Three Reasons Why Eskin is Incorrect about ‘Belicheat’ and Lurie’s Departure

Philadelphia Eagles watcher Howard Eskin is offering “color” to the idea of Bill Belichick being the next head coach of this team.

But is the WIP radio personality offering insight should Philadelphia opt for a new head coach and fire Nick Sirianni?

Eskin has vehemently stated that Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie – should he decide to move on from Nick Sirianni – would never hire the ex-Patriots legend Belichick.

“I can tell you this for a fact, Jeff Lurie is not a fan of ‘Belicheat’. I can tell you that. I know that!” Eskin bellowed during a Tuesday segment on 94WIP radio’s “Middays With Hugh Douglas And Joe Giglio.”

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Let’s tap the brakes here, as we would gently suggest that Eskin is missing out on three angles.

1- Lurie, who has owned the Eagles since 1994, grew up in Boston and grew up a Patriots fan. In 1993, he attempted to buy his beloved Patriots. He and the fellow Pats fan who won the bidding, Robert Kraft, have been pals for 40 years.

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The idea that he has anything but a deep appreciation for what the Patriots are is illogical.

In fact, six years ago during Super Bowl LII Week, The Philadelphia Inquirer noted, “Lurie has never hid his admiration for the Patriots, but his appreciation for and emulation of them hasn’t been about hometown nostalgia as much as the way they established and maintained such a high standard of excellence for so long.

“For so much of Lurie’s three decades in charge of the Eagles, they have been chasing one franchise, one team, one fabulous football mind. Whatever they have tried to accomplish as a forward-thinking, cutting-edge NFL organization, Belichick and the Patriots did first or better.”

So Lurie thinks Bill Belichick is “one fabulous football mind” and “forward-thinking” and “cutting-edge” and worthy of emulation … but he hates him?!

2- Calling him “Belicheat” might be clever. (Or trite.) We assume that Lurie does not use that derisive nickname in private. But we know what Lurie says about the most successful coach of his era in public.

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“I’ve watched Bill and I really enjoy watching Bill coach. I just have tremendous respect for him, always have. Same with Tom [Brady],” Lurie said in 2018. “I just think with Bill, he’s a master of situational football. What can I say? I think he’s done a great, great job.”

By the way, Belichick has said nice things about Lurie and the Eagles as well.

“They’re always a very competitive team,” Belichick said of the Eagles in 2019. “Jeff Lurie and his family have done a great job with that franchise.”

What an odd way to express dislike.

3- We’ll be careful with how we phrase this: We believe there are higher-ups in the Eagles organization, observing the late Sirianni-led collapse, who privately brought up Belichick’s name as a future candidate. And we believe the owner’s response to the concept fell way short of Eskin’s “zero chance” of consideration.

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Eskin might end up being right because, among other possibilities, Sirianni might stay. But when he says, “As a matter of fact, I am positive that the owner is not a big fan, he’s not a big fan. He’s not the guy”?

We would politely suggest Eskin be just a tad less “positive.”