Vikings fire John DeFilippo as OC
- Thread starter sluggo72
- Start date
Wow. Just last week, Troy Aikman as heaping praise on John DeFilippo stating that some team should hire him as a Head Coach next season.
I know you said you were friends with the family, but this article from www.philly.com/sports does not shine a very good light, so whatever, but it does not appear to be happening any time soon....
Just before the Vikings played the Eagles in the fifth game of the season, an old source from the NFC Central, unprovoked, told a fascinating tale about DeFilippo’s departure.
Back in early February, after the Eagles had finished their epic parade up Broad Street, DeFilippo was at the NovaCare Complex, prepared to officially accept an offer to become the Vikings offensive coordinator. But he was waffling. Eagles offensive coordinator Frank Reich was interviewing for the Colts' head coach job that Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel had accepted, then rejected.
DeFilippo’s quandary: Should he approach Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and offer to stay as offensive coordinator? Sure, he wouldn’t get to call plays — Doug Pederson would retain that responsibility — but that didn’t hinder Pederson’s own candidacy in 2016, when he went from lame-duck OC in Kansas City to Eagles head coach in 2016. And, heh heh, perhaps Lurie could, you know, throw a little extra cash DeFilippo’s way to keep him in the nest?
The meeting never happened. DeFilippo’s allies warned him that Lurie would see Flip’s maneuver as dishonest and extortionary, and, besides, Lurie maybe wasn’t all that sad to see him go.
That story sounded fantastic, but, as the months progressed and DeFilippo’s job in Minnesota became ever more imperiled, it seemed wise to verify it.
Another league source corroborated the tale Sunday when the Eagles visited Dallas.
If nothing else, the story paints an interesting picture of Philly’s perceived offensive messiah.
By the end of his second season DeFilippo’s talent had been well-documented, but his act had worn thin. Yes, he was a workaholic task-master. Yes, he’d helped Pederson and Reich transform Carson Wentz from an FCS star into an MVP favorite in less than two seasons. Yes, he’d helped resurrect Nick Foles, who went from injured training camp backup to Super Bowl MVP, and he’d transformed Nate Sudfeld from practice-squad nobody into a viable playoff backup.
But Flip didn’t exactly fit in with Pederson’s “emotionally intelligent” team model. He was a self-promoting ladder-climber as focused on becoming an NFL head coach as coaching quarterbacks. This didn’t make DeFilippo unique in the NFL, or even in the building — the defensive coordinator’s no shrinking violet — but the departure of John DeFilippo from Philadelphia was not universally bemoaned at the NovaCare Complex.
the rest of the article can be read here: http://www2.philly.com/eagles/john-...n-wentz-doug-pederson-mike-groh-20181211.html
