A Super Bowl winning coach wants to take a shot at the Eagles head coaching job. Owner Jeffrey Lurie doesn't appear to be interested.
In a report for Philly.com, Paul Domowitch is reporting that former Buccaneers head coach and ESPN Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden is interested in the Eagles head coaching job.
However, Eagles sideline reporter on 94 WIP Howard Eskin reports that Gruden is not interested after reaching out to the MNF analyst and former coach. CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora adds that the Philly.com is "ridiculous" and has not come been discussed by either side.
So, once again, there are conflicting reports. But it sounds like the idea of Gruden being on the Eagles radar and vice versa is not a possibility.
Domowitch reported that Gruden reached out to the Eagles through a contact expressing interest in the position and that Lurie was not opposed to the idea — after all, Gruden was the team's offensive coordinator in 1997 and 1998 — but is currently focused on candidates who are currently coordinators.
Part of this is due to the unavailability of two current NFL head coaches. The Eagles were very high on John Harbaugh, the former special teams coach under Andy Reid, but he is happy in Baltimore. Sean Payton was another option for the Eagles until Wednesday, when Payton announced at a press conference that he would remain with the Saints.
That narrowed things down quite a bit for the Eagles, who seem very focused on two candidates — Chicago Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase and Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson. Gase interviewed on Tuesday and reportedly really impressed Lurie and company. Pederson, who will interview on Sunday after handling coaching duties in the Chiefs playoff game on Saturday, has coached for the Eagles previously under Reid in 2011 and 2012 and has a good relationship with Lurie.
The Eagles have also interviewed Duce Staley, Pat Shurmur and New York Giants offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
For now, it seems the Eagles will focus on those candidates and any others coming in. As Domowitch notes, Gruden's potential interest in the position leaves him as a backup plan for Lurie if none of the candidates pan out the way he would like.
Kevin Durso is managing editor for Eagledelphia. Follow him on Twitter @Kevin_Durso.
