Eagles assistant coaches know the end is near

There are a lot of nice perks that come with being a professional football coach, and the pay is nice, too. But job security isn’t one of those perks, as the Eagles' coaching staff is about to find out.

Coach Andy Reid and his assistants are expected to be fired after the season ends on Sunday against the New York Giants, and it could happen as soon as Monday.

Reid is the longest tenured head coach in the NFL with 14 years in Philadelphia. Several members of his staff have been with him the entire time, including receivers coach David Culley (14 years) and tight ends coach Tom Melvin (14 years). Running backs coach Ted Williams precedes Reid's tenure, having been with the team for 18 seasons. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg has spent 10 years with the Eagles.

That kind of longevity is rare and every year there are dozens of coaches looking for work. Soon, the Eagles’ assistants could be joining them.

“You always walk the plank as a coach,’’ said Bobby April, the Eagles’ special teams coordinator who has spent time with four college teams (Southern Mississippi, Tulane, Arizona and Southern Cal) and seven NFL teams (Dallas, Atlanta, Pittsburgh, New Orleans, St. Louis, Buffalo and Philadelphia).

As for how Reid and his staff are dealing with the constant rumors and reports about their demise, apparently it hasn’t affected what they do or how they do it. Having coached at Montana, Northern Arizona and SE Missouri State and then at Green Bay, San Francisco and Philadelphia in the NFL, Mornhinweg said Reid is dealing with the pressure by making it business as usual.

“It looks to me like he is thinking about nothing else other than this next ballgame,’’ Mornhinweg said of Reid. “I’m saying he’s a rock. He pretty much motors through anything.”

Mornhinweg took the same approach when asked about the possibility that this could be his final week as an Eagles assistant coach.

“I haven’t gone there,’’ he said. “I don’t think any of us have gone there. My responsibility is these players and making sure that we’re getting better every day. That is our whole focus here.

“This is what we do for a living and one of the only things I have ever done except for working at the gas station there in South San Jose in high school,’’ Mornhinweg added. “This is what we do. It’s not very hard, I think, to keep our focus on this next ballgame and the game plan, making sure that we get better every day. This is an important time for many of our players, some veterans and some young guys. It’s very, very important for them this week and I take that part very, very seriously there.”

But Sunday will come and go and the coaches probably will, too. When April was asked what he thought would happen next week, he shrugged.

“I have no idea,’’ he said. “I hope it’s good. I like living in the neighborhood over here on 20th Street. It’s a good place, plus the city’s a great place and the organization’s great. But I don’t know. I have no idea. I couldn’t tell you.”

They'll all find out soon enough. The coaches do seem resigned to their fate and Mornhinweg put a positive spin on the situation.

“Sometimes,’’ he said, “the end is the beginning of something new.”

For more up-to-the-minute news and analysis on the Philadelphia Eagles from blogger Kevin Noonan, follow @CBSEagles.