Sean McDermott Fired

Chris Mortensen first broke the news on Twitter during the 1st half of the Ravens-Steelers game.

My thoughts are this: McDermott had worn out his welcome and deserves this boot. That being said, it still comes as a surprise because earlier in the week Andy Reid had given McDermott a vote of confidence and there had been no prior rumblings that a firing was about to be made. Dick Jauron, meanwhile, was getting a defensive coordinator job offer from Cleveland, and in order to prevent him from bolting, the Eagles fired McDermott hastily. Jauron is certainly a candidate to succeed McDermott, though it is now being reported that he is not a lock for the job.

Even though it would mean changing to a 3-4 system, I am hoping the Eagles give the job to Rob Ryan. Jauron as a defensive coordinator scares me just as much as McDermott. The Eagles may not have all the personnel, but it's not like most of their front 7 has been that good anyway the past two years. Bradley dropped off, Sims flat out sucks, and Trent Cole did a disappearing act the 2nd half of this season. So yeah, switching to a 3-4 may not be as hard as it sounds, especially when you figure that the defense is going to get tinkered with anyway this off-season. Mike Singletary is also looking for a job. A report is saying the Eagles have no interest. I feel relieved.

2010 Philadelphia Eagles Preview

Seeing as I am about to get into some seriously heavy packing and preparation to go to college in the next week, I figured now would be the time to put up an Eagles preview and write the NFL one once I am settled in at school next weekend.

The Philadelphia Eagles are coming into the 2010 season as an incredibly young and different team. Donovan McNabb is a Washington Redskin. Sheldon Brown has been exiled to Cleveland. Brian Westbrook is going to attempt to play a game he thinks is football in San Francisco. Kevin Curtis is off the team. Jeremiah Trotter is yet to sign his yearly contract with the Eagles. In their place, Kevin Kolb is the unquestioned starting QB. Unless Kelley Washington does the unlikely and survives the final cuts, Jason Avant and Hank Baskett, the first of whom was drafted in 2006 and the second of whom signed as an undrafted free agent in 2006 are the oldest WRs on the team. LeSean McCoy is the unquestioned starting running back. Brandon Graham will complement Trent Cole nicely at DE.

They Are Young, But How Good Are They? Even though I mentioned young players in general in the last paragraph, this section is going to focus the Eagles WRs. DeSean Jackson is entering his 3rd year with the Eagles and has already proven he is one of the quickets WRs in the NFL. Jeremy Maclin took a few weeks to get going, but once he did, he proved he can be a starting WR. Jason Avant is the team's most polished WR and arguably the best WR; underrated does not begin to describe Jason Avant. Tim Tebow's former roommate Riley Cooper has been the hands down Eagles Training Camp darling (and not just because he is incredibly good looking). The question can they stay healthy throughout the season? If they do, these WRs, combined with underrated TE Brent Celek, will be a menace to opposing defenses everywhere.

Corn On The Kolb: When Andy Reid drafted Kevin Kolb in the 2nd round of the 2007 Draft, every draft pundit and their brother thought that Andy Reid and the Eagles FO were idiots on crack for selecting not just selecting a QB, but for a selecting this QB, Kevin Kolb, with the likes of John Beck and Trent Edwards still on the board. I have already discussed this QB draft class at length and won't get into it again, but the fact of the matter is Kevin Kolb's passes are crisp and accurate. He may have only started 2 games and came in relief in a close game once, but Kolb has loads and loads of promise. If he plays in the regular season like he has in Training Camp this year and thus far in the pre-season, Kolb is going to be mentioned among the league's top QBs in a short time.

D-FENCE!: Last year the Eagles defense was their major weakness. The Eagles realized that in the off-season and made considerable changes, including trading Sheldon Brown, drafting Brandon Graham with their top pick in the draft, drafting Nate Allen to replace Brian Dawkins, and finding loads of other potential defensive playmakers in the later rounds. Sean McDermott is also entering his 2nd year as defensive coordinator. McDermott took over following the tragic passing of the great Jim Johnson shortly before Training Camp began. To make matters worse for McDermott, the defense was ravaged with injury, with the most notable one being Stewart Bradley injuring his knee at last year's inaugural Flight Night, placing him on the shelf for the entire season. Now that the Eagles have their middle linebacker back, things can only go up from last year. Granted injuries could happen elsewhere, but I really can't stress how key it is to have Stewart Bradley back in the line up.

Wild Dog: Michael Vick is the uncontested back-up QB and will once again likely be asked to contribute to "wildcat" formations and other Andy Reid gadget plays. Last year, the Vick experiment was not a rousing success. This year, Vick is back in football shape. When the Eagles signed Vick, it has become doubtless that this is the year they wanted him for, not 2009. This is the year Vick will have a chance to be an effective part of the offense with gadget plays. He is looking more and more like the pre-prison Mike Vick with each passing day and if Andy Reid uses him right (big if, by the way), he can be a menace for opposing sides.

Is This "The Year?": No. This year is not "The Year." The Eagles will not win a Super Bowl this year. 365 days from now, Andy Reid will still be the head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. I expect this year to have ups and downs. Kevin Kolb will do a fine job but at the same time he will be prone to rookie mistakes. After all, he has only started 2 NFL regular season games before. Mistakes will happen. This Eagles team is young, but I fear they are too young to compete with the likes of Indianapolis and New Orleans. Get back to me in a year, and the answer will likely be yes, yes they can compete for the whole thing. But this year, while I think the playoffs are a possibility, I am not putting my eggs in a championship basket.

