"The next time Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie and team president Joe Banner have to make a decision about extending Andy Reid's tenure as head coach, history should be their guide.

With Wednesday's three-year extension, the Eagles announced that their plan is to keep their coach in place for 15 consecutive seasons, through 2013.

Fifteen seasons is forever in the NFL, and there's good evidence that if somebody can't win a Super Bowl in that amount of time, he's never going to be able to finish the job.

Only 27 coaches have spent at least 15 seasons either in the NFL or the old AFL, and 20 of them won an NFL, AFL, or Super Bowl title. Sixteen of those 20 won multiple titles.

The list of 27 names is impressive. It includes men who have had stadiums (Paul Brown and Curly Lambeau) and streets (Mike Holmgren) named after them. It includes 14 Hall of Famers and one current coach - Bill Belichick - who is sure to end up in Canton.

It also includes three men - Bud Grant, Marv Levy, and Dan Reeves - who fell short in four Super Bowl trips, and three others - Jim Mora, Marty Schottenheimer, and Chuck Knox - who never made it to a Super Bowl.

Exactly where Reid fits in among the above coaches doesn't matter right now. This is only Reid's 11th season, and whether you are for him or against him is irrelevant because Lurie and Banner are convinced that their best chance to acquire some fine finger jewelry and a shiny sterling silver Lombardi for their trophy case rests on the same man they hired in 1999."