The sports landscape in Philly isn’t particularly pretty right now.
And perhaps the place to focus blame is the leadership on each of the four lackluster squads.
The Phillies have seen their pitching performances continue to slide as the rumors of pitching coach Bob McClure’s ouster circulate. Perhaps the local teams need to bring back some proud and proven talent to help the up-and-coming prospects on respective teams reach their full potential. The Eagles have already partaken in this, with former quarterback Doug Pederson the team’s head coach and former running back Duce Staley coaching the running backs.
Should the rest of Philadelphia’s teams take a page from their playbook?
Here are our suggestions.
Phillies pitching coach — Roy Halladay
He won two Cy Young Awards — one with the Phillies — and threw two no hitters — one a perfect game and the other the second postseason no-no of all time. Halladay is already a mainstay as a guest instructor in Clearwater every spring and has always been a stoic clubhouse leader. Perhaps the next era of Phillies contention will need to bring back one of the team’s greatest pitchers from the past to help guide the arms to their full potential.
Flyers assistant coach — Danny Briere
For all intents and purposes, former Flyers winger Briere is more or less a front office “intern” with the team right now — a team that has historically been very loyal to its former players. With Dave Hakstol entering his third year and having had mixed results in the NHL, perhaps appointing Briere to one of his assistants can help groom the small but feisty former scorer into a future NHL skipper.
Eagles defensive backs coach — Brian Dawkins
There are few fan favorites as impactful as the Eagles’ former safety in Dawkins. He is currently employed by the front office where he helps the scouting team as a “football operations executive.” Cory Undlin’s results as the Birds’ defensive backs coach have been mixed, with the team still trying to dig out of a hole that has seen the team sport one of the worst secondaries in football for the last few seasons. Dawkins can not only help tutor and teach, he can also be a great recruitment tool for future free agents.
Sixers assistant coach — Allen Iverson
Talk about a good recruiting tool for potential free agents. How about employing A.I. as one of the 76ers’ assistants? With young players like Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid eager to learn from one of the best scorers the NBA has ever seen, the team will be in the process — soon — of finding free agent pieces for the club to add to help them contend someday. Iverson could be a really attractive piece and may have the teaching chops to connect with young and egotistical stars.
