Schefter Believes Eagles ‘Highly Interested In Adam Gase’

But will they opt for the familiar in Pederson?

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Take a run at the hot candidate or lean on the familiar? That’s the debate going on inside the NovaCare, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.

Appearing on the 97.5 The Fanatic morning show, Schefter said the Eagles are high on Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase, but don’t want to rush into anything given their recent experiences with Chip Kelly.

“I do believe that Philadelphia is highly interested in Adam Gase. I think the Eagles are in a situation here where if it weren’t for their past, it wouldn’t surprise me if they already would have made a play to hire Adam Gase,” said Schefter. “But I think what’s going on there is the fact that they rushed to hire Chip Kelly and I think they don’t believe that they spent as much time with him as they probably should have and got to know him as well as they should have, and so what you’re wrestling with here is, you’re trying to move quickly on a candidate before somebody else does while still making sure that you have a very good handle on the type of person he is and the coach he would be. They don’t want to make that same mistake that they did the last time but they don’t want to lose a guy they really like.”

Regardless, Schefter believes the 37-year-old Gase is near the top of their wish list, and said the same goes for Kansas City offensive coordinator Doug Pederson.

“When you look at Jeffrey Lurie and his character and his tendencies, he’s going to want a dynamic offensive mind, that’s just the way that I view this. So who fits into that category? And I think they are going to be drawn to Adam Gase’s talents and his upside and his personality and his leadership abilities and all those things that these other teams also are. I think that they are going to be drawn to the comfort of knowing Doug Pederson. I don’t know what wins out and prevails,” he said.

“In a perfect world I think they’d love to go to somebody that they know, that they feel comfortable with, that they’re not going to be surprised by. That’s reassuring; that’s comfort food for the Eagles during this coaching process. But the question is: as tasty as this comfort meal might be, are we better off swinging for the fences and going for somebody that we don’t know quite as much? To me, that’s one of the biggest questions this organization is grappling with.”

You can listen to the entire interview here.