Trotter: Reid gets out-coached in big games

Yesterday afternoon 97.5 The Fanatic held an Eagles panel discussion that included former bird's LB Jeremiah Trotter. Among the topics discussed was former head coach Andy Reid, someone who Trotter would know a thing or two about as an ex player of his.

Now, you rarely ever hear ex players speak ill of Reid. He's very much a "player's coach" and guys generally like him. So it was surprising to hear Trotter rip Reid pretty well when discussing his time in Philadelphia.

"I wouldn't say great, he's a really good coach," Trotter said when asked to judge Reid's legacy here. "I think he leaned on Jim Johnson for a lot of years. I think he came into a situation where had some good players already in place. Bringing in Jim Johnson's attacking style defense got the best out of those players. And when you got a good defense you can win a lot of games."

Trotter also said that some players didn't trust Andy because of his dual role as coach and GM.

"There was guys that loved him and some guys that didn't because they felt like he wasn't honest when it came to contractual situations. Everyone had their own opinion on him."

But the damning criticism came when Trot said Reid was out-coached in big games and it frustrated the team.

"I do believe if it came down to both were even, talent-wise, I think the opponents team would win if it came down to coaching. Andy Reid got out-coached in a lot of games man... A lot of big games."

"The timeouts, running the football... We're sitting on the sideline as a defense saying... obviously, we can’t say anything because when you’re a team, you win as a team, you lose as a team. When the head coach makes a decision, you’ve got to roll with it. No matter what the offense does, it was our job to go out and stop their offense."

"Obviously you can't say anything publicly, you can just talk amongst yourselves and get it off your chest. As a defense, especially we understood we passed the ball too much. There were times when we sat over there and thought 'listen, just get us a couple first downs so we can get a break. And I'm sure it frustrated Jim Johnson also."

When asked what number out of 10 he'd give Reid as a coach, Trot said "A 7.5 or 8."

Check out the full discussion on the Fanatic website.