A Decade of Andy Reid

PhillyPhreak54 · July 19, 2008, 12:05:41 AM

http://www.philly.com/dailynews/sports/20080718_Eagles_-_Reid_enters_10th_year_with_Eagles.html

QuoteEverybody who knows the story of how Reid became the Eagles' coach knows about the notebook that so impressed Lurie and team president Joe Banner - the notebook stuffed with plans and tips Reid accumulated toward the day when he would be a head coach. Much of it was the blueprint he copied from Mike Holmgren's Super Bowl-winning tenure with the Packers. Now, Reid says, there are three notebooks - the original, another with all the stuff he has learned since becoming a head coach, and a separate personnel binder, with the lessons from his seven seasons in charge of those decisions.

"I go back to the old one, to make sure I'm not too far away from the original [concepts]. It's a good reference,'' Reid said. He added that his methods, once nearly 100 percent copied from Holmgren, now are more 60-40 Holmgren and accumulated Reid wisdom.[/quote[

Quote"I remember a lot of players needed IVs the first day,'' Reid recalled. "I gave 'em the schedule before we left [for Lehigh]. I told 'em, 'Training camp is tough. I won't run ya after practice, that's not what I'm going to do, I'm going to run you during practice, from drill to drill and so on.' I remember 'em looking at me like, 'That doesn't sound too intimidating.' But I warned 'em that, 'Listen, you'd better come back in great shape, because this'll wear you out if you don't.' They didn't take it the way they should've . . . It wasn't any different than what we did the other years, but [subsequently] guys just prepared better in the offseason.''

Reid said he was not trying to be "the new sheriff,'' not aiming to show these guys how tough he was. Then, as now, Reid ran tightly scripted practices. No walking back to the huddle, no breaks between drills. It was a different pace.

The guys who were out there on the field remember it a little differently than the coach, 10 camps later. Yes, the pace thing was there, it was real, but that wasn't the whole deal, they say.

"It was absolutely brutal,'' recalled safety Brian Dawkins, the longest-tenured current Eagle, preparing for his 13th season. "We had a lot of contact. We were tackling to the ground, live periods all over the place. It was brutally hot. The tempo was different from what we were used to. All those live periods, back-to-back, day after day after day. It was a tough, tough camp.

"Every time a new head coach comes in, it's kind of the same thing. They're going to turn the fire up and see if they can weed out some people that don't want to be here. That's kind of what I expected going in, and that's what happened. Some guys that - I mean, none of us liked it - but some of them were very boisterous about not appreciating the tempo and how much contact we were having.''

That's how former Eagles linebacker Ike Reese remembers it, as well. Reese was a second-year player then, whose only previous camp was under Ray Rhodes, known as a players' coach.

"My first year, under Ray Rhodes, I don't want to say it was a country club, but it was more of a relaxed atmosphere. Ray was prone to give veterans days off and we didn't do as much tackling,'' Reese said. "At Andy's training camp, we tackled every day . . . that was like a shock to all of us. I thought Andy turned up the heat on us purposely, to basically see what he had, who were the guys who were going to fight through it. He didn't give us days off, like he started to do later on, to reward us for hard practices. He was going to weed out the weaklings, see who was going to fight through it, who was going to make excuses and come up with fake injuries, find their way out of practice.''

The one name nearly every fan recalls from Reid's first preseason is that of George Hegamin, the big guard who learned on a Sunday morning that he'd been demoted from a starting spot and briefly left the team, missing practice, before returning and apologizing. Before he took Hegamin back (only to cut him in the final roster trim a few weeks later), Reid did something he has never done since. The coach who has become famous (or, depending on how you look at it, infamous) for never severely criticizing or punishing his players in public view invited reporters to watch Hegamin, all by himself, push a blocking sled around the field.

Dawkins believes the Reid he knows now wouldn't do something like that. Reid said he hasn't had to, after doing it that once.

"I thought it was important to set a foundation for things. This is a business, and you just can't skip a practice and it be OK. That's just not what it is,'' Reid said, when asked to revisit the incident. "George is a great kid. I really like George. Thank goodness, he came into the locker room and said, 'Hey, I screwed up, I was wrong.' He did the right thing.

"What it did was say, 'Hey, listen, I don't have a lot of rules, just follow the ones I have.' They're all basic, common sense.''

Diomedes · July 19, 2008, 11:19:09 AM

least appealing thread title ever

MadMarchHare · July 19, 2008, 04:20:53 PM

Yeah, really. Wouldn't a better title for this thread by 0 for 10?

Ibeluvineagles · July 23, 2008, 07:11:44 PM

I think Andy is doing a solid job in comparison to the vast majority of NFL head coaches. I know he knows alot more about personell then fans and commentators. If he feels his offense will work fine with his existing WR's why should any of us have the audacity to assume we know better? Remember, we didn't win a SB with TO, and the Patriots didn't win one with Moss. The biggest play by a WR in the last SB was a 4th guy (Tyree).

Diomedes · July 23, 2008, 07:13:03 PM

With your first post here, you sidle up to AR and sing the praises of authority...well done. You should do great here.

rjs246 · July 23, 2008, 08:45:24 PM

I would like to piss in Andy Reid's mouth. Maybe drop a turd or two as well.

PoopyfaceMcGee · July 23, 2008, 08:46:23 PM

Quote from: rjs246 on July 23, 2008, 08:45:24 PM
I would like to piss in Andy Reid's mouth.

Can he fit mussa's hat in there?

rjs246 · July 23, 2008, 08:46:56 PM

Are you kidding me? He could fit the state of Montana in there.

PoopyfaceMcGee · July 23, 2008, 08:48:14 PM

It sounds like an excellent two birds, one stone opportunity, then.

ice grillin you · July 23, 2008, 08:49:41 PM

mmmmmmm some new meat to argue errr debate with

QB Eagles · July 23, 2008, 09:05:20 PM

Quote from: ice grillin you on July 23, 2008, 08:49:41 PM
mmmmmmm some new meat to argue errr debate with

Or, based on the first post, at least a fun new trolling account by a CF regular.

ice grillin you · July 23, 2008, 09:11:33 PM

there was way to much effort put into that post for it to be fake

Rome · July 23, 2008, 09:28:20 PM

He used the word "audacity".

Clearly Barry has found us and is looking to kick some farging ass in this piece.

BARRY!

Ibeluvineagles · July 23, 2008, 10:00:41 PM

Quote from: Diomedes on July 23, 2008, 07:13:03 PM
With your first post here, you sidle up to AR and sing the praises of authority...well done. You should do great here.

Not sidling up. Just keeping in mind that I am a fan not an expert. I doubt if anyone on here understands the intricacies of professional football as well as Andy Reid.

PhillyGirl · July 23, 2008, 10:03:15 PM

Quote from: Ibeluvineagles on July 23, 2008, 07:11:44 PM
I think Andy is doing a solid job in comparison to the vast majority of NFL head coaches. I know he knows alot more about personell then fans and commentators. If he feels his offense will work fine with his existing WR's why should any of us have the audacity to assume we know better? Remember, we didn't win a SB with TO, and the Patriots didn't win one with Moss. The biggest play by a WR in the last SB was a 4th guy (Tyree).

Spuds?