Running back LeSean McCoy was viewed before the 2011 season as a complementary part of an explosive offense.
McCoy set the franchise record for most touchdowns and earned first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowl honors as he became the player opposing teams schemed to take out of the offense.
Within the locker room, McCoy's role may be expanding as well as the team looks to put a disappointing 8-8 record in the rear view mirror. During a wide-ranging interview on NFL Network's Total Access on Thursday evening, McCoy was asked about Andy Reid's return for a 14th season. McCoy went on to declare that the Eagles will build upon the team's end-of-the-season four-game win streak and be a force to be reckoned with in 2012.
"Andy is a great coach. Any player that has ever played for Coach Reid, they'll tell you that they'll play their hearts out for him," McCoy said. "That whole thing of the coach being fired, that was more of an outside thing – the fans, the media – because all of the players in the locker room we knew Coach Reid was coming back. He's our best chance to go win the Super Bowl. We're going to stick with him, we're going to play hard and next year is our year. We have a lot of great players and we have a great coach. Next year is the year."
McCoy explained that 2011 was not the Eagles' year because it took too long for the team to jell together with so many new players. With the guys getting used to one another, McCoy said the team was not able to close out games. The Eagles surrendered five fourth-quarter leads during the course of the season. The one game that stood out most to McCoy was the loss at home to San Francisco where the Eagles led 23-3 in the second half before eventually losing 24-23.
"The biggest thing was really not finishing," McCoy said. "Coming off the whole lockout with the new players that we got and the team Andy Reid brought together, there were a lot of new guys coming in and a lot of great talent. We jelled late in the season and the biggest thing that made our season go downhill in the beginning were turnovers and not finishing games. A couple of games we had the lead in the fourth quarter and lost it. That's the biggest thing."
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