There are some interesting notes about the Eagles’ coaching search in this Inquirer article

The folks over at The Inquirer have been putting together some especially great Eagles coverage lately. The latest example comes from Paul Domowitch, who offered up some interesting notes on Philadelphia’s head coaching search.

LINCOLN RILEY

One of the first tidbits in Domo’s story is that the Eagles offered Lincoln Riley their head coaching job and he told them he wasn’t interested. Such a development shouldn’t be a surprise. There’s no good reason for the Oklahoma head coach to rush out of his current cushy setup to enter a messy Eagles situation.

JOSH MCDANIELS

There was a lot of buzz about McDaniels being the Eagles’ guy earlier this week. That’s since cooled off with reports that Jeffrey Lurie is not sold on him. Unsurprisingly, McDaniels’ reputation in the league isn’t very favorable.

“He doesn’t have an ability to really connect with people on a human level,” said one NFL executive who has dealt with McDaniels. “He’s very arrogant. Great head coaches are extremely confident. But there’s a fine line between confidence and arrogance. Josh crosses it.”

Domo points out that that the Eagles are considering a guy who flamed out in Denver and embarrassingly backed out of the Indianapolis Colts’ head coaching job “tells you all you need to know about their level of desperation in this coaching search.”

On that note, it seems like the Eagles’ strongest candidates at this point (McDaniels, Duce Staley, Nick Sirianni) are names no one else was really considering this year. That doesn’t necessarily mean the Eagles are wrong for thinking differently. But it could speak to their inability to attract a perceived top candidate, for whatever that’s worth.

DUCE STALEY

The title of Domo’s article is “Why Carson Wentz could be a reason the Eagles are reluctant to make Duce Staley their head coach” and here’s what he had to say on that point:

As for Staley, the Eagles curiously continue to regard him as little more than a last resort.

He is loved and respected by the players, and would bring some much needed tough love back to a locker room that had started to take advantage of Pederson, who let them get away with “too much stuff that the public never heard about,” according to one team source.

According to another team source, Staley didn’t much care for the way the organization babied Wentz. Lurie and Roseman both may be concerned that if Staley was the head coach, any chance of straightening out Wentz would go out the window.

“It works against him because he wouldn’t let Carson get away with the things he’s been able to get away with,” the source said. “And Carson knows that. So, if Carson is part of the conversation, then that may not work in Duce’s favor either.”

Things I’ve heard about Staley line up with the characterization that he doesn’t like how the Eagles have treated Wentz with kid gloves. Philly’s assistant head coach is known for being intense and even too much for the liking of some.

It’s concerning to hear that Staley could be disqualified in part because he coaches hard and Wentz doesn't like that. Why is a player who played like the worst starting quarterback in the NFL last year potentially dictating this organization’s big decisions?

If Wentz doesn't prefer Staley, one would think McDaniels would also be ruled out. By contrast, Wentz’s influence could mean Sirianni is the most likely candidate. Wentz liked Frank Reich and he might want the Eagles to bring him the next closest thing to Philly’s old offensive coordinator.