The Saints host the Vikings in the NFC Championship later today and both of the head coaches involved in the contest have ties to the Eagles.
Vikings head coach Brad Childress' tenure with the Eagles is more recent as he was a longtime assistant under Andy Reid. During his seven years in Philadelphia, with the final four as the team's offensive coordinator, seven players earned 14 berths in the Pro Bowl. In his time as the team's offensive coordinator, the Eagles won an NFC-best 43 games.
Childress is not the only assistant under Reid to go on and have success elsewhere. In all, seven coaches who worked under Reid are now either head coaches or coordinators with other teams. They are Childress, John Harbaugh (head coach, Baltimore), Steve Spagnuolo (head coach, St. Louis), Leslie Frazier (asst. head coach/defensive coordinator, Minnesota), Pat Shurmur (offensive coordinator, St. Louis), Dave Toub (special teams coordinator, Chicago) and Ron Rivers (defensive coordinator, San Diego).
Now to remember New Orleans' head coach Sean Payton's tenure with the Eagles, you have to go back to the Ray Rhodes era. Payton was the quarterbacks coach from 1997-98. In 1997, the Eagles were able to amass over 4,000 passing yards under Payton's tutelage with Ty Detmer, Bobby Hoying and Rodney Peete sharing the quarterback responsibilities.
-- Posted by Chris McPherson, 1:27 p.m., January 24
