Approximately 21 years ago, the Philadelphia Eagles hired a 40-year-old Andy Reid away from the Green Bay Packers to be their head coach.
Reid had been an assistant coach for various positions with the Packers under Mike Holmgren, a Bill Walsh disciple, but had never ascended to the position of offensive coordinator, a role occupied by Sherman Lewis during the entire Holmgren era. The choice on the part of the Eagles to bypass other candidates who had gone through the more tradidtional route of being a coordinator before becoming a head coach drew some scrutiny at the time, but ultimately the Eagles saw something in Reid that showed promise.