Tom Coughlin Emerges As Top Candidate To Become Next Head Coach Of Philadelphia Eagles

Tom Coughlin has become the leading candidate to fill the Philadelphia Eagles’ head coaching vacancy, according to a report from ESPN. Ben McAdoo was rumored to be on the Eagles’ short list of potential hires, but he is reportedly close to a deal to replace Coughlin as the next head coach of the New York Giants. That leaves Coughlin and current Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson as the top two choices to replace Chip Kelly, who was fired back in December.

In an earlier report from ESPN, Tom Coughlin was apparently “intrigued by the Eagles’ job because of his familiarity with the organization and because of Philadelphia’s proximity to his family in New Jersey, as the Inquisitr wrote about last week. It’s the McAdoo hiring from the rival Giants that now has the Eagles honing in on Coughlin, though a deal is not imminent because there are still issues to be ironed out. ESPN ‘s Adam Schefter elaborated on those issues during a radio interview with Philadelphia’s 97.5 The Fanatic.

“There are a number of things the two sides will have to work though. Number one, is it going to be lucrative enough for him to do that? Does he want to do it? Can he get a staff together, being that his staff has been left behind in New York, being that they’re going to retain Ben McAdoo and those coaches that Tom Coughlin has worked with are staying in New York? Now he has to reassemble a new staff, which is not an easy thing to do.”

Aside from McAdoo, Schefter is alluding to Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who will also remain in New York, forcing Tom Coughlin to search for new coordinators on both offense and defense if he decides to take the Eagles’ job. Schefter went on to say that being a head coach again isn’t Coughlin’s only avenue moving forward.

“He’s got other career options, so he could even decide with the intensified talks with the Eagles, ‘You know what, I’m not going to do this.’ So there are still a lot of ways this could go, but I can tell you that as of last night there definitely are intensified talks and we’ll see what comes of that.”

Hiring Tom Coughlin would go against the grain of past hirings from Eagles’ owner Jeffrey Lurie. Neither Ray Rhodes, Andy Reid, or Chip Kelly were head coaches in the National Football League before arriving in Philadelphia. And history suggests that former Super Bowl-winning head coaches never raise the Lombardi Trophy again if hired by another team. But Lurie and the Eagles are running out of options. McAdoo joins Adam Gase and Hue Jackson as the hot-named coordinators to fill head coaching vacancies. Gase was hired by the Dolphins, while Jackson took the job with the Cleveland Browns. The Eagles’ job is one of only four remaining as San Francisco, Tennessee, and Tampa Bay continue their searches. And the 49ers appear to be the Eagles’ only competition for Tom Coughlin’s services.

Tom Coughlin’s age has been a source of discontent for many Eagles fans. He’ll turn 70 in August, and one of Lurie’s goals has been stability and longevity on his coaching staff. Chip Kelly’s firing after just three seasons, and Coughlin’s emergence suggests his patience may be wearing thin. The Eagles have not won a playoff game since 2008, and haven’t been to the postseason since Kelly’s first year in 2013. Coughlin’s resume may include two Super Bowl rings, but he, too, has been absent from postseason play recently. The Giants have missed the playoffs four years in a row now, with the last two ending with regular season losses to, ironically, the Eagles.