PHILADELPHIA — Tom Coughlin isn’t ready to fade into retirement.
Two people familiar with the team’s plans say the Philadelphia Eagles will interview Coughlin for their coaching vacancy on Monday. Both people spoke to The Associated Press on Sunday on condition of anonymity because the team isn’t confirming interviews until they’re completed.
Coughlin is a two-time Super Bowl champion who stepped down last week after 12 seasons with the New York Giants. He previously coached Jacksonville from 1995-2002.
The Eagles have interviewed five candidates since firing Chip Kelly on Dec. 29. They met with Chiefs offensive co-ordinator Doug Pederson on Sunday morning.
Eagles running backs coach Duce Staley and offensive co-ordinator Pat Shurmur and Giants offensive co-ordinator Ben McAdoo also interviewed along with former Bears offensive co-ordinator Adam Gase, who took the job in Miami.
The 69-year-old Coughlin is 170-150 in a 20-year career. He had 10 winning seasons, including seven years with double-digit wins, and led his teams to the playoffs nine times, going 12-7.
Coughlin’s Giants missed the playoffs the past four seasons after beating New England in the Super Bowl following the 2011 season.
Coughlin had one year remaining on his contract with the Giants, so the Eagles had to request permission to speak to him. Coughlin seems to have all the intangibles Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie listed as priorities in his next coach.
"I can tell you right now it has become the source of drive for me, is that when our players, whether they’re in their career, after their career, when they come back to me and they say: ‘Coach, I love you,"’ Coughlin said when he announced his resignation.
"They follow that up by saying they’ve become better men, better husbands, better fathers, better friends because of their experience having been a New York Giant."
Lurie made it clear he wanted a coach who communicates well with his players.
"You’ve got to open your heart to players and everybody you want to achieve peak performance," he said after he dismissed Kelly. "I would call it a style of leadership that values information, all the resources that are provided, and at the same time, values emotional intelligence."
Pederson started nine games at quarterback for the Eagles in 1999 and began his NFL coaching career as an assistant under Andy Reid in Philadelphia in 2009. Pederson followed Reid to Kansas City in 2013.
"I think it’s great he has an opportunity, compliment to the hard work he’s put in and he’s done a nice job," Reid said. "He’s ready to do that and if he has that opportunity, more power to him."
Pederson met with the team in Kansas City. The Chiefs beat Houston 30-0 to advance to the second round. They’ll play at New England next Saturday.
