Steve Spagnuolo would be a Chuck Heater-type hiring for the Eagles and that's a good thing.
On Sundays, I hang up my Temple garb, don the Eagles gear and head out to a local establishment to watch my second-favorite football team play.
I'm always promoting the Owls by word-of-mouth, though.
I never cease to be amazed by the outdated perceptions many Eagles' fans have of Temple football.
Watching the Eagles hammer the Jets, 45-19, an old guy sitting at the bar slid down his NFL title game ticket, circa 1960.
I mentioned how stupid it was for Andy Reid to hire Juan Castillo, a lifetime offensive line coach, as defensive coordinator.
"It's pretty bad," I said out loud, "when the Temple defensive coordinator is so much better than the Eagles' defensive coordinator, it's not even funny."
Most of the bar seemed to know who Chuck Heater was and the kind of job he was doing at Temple and nodded in agreement.
Not all, but most.
Occasionally, he will throw in a "Temple TUFF, baby" at his press conferences. That's as exciting as a Reid press conference gets to me, but I appreciate it.
Certainly not the old guy.
"Temple?" he said. "Do they still draw 3,000 for their games?"
I had to bite my tongue to be nice to this guy.
"I guess you don't read the newspapers anymore," I said. "Try 30,000. They almost averaged 30,000 this year. You can look it up. You should go. Their games are a lot more exciting than the Eagles' games."
"I didn't know that," the man said, apologetically.
Perceptions are pretty hard to break down, but I'm doing it one person at a time.
That's why I took Jeffrey Lurie's press conference today as a good sign.
Andy Reid will be back. He can break down outdated perceptions of Temple football a lot faster than I can because he has a much larger platform.
Reid is a good head coach who is a friend of Temple football.
I think he made a mistake in hiring his buddy, Castillo, but Reid is a pretty loyal guy.
That's a good sign for Temple as well.
Occasionally, he will throw in a "Temple TUFF, baby" at his press conferences.
That's as exciting as a Reid press conference gets to me, but I appreciate it.
I hope Reid follows up by hiring a good defensive coordinator who will make the Eagles Temple TUFF on defense once again.
Steve Spagnuolo, who was just fired in St. Louis, would be a good fit for the Birds.
If Spagnuolo can do the same type of job as Heater, both teams should have double-digit wins next season and I'll be able once again to wear the green as proudly as I always do the Cherry and White.
