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It was a move, like many Eagles moves, met with outside concern and criticism.
How could the Eagles split up a winning combination like Tom Modrak and Andy
Reid? How could they make Reid the king of all Eagledom and exile Modrak, an
extremely competent director of player personnel?
A lot of people thought the Eagles were crazy when they gave Reid a six-year deal worth $15 million in May 2001 as well as complete control of football operations. At that point, he had won zero division titles and been to the playoffs just once. The prevailing opinion was that the Eagles would pay dearly for firing Modrak.
In retrospect, it appears as if the Eagles got two for the price of one.
This season, Reid was the lowest-paid coach in the NFC East.
Steve Spurrier made $5 million - or $1 million per victory - in his second and
final season with the Washington Redskins. Bill Parcells received $4.5 million
- or $450,000 per victory - in his first season with the Dallas Cowboys. Jim
Fassel received $3 million - or $750,000 per victory - before being fired by
the New York Giants.
Reid, at least in relative terms, was underpaid. He earned $2.5 million this
season, or a little more than $208,000 per victory.
Three more victories and that price will go down to roughly $167,000 per victory.
The conventional thinking in the NFL when the Eagles fired Modrak and gave Reid
control of football operations was that a monarchy could not work. Eagles owner
Jeffrey Lurie and team president Joe Banner had seen it fail with Ray Rhodes.
They also had watched Reid's mentor, Mike Holmgren, struggle to duplicate his
success in Green Bay while handling the dual role of personnel director and
coach in Seattle.
Holmgren, by the way, was paid $5 million this season, or $500,000 per victory.
Undaunted by their own past and irritated by Modrak's desire for an out clause
in his contract, the Eagles gave Reid the title of head coach/executive vice
president of football operations.
Translation: King Andy.
After three seasons with Reid in that role, the Eagles have been fitted for
three NFC East crowns and twice have emerged as the top playoff seed in the
NFC. The kingdom is not crumbling, even though there has been some grumbling
by disgruntled free agents on their way out the door and by the fans who hated
to see them go.
Reid is quite comfortable in his dual roles, and Banner is not the least bit
surprised.
"You could easily argue that one of Andy's greatest strengths as a coach
is his incredible ability to hire great people," Banner said yesterday
from his office at the NovaCare Complex. "You could see it with... his
entire staff of assistants. I think that initially helped him be a successful
head coach.
"We projected that he would do the same thing in the personnel area that
he did when he hired his coaching staff. When you hire really good people, it
allows one guy to do more. We knew he would hire quality people who had the
same quality and work ethic as himself. That's why we thought he could be successful
at it."
Reid's two hires shortly after he took control of the personnel department were
Tom Heckert and Scott Cohen, both of whom were in their early 30s when they
joined the Eagles. Heckert, 36, is in his third season as the Eagles' personnel
director and Cohen, a 34-year-old Cherry Hill native, is in his third season
as the director of player personnel.
Together, they have helped Reid prove that one man can be in charge of two things
and still be successful. With the help of college scouting director Marc Ross,
the Eagles had a successful 2002 draft. The jury is still out on the Class of
2003.
Cornerback Bobby Taylor is on record as saying the Eagles would not have been
able to duplicate last season's regular-season success without the presence
of second-year cornerbacks Lito Sheppard and Sheldon Brown. Strong safety Michael
Lewis and running back Brian Westbrook are the Eagles' two biggest success stories
from the Class of 2002.
The main point here is that the Eagles, with Reid as their undisputed king and
with Modrak shuffled off to Buffalo, have emerged as consistent Super Bowl contenders.
For the record, the coach has not complained about his contract situation or
threatened a training-camp holdout next summer. He knows he is under contract
for three more years and he knows that the Eagles would like him around a lot
longer than that.
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