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Richard Edward Kotite (born October 13, 1942) is an American former football player and coach. In the 1990s, he had stints as the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and the New York Jets in the National Football League (NFL).
Kotite led the Eagles to winning seasons in 1991 and 1992, respectively, despite the loss of Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham for the season with a torn anterior cruciate ligament on opening day of 1991. In 1991, the defense under Bud Carson, architect and defensive coordinator of Pittsburgh's famed Steel Curtain of the 1970s, led the league by accomplishing the rare trifecta of being the number one run defense, the number one pass defense, and number one in total defense. After missing the playoffs by one game in 1991, Eagles were a wild card in the 1992 playoffs, finishing 8–0 at home. However, in the spring of 1993, the talent that had been drafted by Ryan over five years began leaving the Eagles during free agency. Kotite had poor drafts and the level of talent dropped precipitously as his draft picks began replacing the talent that had been drafted by Ryan. In the 1993 season, the Eagles went 8–8. One of the many things for which Kotite was criticized in Philadelphia was for saying at the conclusion of the season, "Hey, eight and eight is great." An incident that seemed to antagonize Eagles fans occurred the following season, in a Week 7 game against the Cowboys that the Eagles lost 24–13. At the post-game press conference, when asked, he stated that the reason he went for a (failed) two-point conversion attempt rather than kick the point after following the second touchdown late in the fourth quarter, was because the "rain made the ink run and blurred the chart, so I couldn't see what was written on it to know what to do."
The Eagles began the 1994 season 7–2, including a 40–8 thrashing of that season's eventual Super Bowl XXIX champion San Francisco 49ers, and Kotite achieving his seventh win against the Arizona Cardinals, then coached by his former boss, Buddy Ryan. Looking forward, a playoff berth seemed assured and Kotite's future seemed bright. In the spring of that year, the Eagles were purchased by Jeffrey Lurie from former owner Norman Braman. Whenever asked by the media if he was going to retain Rich Kotite as head coach of the Eagles going forward after the season, Lurie usually replied to the effect that it was too early in the process to be able to say anything, that any measured evaluation would have to take place at the conclusion of the season, and that he wished to keep his options open. After beating the Cardinals for that seventh win, Kotite sarcastically used Lurie's words and told the media that he would be doing his own evaluations at the end of the season and keeping his own options open. The Eagles lost all seven of their remaining games, finishing the season 7–9, behind the Cowboys (12–4), Giants (9–7), and Cardinals (8–8), then still in the NFC East; Kotite was fired by the Eagles one day after the season ended.
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