Tom Donahoe

Eagles, Tom Donahoe To Part Ways

May 7th, 2022 at 3:02pm CST by Sam Robinson

The Eagles will have several new faces in their personnel department before the 2022 season begins. Another notable name is out of the picture post-draft.

Ten-year Philadelphia executive Tom Donahoe will part ways with the team, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane, who notes the sides decided not to work out another contract. A post-draft meeting led to this conclusion, and Donahoe will follow several execs out the door in Philly this offseason.

A Pittsburgh native, Donahoe led the Steelers front office for most of the 1990s, working alongside Bill Cowher to help the team become a perennial contender again. After his 2000 ouster, Donahoe took over as the Bills’ general manager in 2001. That tenure did not go as well, and the Bills moved on after the 2005 season. Donahoe, however, established a longtime partnership with the Eagles, one that began in 2012. It is unclear if the 75-year-old decision-maker plans to retire.

Although the Donahoe-Howie Roseman fist bump-failure moment went viral during Day 2 of the 2021 draft, the veteran exec stayed on for another year and had been with the Eagles through four head-coaching regimes. Donahoe oversaw the team’s scouting department for a stretch in 2016, when Roseman had regained power after Chip Kelly‘s short but memorable stretch at the helm.

Donahoe’s departure is the latest of several exits. Scouting director Casey Weidl, brother of Eagles player personnel VP Andy Weidl, is out. The Eagles also moved on from southwest area scout Shawn Heinlen, according to InsidetheBirds.com’s Geoff Mosher and Adam Caplan (on Twitter), and exec T.J. McCreight, per McLane. These moves follow VP of football operations Catherine Raiche‘s exit for Cleveland, director of player personnel Brandon Brown‘s move to the Giants and senior scout Ian Cunningham‘s Bears hire. Both Brown and Cunningham are now in assistant GM roles, with Raiche’s Browns job believed to be on that level as well. Roseman will have a few hires to make in the coming weeks.

Eagles Notes: Kelly, Johnson, Bradford

December 30th, 2015 at 6:53pm CST by Connor J. Byrne

Eagles offensive tackle Lane Johnson had plenty to say Wednesday on the heels of the Chip Kelly firing, per Corey Seidman of CSNPhilly.com.

Asked if the players were afraid to take any complaints to Kelly, Johnson said, “Yeah, I mean, to be honest, yeah. There’s always talk in the locker room you don’t quite say to the coach. We’ll say it to the position coaches, but I don’t know if it ever leaves that room.”

Johnson does think Kelly “had good intentions,” but he also labeled him as “standoffish” – particularly toward the media.

Further, Johnson says he and the players knew about the power struggle between executive Howie Roseman and Kelly.

“Chip and Howie weren’t happy together, didn’t deal well. Just a lot of tension up there that didn’t need to happen, because when you throw it up there it does trickle down to the team, and the team knows what’s going on. It’s just a negative energy that doesn’t need to exist.”

On whether Kelly’s practice schedule’s was too grueling, Johnson stated, “I definitely think so … It takes a toll on you.”

Johnson added Kelly’s moves last offseason contributed to the offense’s inability to function effectively in his high-tempo attack.

“The tempo’s very effective whenever you’re able to do it well. I think we did well the first two years. Made a lot of changes this offseason and I don’t know if everyone is the best fit for what it was.”

More on the Eagles as the post-Kelly era begins:

Quarterback Sam Bradford, whom Kelly traded for last offseason, said Wednesday he was “shocked” about Kelly’s ouster, according to Phil Sheridan of ESPN.com. Bradford, who called his relationship with Kelly “great,” isn’t sure whether he’ll be an Eagle beyond this season. “Obviously, I think a lot of it depends on who they hire as a head coach now and what type of offensive system he wants to run,” said the free agent-to-be.
Owner Jeffrey Lurie is making a mistake in handing the reins of the Eagles’ front office to Roseman and Tom Donahoe, opines Reuben Frank of CSNPhilly.com. Frank cites Roseman’s questionable draft record and inability to coexist with others as reasons for concern. As for Donahoe, he hasn’t been associated with a playoff team since 1997 and had a less-than-stellar run as Buffalo’s general manager from 2001-05. Frank believes the Eagles need a fresh approach, which Roseman and Donahoe won’t provide.
Zach Berman of Philly.com took a look at possible Kelly replacements for the Eagles. Seven current NFL assistants, three of whom have head coaching experience in the league, and three college head coaches are listed as potential successors.
Bob Brookover, also of Philly.com, writes that the Eagles’ best selection to take over for Kelly is interim head coach Pat Shurmur – who went 9-23 with the Browns from 2011-12.

Eagles Notes: Kelly, Front Office, Coach Search

December 30th, 2015 at 1:57pm CST by Luke Adams

Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie addressed reporters today to discuss his decision to dismiss head coach Chip Kelly, and confirmed that, as we heard this morning, he didn’t offer Kelly a chance to keep the job without the control over the team’s personnel (Twitter link via Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports).

As Les Bowen of the Philadelphia Daily News tweets, Lurie explained the timing of his decision by telling the media that he wanted to get a headstart on the search for a new head coach, allowing Kelly to begin looking for a new job as well.

Perhaps most importantly, the fact that the move was made several days early gave Lurie time to have a players-only meeting today and to plan on meeting with certain Eagles players later today and on Monday as well. As he considers who to hire as Philadelphia’s new head coach, Lurie clearly wants some input from the players, tweets Tom Pelissero of USA Today.

