NFL

There Is A “95-Percent Chance” Andy Reid Will Be The Head Coach Of The Arizona Cardinals Next Season

After the onslaught of firings suffered by NFL coaches on the last day of 2012, at least one of the guys who got the axe is already showing signs of life early in 2013. It took about 36 hours, but just one day after his 14-year run at the helm of the Philadelphia Eagles came to an end, Andy Reid has all but secured the head coaching job for the Arizona Cardinals.

Adam Schefter has cited multiple team and league sources — who, in this instance, we hope is more than just Jay Glazer — and dug up a few tidbits about what’s going on with the Cardinals and Reid. All signs point towards Reid becoming Arizona’s next head coach, relieving the also-just-relieved-of-his-duties Ken Whisenhunt. Reid has been assembling a team of assistants over the last few days, like most head coaches do when they anticipate being hired, and has reportedly been warning them to be at the ready and that a hiring could come quickly.

The Cardinals have interviewed their own defensive coordinator Ray Horton and will interview Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy for the position, but it all seems like formality at this point if we’re to believe the “95 percent” figure is true. In our unhappy little recap of Black Monday, our own Glenn Davis gave Reid the best probability to be back on NFL sidelines of all the disposed coaches:

Reid’s future head coaching prospects: Very good. Most coaches wear out their welcome eventually, even the good ones. Look at Jeff Fisher: fired by the Titans after 2010, then found work as soon as he wanted it with the Rams… and led the team to a five-win improvement over last season. Expect him back on the sidelines as an NFL head coach in 2014 at the latest.

Well, looks like Reid will pick up the under on that line. In terms of how he’ll fit in in Arizona, it looks pretty good. Everything aside about his last two seasons in Philadelphia, his first 12 cannot be ignored. His Eagles came to within one game of the Super Bowl in nearly half of those seasons, and within a vomiting Donovan McNabb of taking home the Lombardi Trophy. And remember, the McNabb pick in the 1999 Draft (second overall, after Tim Couch) was pretty much universally panned, yet Reid engineered him into the best quarterback to emerge from that draft class (alongside Daunte Culpepper) and arguably the best quarterback in franchise history.

His propensity to produce pretty good quarterback play bodes especially well for a Cardinals team that has had no stability at the position since Kurt Warner retired. And who knows, maybe Reid can reconstruct Kevin Kolb into the stellar quarterback he showed flashes of becoming in Philadelphia. There is no doubt Reid left a foul taste in everyone’s mouths in his last seasons in Philly, but there is clearly reason to be excited if you’re a Cardinals fan.

[ESPN.com, Getty Images]

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