former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin and the Philadelphia Eagles called off a second meeting scheduled for Thursday, Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson was selected to replace Chip Kelly.
On the same day that Kelly was named the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie ended his search with Pederson, according to multiple reports. The hiring cannot be completed until the Chiefs are eliminated from the playoffs.
“We have concluded our search for a head coach,” a team spokesman said. “No further interviews are scheduled.”
Pederson is a former Eagles quarterback and currently on the staff of former Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid.
Reid said he spoke with Lurie about Pederson before his interview for the head coaching vacancy. Pederson was offensive quality control coordinator and then quarterbacks coach under Reid in Philadelphia before leaving for Kansas City in 2013.
“It was a great opportunity, I thought, for him to visit with a great organization — phenomenal organization,” Reid said Thursday. “And I think it was an honor for him to have that opportunity. Whatever happens, happens, that’s not my business. But I’m happy that he had that opportunity to speak with him.”
ESPN reported Coughlin withdrew from consideration because he felt Philadelphia wasn’t “the right fit.”
Coughlin, 69, stepped down under pressure from Giants’ ownership at the end of his fourth consecutive season without a playoff appearance with the Giants. The two-time Super Bowl winning coach spent 12 seasons with the Giants, who granted the arch-rival and division foe permission to interview Coughlin.
Only three other known candidates interviewed for the Eagles’ position: running backs coach Duce Staley, offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur and Pederson.
The Giants are leaving the door open for Coughlin to work with the team in a capacity to be determined.
Coughlin would have become the first to serve as head coach of the two NFC East rivals.
The Eagles fired Chip Kelly on Dec. 29. Kelly was 26-21 in three seasons with the Eagles but players and owner Jeffrey Lurie criticized his management style.
Coughlin, a disciplinarian many former players said was a father figure and role model in New York, is viewed as the opposite of Kelly.
Meanwhile, the Giants moved toward promoting Coughlin’s offensive coordinator, Ben McAdoo, to head coach.