Last week, at his now infamous press conference, Jeffrey Lurie explained that he sits down with coaches before each game to go over the plan for the game BUT ABSOLUTELY NOT THE GAME PLAN. At the time, his comment seemed a bit incongruent as it certainly sounded like he literally went over the game plan with Doug Pederson.
Today, Tim McManus, perhaps the best of all the beats, reports that Lurie is more involved than he may like you to believe he is:
A separate source says Lurie has held these types of meetings with his head coaches in the past, though they are more formal and frequent now.
Lurie has taken a more active approach to leadership overall, sources say, since firing Chip Kelly as head coach in December 2015. Whether it is personnel decisions, coaching matters or day-to-day operations, there have been instances in which Lurie has demonstrated a higher level of involvement.
As we reported in January, Lurie stepped in and denied the New York Jets permission to interview quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo for their vacant offensive coordinator position, preventing Pederson from granting the request. Last offseason, sources say, the decision to re-sign quarterback Sam Bradfordwas driven by Lurie.
Add the more in-depth weekly meetings, which include watching film and breaking down opponents by his own definition, and the picture of Lurie as a bigger influence in the building becomes clear.
Doh. McManus added more thoughts about what Lurie’s increased involvement could mean for a head coach.
This is now the second week in a row where the Eagles head into a game with Pederson getting grammatically castrated by reports and conjecture. Jim Schwartz is gunning for his job and the owner micromanages him. Crusher Doug is getting it from both sides, top and bottom, up and down, inside and out.
This shouldn’t be particularly surprising. Lurie has laughably been spotted a Pro Days. And even his admission that he goes over game planning – but not the game plan! – with coaches was an indication that he’s heavily involved. I can’t think of many situations in sports where a heavily involved owner is a good thing. Off the top of my head: Ed Snider, Al Davis, Jerry Jones. Robert Kraft is credited with being the exact opposite. Worse, Lurie has shown no evidence that he knows a lick about football. He has now twice tasked his underling, Howie Roseman, with constructing the team. Roseman failed the first time and then hauled off to Europe for leadership studies while Chip Kelly was, himself, decimating the roster. Roseman, apparently cured of… being a horrible GM, is once again a genius in the eyes of the owner, who greenlighted the hiring of a coach who many perceive to have not been qualified for the job. And now they’re all in the room together, scheming to beat Andy Reid and the Chiefs. Anyone else not have a great feeling about that?
