For the Philadelphia Eagles, Doug Pederson is the guy. At least that seems to be the foregone conclusion at this point after the Eagles announced that they had completed their head coaching search without then naming a winner of the derby. Along the way there were plenty of twists and turns for the Philly faithful to follow, from Adam Gase interviewing right away, to Ben McAdoo being "the guy," to Tom Coughlin getting a second face-to-face meeting. But in the end, it seems Pederson, a guy some have said was the top choice from the get, will be the next head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles.
But according to other reports, the seemingly meandering nature of the Eagles search says so much more about the state of the Philly front office than it does about the desire for Pederson.
"Everybody knows Howie is holding back the organization," an unnamed NFL front-office executive told CSN Philly's Reuben Frank this week. "Everybody but one person. And that person is the only one who matters. Jeffrey Lurie. He just doesn't see it."
Reports in the past have suggested that Roseman enjoys something of a direct line to Lurie, which he exploits to his advantage by massaging the information funneling to the owner in a manner that's beneficial to the one-time Eagle GM.
The tired refrain that the Eagles, or any team, need a "football guy" in the room when choosing a leader of men, is fundamentally wrong and outdated. But that Roseman has a spotty track record as a player-personnel executive is indisputable.
Coughlin, the longtime head coach of the rival New York Giants, met with the Eagles a second time, an indication that he and Lurie and Roseman were inching closer to finalizing a pact to name him the next head coach in Philly. But talks fell apart and Coughlin ultimately withdrew his name.
While there has been no confirmation - as if there ever would be - as to why Coughlin chose to bow out, this, from Gary Myers of the New York Daily News, seems fairly telling.
Per Myers, Coughlin and the Eagles faced a disagreement over staff decisions. And while the fact that McAdoo wound up taking over the top spot for Big Blue and seems to be keeping much of the staff as-is played a part, there may be another, deeper, issue at play here - Roseman's involvement.
"The job is not that good in Philly," a Coughlin "insider" told Myers.
Again, that's not necessarily pointing a finger at Roseman, but put together with Frank's report, it's not hard to connect the dots and assume that maybe some of the league's better coordinators and bigger names view Roseman, not as a boon, but as an impediment to success in Philadelphia.
And while some of the smoke surrounding Roseman may just be the negative, anonymous media slandering of deposed Eagles front office members, as Frank notes, the Eagles search this time around seemed less focused on ensuring the best candidate landed in Philly, and more on who would be the best fit for Roseman.
