6, 2016
Gase, the Daily News noted, sat in an eight-hour, closed-door meeting with Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie, with “sources familiar” noting that he “flew from Chicago to Philadelphia in the afternoon and left during the evening.”
CSN Philly, meanwhile, said the following about Gase’s jouney to the Eagles:
“In Chicago, Gase helped revive quarterback Jay Cutler’s career in his first year as Bears offensive coordinator The Bears ranked 20th this year in points per game, 16th in yards per game and 23rd in yards per play this year. They went 6-10 and didn’t have a receiver or running back with 1,000 yards. The Bears only scored more than 23 points three times all year. But Cutler had the best year of his career, finishing with a career-best 92.3 passer rating and cutting his interceptions down from an NFL-high 18 last year to just eight this year.”
The Eagles will interview Gase, the Daily News noted, for the second time, “for the weekend.” Per Rapoport, the Bears’ coordinator also has interviews with the Browns, Dolphins, and Giants this week.
The Philadelphia Eagles, of course, got a jump on the rest of its competitors when Kelly was fired with one game remaining in his disappointing 7-9, third season as Eagles’ head coach.
For Lurie, the stunning fall from grace of the once-perceived cutting-edge Oregon Ducks’ offensive wiz was an easy one to make. “I spent the last three seasons evaluating the many factors involved in our performance as a team,” said the Philadelphia Eagles’ owner in a December 29 statement to CBS Philly. “As I watched this season unfold, I determined that it was time to make a change.”
The news of Gase’s second interview with the Eagles, meanwhile, seems to be drawing a mixed reaction on social media.
To date, the Eagles have only confirmed interviews with Pat Shurmer, the offensive coordinator/interim head coach, and Duce Staley, the running backs coach, both fomerly of Kelly’s Eagles’ coaching staff. Various reports have also linked the position, potentially, to Dirk Koetter, the Buccanneers’ OC, Teryl Austin, the Lions’ defensive coach, Ben McAdoo, the Giants’ OC, and Doug Peterson, the Chiefs’ OC.
Gase, 37, was named the Bears’ offensive coordinator last year after two seasons with famed quarterback Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in the same position. He also, as the Daily News noted, does not come to the NFL from a “traditional football background” in that he did not play in college. He does, however, share that unique trait with longtime — and once-again current — Eagles VP of Football Operations Howie Roseman, who saw himself stripped of his team personnel power in favor of Kelly prior to the start of this season.
[Image by Getty Images]
