Andy Reid is out as Eagles coach, sources say

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Andy Reid, the second-longest tenured coach in Philadelphia professional sports history, will officially end his 14-year run with the Eagles on Monday.

Reid was told on Friday during a meeting with owner Jeffrey Lurie that he would no longer be the team's head coach as of Monday, a source close to Reid and another source close to the situation said on Sunday.

Several other outlets also reported that Reid was out, but an Eagles official countered the reports and said that the coach had not yet been informed that he was going to be fired.

The team has not announced a press conference. Players will be made available to the media at 11 a.m. Monday as they clean out their locker stalls at the NovaCare Complex.

Reid did not respond to a request for comment on Sunday evening, but he said just after the Eagles ended their 4-12 season with a 42-7 loss to the New York Giants that he had "not talked to [Lurie] about" his future.

Reid, 54, is scheduled to meet with Lurie on Monday morning. He was asked following the Giants game what he thought would factor into Lurie's decision on whether to keep him.

"I have a lot of respect for Jeff Lurie. I go in with eyes wide open," Reid said. "Either way I understand."

The Eagles will begin their search for a new coach immediately if they haven't already. There have already been several reports linking them to Chip Kelly of the University of Oregon; Jon Gruden, the former Buccaneers coach and current ESPN broadcaster, and Bill O'Brien of Penn State.

O'Brien was reported to be on the Eagles' short list of candidates, according to ESPN. Many credited O'Brien with keeping the Nittany Lions afloat this year after a child abuse scandal rocked the university and steep NCAA sanctions weakened the program.

Penn State is believed to have a large buyout clause in O'Brien's contract - somewhere in the $9 million range - to keep the former New England Patriots offensive coordinator from leaving so soon.

Denver offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and several other NFL assistants are also believed to be on the Eagles' radar.

Reid still has a year remaining on his contract. His agent, Bob LaMonte, said during training camp that Lurie once told him that Reid would be his "coach for life." Lurie rebutted that claim and said that his coach, like everyone in the organization, would be evaluated after the season.

In late August, Lurie said that that Reid would have to show "substantial improvement" on last season's 8-8 season to return in 2013. As the Eagles' season soured after a 3-1 start, Reid began to lose a grip on the only head coaching job he has ever had.

With each loss the countdown was on until it became all but certain that he would not return. Still, even though the Eagles had lost 10 of their last 11 games and were 12-20 in the last two seasons, some Eagles fans did not believe Lurie would finally cut the cord.

"Our bar was higher than 8-8 for all of us, Jeffrey included," Reid said Sunday. "So we didn't reach the goal we wanted to."

Reid said that he wanted to return.

"I'm all in," he said.

Reid said last week that he wanted to continue coaching. The San Diego Chargers and Arizona Cardinals have been rumored as possible landing spots, but Reid could ultimately take a year off.

It has been a difficult year for the coach on and off the field. In early August, his son, Garrett, was found dead in a Lehigh University dorm room after an accidental heroin overdose. Garrett Reid was assisting the Eagles' strength and conditioning staff.

Reid missed only two days of practice after the death. He said then that his son would have wanted him to keep coaching. He recently said that his son's death had nothing to do with the Eagles' losing season.

Reid had great success in his first six seasons with the Eagles. Hired in 1999 when he was the quarterbacks coach in Green Bay, Reid had the Eagles in the playoffs in his second season, the NFC championship in his third and the Super Bowl in his sixth.

But the Eagles lost to the New England Patriots, 24-21, in Super Bowl XXXIX, and Reid never got back. His next eight seasons had some highlights - a fifth trip to the conference title game in 2008 - but they were just as many low moments.

Reid's press conference demeanor and his penchant for keeping things close to the vest - once considered tolerable by many because he won - began to aggravate some fans with each season that ended without a Lombardi Trophy.

Reid finished his run with the Eagles with a 130-93-1 (.583) regular season record. He won an additional 10 games in the playoffs and will go down as one of the franchise's greatest coaches.

"I've loved the Philadelphia Eagles. That's all I have to say," Reid said during a gloomy press conference Sunday. "And I've loved every minute that I've had to coach them."