Here are several more highlights from Lurie’s presser….

On the decision to fire Kelly:

Issues between Kelly and the Eagles’ players were a factor in the decision to fire Kelly, but Lurie doesn’t believe that the head coach lost the locker room (Twitter links via Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com and Albert Breer of the NFL Network).
Lurie indicated that a recent conversation with DeMarco Murray had “zero” to do with his decision, noting that he talks to a lot of players (Twitter link via Breer).
Lurie acknowledged something that Kelly had long denied, confirming that Chip had insisted on specific power and personnel control, tweets Geoff Mosher of CSNPhilly.com. The end result of giving Kelly that power was “mediocrity,” Lurie said (Twitter link via Aaron Wilson of the National Football Post).

On the Eagles’ front office:

Going forward, Howie Roseman will be responsible for making the player personnel department is as good as it can be, while Tom Donahoe will oversee day-to-day operations, Lurie announced (Twitter link).
Lurie is hopeful that the team can employ a “more collaborative approach” between the head coach and the front office, suggesting that no one person will dictate personnel decisions (Twitter link via Breer).
The Eagles don’t plan on hiring a new general manager. Roseman, Donahoe, and the new head coach will be the club’s primary decision-makers (Twitter links via Zach Berman of the Philadelphia Inquirer).

On the search for a new head coach:

The Eagles’ brain trust spent the morning researching head coaching candidates and making calls, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (via Twitter). At his presser, Lurie confirmed that the club immediately got its coaching search underway last night.
Internal candidates may be considered for the head coaching job, according to Lurie (Twitter link). The Eagles owner isn’t ruling anyone out — college coaches, NFL coordinators, and offensive- and defensive-minded coaches will all be in play (Twitter link via Breer).
Lurie indicated that the team’s next head coach will have to be able to open his heart to players and understand “emotional intelligence.” Mosher tweets that that’s a “clear shot” at Kelly’s inability to communicate with his players.

Additional Eagles notes:

Asked about Kelly’s dismissal today, Eagles lineman Lane Johnson said that the former head coach was unapproachable, and also cited tension within the front office as a problem for the team (Twitter links via Breer and ESPN’s Ashley Fox).
Director of player engagement Marcus Sedberry is among the Eagles execs no longer with the team after yesterday’s shake-up, tweets Berman.

Eagles Part Ways With Chip Kelly

December 29th, 2015 at 6:52pm CST by Luke Adams

6:52pm: While the Eagles didn’t announce it publicly, Jeff McLane of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link) believes Roseman will return to the head of the team’s personnel department.

6:19pm: With one week left in the regular season, the Eagles have announced in a press release that they’re parting ways with head coach Chip Kelly. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will serve as the club’s interim head coach in Week 17.

“I have made a decision to release Chip Kelly this evening,” owner Jeffrey Lurie said in a statement. “I spent the last three seasons evaluating the many factors involved in our performance as a team. As I watched this season unfold, I determined that it was time to make a change. As we move forward, the search for a new head coach will begin and will be led by myself, Don Smolenski and Howie Roseman. To the extent that we are able, we will try to keep you informed as we go through this process.”

The move comes as a surprise, particularly given the timing, since teams making head coaching changes typically wait until after their season ends to announce them. Since Kelly also served as Philadelphia’s de facto general manager, overseeing the construction of the 90-man roster in the offseason, the team figures to be making several new hires in the coming weeks.

One executive that has already been replaced is vice president of player personnel Ed Marynowitz, who has been let go along with Kelly. When the club re-assigned Roseman earlier this year, Kelly was tasked with picking a new personnel executive, and ultimately decided on Marynowitz, who received a promotion within the organization. Former NFL GM Tom Donahoe, who had been serving as a senior football advisor for the Eagles since 2012, will take over Marynowitz’s old role, at least for now.

In addition to the changes coming to the Eagles’ front office and coaching staff, the roster figures to be retooled this offseason, after Kelly’s overhauled it and brought in his own players. It was Kelly, of course, who orchestrated this year’s trade for Sam Bradford, so with the former first overall pick eligible for free agency this winter, it’ll be interesting to see if Philadelphia’s new decision-makers attempt to lock up Bradford, via the franchise tag or a longer-term deal.

During his three seasons as Eagles head coach, Kelly had a solid 26-21 record. However, after consecutive 10-6 seasons, the wheels came off a little this year, as the new-look roster, which was supposedly tailored to Kelly’s vision, struggled to produce on the field.

Although Kelly only took over final say of Philadelphia’s roster moves from Roseman a year ago, he influenced the team’s moves before then as well, and many talented players left town after not always seeing eye to eye with the head coach. DeSean Jackson, LeSean McCoy, Jeremy Maclin, and Evan Mathis are a few of the players that have departed within the last couple years.

As Adam Caplan of ESPN.com tweets, Kelly still had two years and at least $12MM left on his contract, so he doesn’t necessarily have to rush into any decisions on a new job this offseason. But it’s worth keeping an eye on the Titans, who will be in the market for a new head coach, and have Kelly’s old Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota on the roster. With Mariota and possibly the No. 1 overall pick this spring in play, the Tennessee position could definitely be of interest to Kelly, though it’s not clear yet if the Titans would reciprocate that interest.

The Eagles, meanwhile, join the Dolphins and Titans as teams that will definitely be hunting for a new head coach this offseason, with the Lions, Giants, Saints, Browns, 49ers, and Rams among the teams that could potentially join them.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.