Eagles fire Jim Washburn, bring back Tommy Brasher

Goodbye wide 9. The Eagles announced this morning that defensive line coach Jim Washburn has been "relieved of his duties" and former d-line coach Tommy Brasher has been re-hired.

"Jim is a fine football coach and we appreciate the efforts he gave to this team over the past two years," said head coach Andy Reid. "However, I determined that it was in the team's best interest that we move in a different direction in terms of trying to maximize the production of that position group. We look forward to having Tommy Brasher back on board to work with the defensive line."

If Andy Reid had "determined" the wide 9 wasn't in the team's best interest before this year, maybe he wouldn't be in the position he in now with his job in jeopardy.

And that really is the key point. The wide 9 has obviously been a failure and we saw last night how the Cowboys exploit it arguably better than anyone else this season. Maybe it took that for Reid to realize how flawed the formation, or at least the implementation of it, really was.

[Note by JasonB, 12/03/12 9:16 AM EST ] Maybe Washburn isn't really such a great guy...

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>I'm told Washburn had become disruptive and difficult, had threatened to quit, and blew up when Babin was released.</p>&mdash; Reuben Frank (@RoobCSN) <a href="https://twitter.com/RoobCSN/status/275573590387195904" data-datetime="2012-12-03T12:13:58+00:00">December 3, 2012</a></blockquote>

Things are really flowing out of the NovaCare complex about Washburn now that he's gone. Jeff McLane is reporting that Washburn's "act had gotten tired."

Washburn had become a "cancer" around the team, according to one Eagles source, the situation becoming worse when defensive end Jason Babin was released last week.