Andy Reid: Fans and Media in Philly Have Already Fired Him, but Will the Eagles?

Fans in Philadelphia are a fickle bunch. Before leaving halfway through the third quarter of the Eagles' Sunday loss to the New England Patriots, fans started chanting "Fire Andy" in an effort to officially commence the closing stages of Andy Reid's tenure as head coach of their beloved Birds.

The chants weren't loud enough to take over the stadium, nor were they loud enough to distract Reid, who still has two years and $10 million left on his contract. But the "Fire Andy" pleas were certainly loud enough for the media to hear in the press box, and for TV and radio shows to turn those chants into the pull-out postgame storyline.

Fire Andy. It's not a new mindset in Philadelphia, by any means. People have wanted Reid fired since 2005, the year after Philadelphia lost the Super Bowl. Heck, some people in Philadelphia wanted Reid fired right after he lost the Super Bowl, and many of those fans haven't stopped hoping for it to happen since then.

But on Monday, after another demoralizing loss in a season full of them, something felt different. The tone on Philadelphia sports talk radio was how fans hope Reid would be fired. Talking heads in Philly weren't taking calls on whether or not Reid should stay. It was a done deal. It really didn't matter what show or what station or what town the call came from—Philadelphia sports fans seemed resigned to the fact that Reid was already gone.

The only thing is, he's not gone. And given the track record of those in the front office in Philadelphia, there's really no reason to think he will be.

Darren Rovell of CNBC—not a Philly guy, for what it's worth—tweeted: "Andy Reid has been the head coach of the Eagles for 4,703 days. I can't see how he makes it to 4,710."

I can. It's one thing to think that Reid will get fired at the end of the season, but to think the Eagles would fire their head coach during the year is downright ludicrous. 

Reid deserves better than that from the Eagles organization. No matter how high the expectations were this season in Philadelphia, nor how far the team has fallen out of favor with frustrated fans, Reid doesn't deserve to be canned in the middle of a season where they are still mathematically alive for a playoff spot. It just doesn't happen that way in Philadelphia… certainly not under the current Eagles regime.

Besides, despite all the callers and sports-talk yappers packing up Reid's office after nearly 13 seasons—one caller had him already coaching the San Diego Chargers, wondering what assistants he'll leave behind and lamenting the fact that Reid will probably win a Super Bowl somewhere else—the Eagles organization has never seen Reid the way the fans do. Why should we think they might start now?

Reid is 122-80 in his 12-plus seasons as head coach of the Eagles. In the playoffs, Reid is 10-9 with a Super Bowl appearance and five trips to the NFC Championship game. Heading into this season, Reid had only two sub-.500 seasons, one coming the year after losing the Super Bowl and the other coming in his first season as a head coach. His track record is good, if only a Super Bowl-winning drive away from being fantastic (somewhere, Donovan McNabb just puked).

Having said that, since losing the Super Bowl, things have not been so fantastic for Reid on or off the field. The Eagles are 58-48-1 since 2005, with four seasons—including this year—of fewer than 10 wins (to be fair, one of those seasons inexplicably saw the Eagles get to the NFC title game). The Birds have made the playoffs in four of the previous six seasons, but have just one year with more than 10 wins since losing to New England in the Super Bowl. Under Reid, the Eagles had at least 11 wins in every season from 2000-2004.

Reid hasn't had it easy the last few years, some of which was his own doing (and undoing). He had to manage very public legal issues with both his sons. He mangled the Terrell Owens soap opera as badly as anything could be mangled. He mismanaged the McNabb situation, though he made the right decision to finally get rid of McNabb when he did. He has yet to reap any tangible benefits of backing up a truck full of cash on Michael Vick's doorstep.

The DeSean Jackson situation is a nightmare for everyone involved, including Reid, the petulant receiver and the fans, showing that Reid learned nothing from the T.O. situation that he could use to handle  Jackson on or off the field.

And let's not forget that Reid has yet to find a suitable replacement for Jim Johnson to run his defense, most recently hiring his offensive line coach to coordinate the defense and giving him a defensive line coach that has his ends rushing the passer from outside the hashmarks, all without understanding the importance of signing even one NFL-caliber linebacker.

Yet through it all, Reid has been the man for the Eagles. Just because the fans and media have given up on him and assume that he'll be gone after the season—radio hosts have been taking calls for who will replace him for years in Philly, and that will only pick up steam the rest of the season—that doesn't mean the team will actually do it.

It will be interesting to see how fans react, one way or the other. If Reid is fired, or kicked upstairs into an administrative role with the team, will fans rejoice with the prospects of a new head coach? Or will fans quickly realize that Reid didn't get nearly enough credit for the team's success the last 13 years?

If Reid isn't let go, will fans revolt?

John Smallwood of the Philly Daily News wrote that fans can deliver a powerful message to the owners by simply not caring anymore.

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Eagles fans have been accused of a lot of things. Apathy has never been one of them.

You have to wonder if that's the point they've been pushed to.

…

[I]t's hard to ignore the deafening silence of the Linc being virtually empty for the final 15 minutes of an Eagles game.

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The idea is all well and good, but it won't happen. Fans won't suddenly stop caring. Fans won't stop showing up to games to prove a point to the owners. Maybe in other cities, but it would take decades of failure in Philadelphia for Eagles fans to stop showing up.

Sure, fans may leave early, but by that point the tickets, beer, food and parking have already been purchased. After that, does leaving early serve to make a point to the front office or just serve to beat traffic?

Eagles fans aren't apathetic, they are apoplectic. Nothing short of a Super Bowl, whether Reid is on the sidelines or in San Diego, will change that.