As part of an ongoing series, Deepi Sidhu caught up with Dave Spadaro, host of the Eagles Insider podcast, to get insight on former quarterback Josh McCown, who interviewed for the Houston Texans Head Coach position.
Sidhu: In 2020, the Eagles reportedly offered McCown a job on their coaching staff which he declined because he was not done playing. What do you think stood out about McCown that garnered that sort of interest?
Spadaro: His presence in the quarterback room in 2019 clearly caught the attention of the coaching staff. He was like another coach on the sidelines and in the film room. When you have that kind of experience and a genuine way of communicating – and I'm trying to think of anyone I've come across who actually has those credentials – a team is going to take notice and try to retain him and work with him and develop him as a coach.
Sidhu: What skills does McCown possess that would make him a good head coach?
Spadaro: Josh understands the coach-player dynamic, he understands the highs and lows a player has during the course of the season, and he's studied so many head coaches and taken the best traits from them throughout his career. I think he will make a natural transition to the coaching room. He's open-minded, and he understands how to handle a group of players on a day-to-day basis. He will be able to relate to a roster of players very easily. He also understands how organizations work, and he knows that it requires an entire building to produce a winner. Josh has a great presence and a very likable personality, so his Q rating with the media and the fans will be extremely high.
Sidhu: McCown played for 12 different NFL teams during his career. How do you think that impacted his perspective of the game?
Spadaro: Having the understanding of so many offensive systems and how so many organizations operate has provided Josh with the kind of experiences that not many – if any – coaching candidates have. He's going to hit the ground running in terms of how to set up practice schedules and game scripts. Josh has been planning for this opportunity for a long, long time. He will have a sense of the past and how the football operation has operated in the past, he will know the climate of the fan base and the media. Josh knows what works and what doesn't work.
Sidhu: Do you have any good anecdotes that stand out to you during your time covering McCown?
Spadaro: Obviously, the one that stands out is his sudden insertion into the playoff game when Carson Wentz was injured. Josh played with so much heart and effort, and the Eagles' fans, who we know don't give out love easily, showed Josh a lot of it. He was limping and exhausted after the game, but he sure was appreciative of the time on the field, and he was disappointed that he didn't lead the Eagles to the win. Otherwise, Josh was really not seen or heard from much in his role. He signed with the team in Training Camp and then wasn't around a whole lot for us to observe him – he played just 15 snaps in the regular season.
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