Andy Reid reflects on time in Philly, says goodbye to Eagles fans

Andy Reid held a conference call with the Philadelphia media today to officially wrap up his time in Philadelphia. As we've come to expect from Andy, he mostly sidestepped any tough questions and maintained a positive tone throughout.

He said he "absolutely loved" his time in Philadelphia and appreciated that the fans care about their football, which is "all you can ask for as a coach."

"The fans care," he said. "That's all that mattered to me. I didn't care if they were chanting my name in a bad or good way. They cared. They told us if we stunk, they told us if we were good."

"I have nothing but good things to say about Philadelphia. I loved my time there."

Reid said a few times that he believes change is good sometimes and sees this change as good for both him and the Eagles.

"This allows the Philadelphia Eagles a chance to step back and grab a good football coach that has a year or two to rebuild this thing," he said. "They'll do the right thing."

He seemed to say that the next guy is going to have more time to retool the team than he would have given the expectations that had mounted.

"When you stay in the same place for a long time you have to change players. Players get old and you have to replenish. But when expectations stay the same, you have to replenish. This gives the Eagles an opportunity to do that. They've got some young guys at some crucial positions and the next guy that comes in, he's got a couple years to build it."

Still, Reid said he believes his time in Philadelphia was productive and he'll look back on it fondly.

"Did we get the championship? No. But I'm not going to forgot those other wins.... There was nothing more that I wanted to do than win a Super Bowl for Philadelphia."

"I think they're in a better place now than when I took over."

The one controversial subject Reid did address was the firing of Juan Castillo, which he stopped short of saying he regretted, but did admit was the wrong decision.

"When all is said and done, we were a better defense with Juan then we were without Juan. That's a tribute to him."

Andy sidestepped questions relating Jeff Lurie's assertion that the 2010 and 2011 drafts were entirely on him and not GM Howie Roseman.

"Howie is a young guy that is going to do a phenomenal job," is all he would say.

In the end, Andy just wanted to wish the city well.

"I still love Philadelphia. I haven't sold my home there. I wish nothing but the best for the team and people there."