Time's A-Wasting

Okay, so...

I know the Eagles like to do business slowly and deliberately, most of the time, anyway, but they're running out of options for defensive coordinator very quickly.

As we're all aware, our erstwhile secondary coach, Dick Jauron, has bolted town to become the Cleveland Browns' new defensive coordinator.  The fired Sean McDermott was almost immediately picked up by the Carolina Panthers for the same job.  There were reports that we were looking at Rob Ryan, but he got hired by Dallas.  Jim Mora Jr. was once a front-runner, but he's said that he wants to stay out of coaching at least another year.  This we all know.

The brass is interviewing Saints secondary coach Dennis Allen today.  He's young; he's only 38, and he has nine years' coaching experience, at Texas A & M, Tulsa, the Falcons, and the Saints.  As New Orleans' secondary coach, he's put together some impressive units the past couple of years, but injuries always seemed to dog them.  It's said that he's a long shot to get the job, mainly because they want to bring in Mike Trgovac of the Packers or, if he doesn't work out, Mike Pettine of the New York Jets.

What I don't understand about interviewing Allen is that he's young and has no experience being a defensive coordinator; at that rate they might as well have hung on to McDermott.  Trgovac has stated that even if he decides to field offers, he might want to stay where he is (the Broncos are in the running to nab him too), and Pettine hasn't said a word about anything.

Of course, Trgovac and Pettine are presently busy trying to coach their teams into the Super Bowl and win it, so I doubt that the needs of defensive coordinator-less teams factor very highly into their thinking at this point.  But at some point the team will feel like it has to pull the trigger.  The Super Bowl isn't for another couple of weeks, and if we pass on Allen, and either Trgovac or Pettine decide to stay put, the Eagles will be between a rock and a hard place, and will probably be forced to promote from within once again; Jim Washburn might find himself promoted without doing a thing.  Other than him, we have Bill Shuey as our linebackers coach...and that's pretty much it.  Mike Caldwell is only an assistant, and he's specifically a linebackers guy.  We have no secondary coach, as Jauron has left that spot vacant.

The pickings are slim from within, and this is a very important hiring decision.  Instead of jetting off to Antigua, maybe Cap'n Andy should have taken care of business first?  Oh well, that's neither here nor there at this point.  But it doesn't change the fact we're still without a man to lead this defense, a much-maligned unit that has fallen from grace in the past couple years.  The team's lethargy in signing a new coordinator is not yet alarming, but it could reach that point very quickly if Allen isn't chosen and Trgovac and Pettine refuse to budge.

I am aware, however, that Trgovac and Pettine might be choosing to remain mum on the subject because they might figure it would be detrimental to team morale as long as they're alive in the playoffs.  That's one possibility, and quite frankly is one of the few optimistic things I can pull out of this situation.

I also know we've asked Baltimore permission to interview their linebackers coach, Dean Pees.  I know he's been running a terrific unit, but does anyone have any information on how things are progressing with him?

Time to fish or cut bait, Andy.  Don't let the grass grow beneath your feet on this.