Harbaugh becomes secondary coach

ON THE SURFACE, it might seem a strange move - John Harbaugh had more public visibility as the Eagles' special-teams coordinator than he will have as the team's new secondary coach.

But visibility isn't everything. For Harbaugh, after 9 years, special teams was becoming a dead end. In the NFL, the more likely path to a coordinator's job and then to head coaching is through becoming a position coach. Eagles coach Andy Reid said yesterday that he and Harbaugh had discussed this from time to time over the past few years; Reid felt Harbaugh, at 44, was close to being typecast as a special-teams specialist for life, if he didn't make some sort of move soon.

"That's a concern any time you just coach one area," Harbaugh said yesterday. He noted that his new boss, defensive coordinator Jim Johnson, "has coached every position on defense at one time or another . . . [getting stuck in one job] is something you worry about."

When Eagles linebackers coach Steve Spagnuolo left Monday to become the New York Giants' defensive coordinator, Reid decided to make secondary coach Sean McDermott Spagnuolo's succcessor, which opened up McDermott's job for Harbaugh. Reid now will need to hire a special-teams coach for the first time since he came to the Eagles in 1999. Harbaugh started with the team in 1998, under Ray Rhodes.

"This allows John to get out of that special-teams mode," Reid said. "His eventual goal is to be a head coach. This gives him an opportunity to work toward that, and possibly toward a defensive coordinator position . . . I think it's the right time to do this."

McDermott, a 1993 La Salle High grad who played safety at William & Mary, has been steadily moving up with the Eagles since being hired as a scouting administrative coordinator in 1998, the year after he graduated from college. There has been speculation that former Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress might hire McDermott as his new defensive coordinator in Minnesota, with Mike Tomlin leaving to coach the Steelers. Reid said the Vikings have not asked permission to talk to McDermott, who 2 years ago was named to the Daily News' 30-year All-Catholic League team.

Reid declined to give any indication about his thinking on the special-teams job, whether promoting someone from the staff was more likely than hiring from outside.

Harbaugh and Reid lamented the fact that coaching NFL special teams has not been the path to, say, a good college head-coaching job, though Reid said he feels it is more like head coaching than it is perceived to be.

"It's gonna change, I think, at some point in time," said Harbaugh, who acknowledged weighing an offer to join the staff of his brother Jim at Stanford. "It just hasn't been the fashionable thing."

Harbaugh's special-teams units have consistently been among the best in the league - though this past season was an exception, probably because of inexperience. His peers voted him the NFL special-teams coach of the year in 2001.

Harbaugh, a defensive back at Miami of Ohio, said he is most looking forward to working with and learning from Johnson. "That may be the biggest part of it," Harbaugh said. "I cannot wait to dig in with that."

Harbaugh, who said he got a new 2-year contract in his new role, acknowledged that Reid misspoke recently, when he told reporters Harbaugh had a year remaining on his current deal. It expired at the end of the season.

Yesterday's announcement might not end the changes to Reid's staff - a source close to the situation last night confirmed an ESPN.com report that down at the Senior Bowl practices in Mobile, Ala., new Arizona Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt has interviewed Eagles quarterbacks coach Pat Shurmur to be his offensive coordinator. Shurmur recently was a candidate for the head-coaching job at his alma mater, Michigan State.

Although a team spokesman stipulated that yesterday's Andy Reid conference call with reporters would address only the Eagles' coaching changes, Reid did briefly address reports about problems with Donovan McNabb's rehab, and of a chill in the relationship between Reid and his franchise quarterback.

"I think people are making a lot of things up here that aren't true," Reid said. He said he did not feel he needed to talk to McNabb about the reports.

"He knows what's the truth and what isn't the truth," Reid said. "I'm disappointed that people are making things up."

McNabb's agent, Fletcher Smith, did not return phone calls from the Daily News yesterday. McNabb is scheduled to speak to the media as part of his annual Campbell's Chunky Soup Super Bowl appearance a week from today in Miami.

The Eagles yesterday brought back former Villanova wideout J.J. Outlaw, who was a rookie free-agent invitee to last year's training camp, cut before the season. Outlaw was one of 13 players signed yesterday, and one of five assigned to NFL Europe.

Other notable names on the signing list include former Bears linebacker Jeremy Cain, and several veterans of the Eagles' practice squad, including linebacker Greg Richmond, who lost the last two seasons to back injuries, and wideout Michael Gasperson. *