Being with the Philadelphia Eagles since 2010, Brandon Graham has played for four different head coaches.
He caught on with Andy Reid during the veteran head coach’s final few seasons in Philadelphia. Before Graham’s fourth year, Reid parted ways with the Eagles and signed with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Although the glory days were winding down, that didn’t cause Graham to see the head coach in a different light after everything he went through with his own career. Recently listing his top Eagles head coaches, Graham placed Reid at the top.
“I’m happy that I started with Coach Reid,” Graham stated on ‘Say What Needs to be Said,’ with Asante Samuel. “He taught me really, how to be a pro, and how a coach should be like when you make a mistake. He was a guy that really moved on after he got on you.”
Beyond Reid, Graham was torn between Doug Pederson and Nick Sirianni. While he ultimately went with the former for the No. 2 spot, that’s surely not a shot at the latter.
“Doug was cool—just like Nick—it’s Doug and Nick at the same time.”
Under Pederson, Graham got to experience his first NFC Championship run. After the Eagles defeated the Minnesota Vikings to advance to the Super Bowl, Pederson’s Eagles faced the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII. Graham famously forced a fumble on Tom Brady late in the game, which helped the Eagles increase their lead to the point where a field goal wouldn’t cut it for New England on their final drive.
While Sirianni received his fair share of criticism throughout his tenure in Philadelphia so far, Graham has remained fond of the head coach, who has helped lead the team to multiple Super Bowls. Graham’s career finished with Sirianni in charge.
To no surprise, the veteran edge rusher placed the infamous Chip Kelly last on his list. While Kelly has been heavily criticized by former Eagles stars, Graham doesn’t take the same exact stance, but he did have concerns.
“I ain’t have no beef, but I just didn’t like some of the stuff he was doing with others because you see how other people get treated, even though you’re not getting treated like that,” Graham explained, regarding Kelly.
“It was more like what other guys are getting treated like. It’s just messed up when you see it like that because if I was a nobody, I would probably get treated like that too. I’m not saying that should matter, but you know how it goes in the real world. You watch people on how they treat other people, you think they don’t need.”
Kelly’s tenure as an NFL head coach struggled to hold up long-term after his run with the Eagles. The San Francisco 49ers got him a shot in 2016, but Kelly was let go after a 2-14 season, sending him back to the NCAA. After runs at UCLA and Ohio State, Kelly will make his way back to the NFL in 2025 as the Las Vegas Raiders’ offensive coordinator.
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