What can you say about a team with no deep threat, no experience at quarterback, a lackluster ground game and a porous defense? Better luck next year

Unsung hero Staley (22) doesn't get a lot of ink, but he rushed for over 1,000 yards and caught more than 50 passes last season.   Jim Gund

Though he's never been a head coach at any level, Andy Reid seems well organized and highly motivated to lead the Eagles out of the swamp. But here's a roster of Hall of Fame and can't-miss future Hall of Fame coaches and what each one's record was in his first NFL season: Tom Landry (0-11-1), Chuck Noll (1-13), Jimmy Johnson (1-15), Bill Walsh (2-14), Bill Parcells (3-12-1), Weeb Ewbank (3-9) and Bud Grant (3-8-3). I'm not trying to find snakes under the bed, but just remember, there will be days in which Reid's game plan works to perfection but people keep dropping the ball, afternoons in which he will have schemed a receiver into open territory only to have some unblocked lineman knock the pass down. There are days of frustration and heartache and despair ahead, but bear in mind that lots of coaches who went on to become famous lived through trying times.

In truth, Philadelphia simply doesn't have enough good players. Maybe the club is two drafts and free-agent-signing periods away, or maybe only one, in this era of the quick fix. (Tom Modrak, the director of operations, certainly proved he was a shrewd judge of talent when he was player-personnel director in Pittsburgh.) But you look at the Eagles, and you have to ask the question, What can they beat you with?

Their quarterback, Doug Pederson, has never started an NFL game in his six seasons. Granted, he's only keeping the seat warm for Donovan McNabb, the second player picked in the draft, but Reid, the former Packers quarterbacks coach whom Brett Favre called "not only a great coach but a great friend as well," is not going to throw young McNabb to the wolves, no matter how loud the Philly fans howl.

The wideouts are new, and the one with the best credentials, former Steeler Charles Johnson, is a medium-range receiver. There's no threat downfield. The tight end, former Redskin Jamie Asher, is out for three months with a broken ankle. The offensive line is only so-so, just as it has been for as long as anyone can remember. Duce Staley, a willing, productive worker but no star, has to handle the bulk of the running. The pass defense finished first in the league last season, only because teams found it easier to run against Philadelphia and didn't throw much after they'd built up their lead. Even the kicking game nose-dived. Chris Boniol came to Philadelphia in 1997 as the most accurate field goal kicker in the league the previous two years; in his two years with Philly he was the second-least accurate. He's been replaced by Norm Johnson.

O.K., enough gloom. Let's take a look at Reid, an extreme dark horse for the job back in January. "He came into the first interview with a big book," says Joe Banner, the Eagles' executive vice president. "It was his ratings book. He had the top 10 coaches rated at each position, from one to 10, offensive line, special teams, everything, college and pro. I said to [owner] Jeff [Lurie] afterward, 'There's a guy preparing to be a head coach. He's already trying to line up the best staff he can.'"

"You knew he'd thought about being a head coach," Modrak says. "He prepared himself. He asked all the right questions."

Favre says that Reid was the genius behind Mike Holmgren's offense in Green Bay -- "the computer behind it all," Favre calls him. "I think Andy studies the game and knows situations better than anyone. He was probably the sharpest of anyone, including Mike. I mean there were times when Mike would call a play from his own personal game plan, and Andy would have to correct him. I can say that now that Mike's gone to Seattle. I know Andy will probably deny it, but it's the truth. I'd look to Andy in crucial situations before I looked to anyone else."

You talk to the players about him, and it's like something out of The Manchurian Candidate, with everyone repeating the same script. Organization, crispness, a fresh approach: That's the Andy Reid system. "There was a specific plan, and it was made clear to us from Day One," Eagles fullback Kevin Turner says. "At times last year it seemed as if there was no plan."

"I was lucky enough to be around Mike Holmgren when he took over in Green Bay," Reid says. "I watched how he approached the job, the way he did it. I tried to categorize every step of the way. Every situation I come across, I put it in the notebook. I still add to it. Actually, I've just started a new one."

Maybe someday that book will be in Canton.

-- Paul Zimmerman

Fast Facts

1998 RECORD: 3-13 (5th in NFC East)
     NFL rank (rush/pass/total): offense 14/30/30; defense 27/1/17

1999 SCHEDULE STRENGTH (rank): 28
     Opponents' 1998 winning percentage: .461; Games against playoff teams: 7

Player to Watch

He was Philly's top free-agent pickup two years ago, and he was going to be the fulcrum for a mighty offensive line. Instead, 29-year-old center Steve Everitt remains an enigma. In '97 he sprained a knee and an ankle in training camp, and those injuries nagged him all season. Last year he missed the first three games with a broken foot. Everitt, an abstract and surrealist painter in the off-season, says this will be his year. "I know my role this year is to be the leader," says Everitt, "even though I've never been a big cheerleader type." "I understand artists," coach Andy Reid says. "My father was an artist. They keep things pent up, and sometimes the only way they can express themselves is through art. I told Everitt, 'I want you to express yourself on the field.' I watch the way he's been working and the shape he got himself in, and I know he'll be fine."

Other Info

1999 Team Schedule
Team Depth Chart