(Coming up sometime in the next 2 weeks: Full NFL picks, including my pre-season stab at a Super Bowl champion)

Sean McDermott Gets His Thom Brennaman On When Discussing B-Dawk

There are certain words, phrases, and expressions that hold true in life, but at the same time, should never be uttered in a public forum. These are the types of things that you tell your friends or family when discussing a person, yet should not be said in public situations. The phrase, I am talking about is "You're a better person for spending time with such-and-such a person".

When discussing Brian Dawkins, Sean McDermott decided to follow that route, channel his inner Thom Brennaman and said "You're a better person for being around Brian Dawkins". From Philly Inquirer Staffwriter Bob Brookover

"I thought he had a heck of a year last year," he said yesterday. "I think he was the first or second most productive player on defense for us last year and, as Brian Dawkins has done over the course of his career here, when we were making our stretch run last year, he was in the zone as they say. He was putting together back-to-back games that were as good as any safety in the league at that time.

"It was sick. There were times I was just hands off with him. Just like any guy who is in a groove, you just give him what he needs and let him go."

When Dawkins left as a free agent, McDermott was saddened by the news.

"We had a special relationship," McDermott said. "How often do you coach a guy that is older than you are? He embraced me when I was one of the youngest position coaches in the NFL. We grew together and we developed a lot of trust in one another, at least from my perspective.

"With the impact that Brian has had on this city and this organization, you hate to see the business side of it be the reason for the separation. Because of the way this organization has embraced Brian and the way Brian has embraced this organization and this city, you hated to see that relationship come to an end."

McDermott, who is five months and eight days younger than Dawkins, said he called the safety shortly after he signed with Denver, but it was only to say thank you.

"I told him I appreciated everything that he'd done for me," McDermott said. "He's been a positive influence on my life. You're a better person for being around Brian Dawkins."

Okay, maybe that is true and maybe that's not, but I do have a basic problem with such a statement that goes well beyond the obvious and the laughable.

And maybe McDermott is right about Brian Dawkins and maybe what Thom Brennaman says about Brennaman is true and that you really are a better person by spending 15-20 minutes with Tebow, I can't tell you for sure, I can't give my opinion of Tebow or Dawkins like that, I've never met them, but my problem is that there are other people out there like that. You know, everydays joes and janes who go above and beyond anything ever asked of them in helping people out and improving their lives and inspiring people that never get the public credit that they ever deserve. Of course, we are talking about athletes and everything they do gets more attention than everyday people, that's not news.

I guess my beef all comes down to the fact that I can honestly say I have met someone that changed and positively affected my life in a short time, and it bothers me that the glorifying of these athletes almost takes away from all she does and all that everyone like her does.

Sean McDermott To Be The New Eagles Defensive Coordinator

Take a moment and reflect on what that headline is really saying. After 10 years, half of which included at appearances in NFC Championship games, and a Super Bowl appearance, Jim Johnson is no longer the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles. The cancer and the rehab seems to have proven too much for Johnson to continue coaching the Eagles defense and to coach at the high level that we all know he is capable of. I wish Jim Johnson and his family nothing but the best in the future and I am sure that there is not a sane-minded person out there that would not do and feel the same, regardless of what team they support.

With that being said, though, I chose the more optimistic headline for a reason with that being that the Eagles have a whole lot to look forward to with their new D-coordinator, Sean McDermott. McDermott, as I'm sure most know, was an assistant under Johnson, was named the interim defensive coordinator over the spring when it was first announced that Johnson was getting treatment for cancer, and McDermott is essentially the last of the breed of original assistants under Jim Johnson. And while that sounds like a bad thing, believe me, it is anything but. Just take a look at some of the people that originally came from under the wing of Jim Johnson. For starters you have the current head coach of the Baltimore Ravens, John Harbaugh. Then you have Ron Rivera, who led the dominant Bears defense to a Super Bowl XLI appearance. Then there is Leslie Frazer, who vastly improved the Colts secondary as a coach of that secondary and that subsequently helped the Colts beat the Bears in the aforementioned Super Bowl and is now the defensive coordinator of the defensively dominant Minnesota Vikings. And I have not even gotten to the most well known ex-Johnson assistant, Steve Spagnuolo, who led the Giants defensive to a victory in Super Bowl XLII and is now the new head coach of the St. Louis Rams.

Despite being only 35, Sean McDermott's tenure with the Eagles actually predates the Johnson era, having joined the team in 1998. And while Johnson will be greatly missed by the Eagles and Eagles fans, I would be greatly surprised if there is even the slightest drop off in the play of the Eagles' defense. McDermott, without a doubt is the right guy for the job. Johnson, has previously alluded to, is all but Belichick-like in the way he grooms his assistants for future success and I expect no less out of McDermott and I have every bit of confidence in the world that he will deliver. The only concern I have about the Eagles defense is a personnel concern and that is how will the Eagles secondary hold up without Brian Dawkins, as no big-name replacement was ever signed in free agency and the Eagles did not use their early round draft picks on a safety (I believe Sean Jones is currently penciled in as a starter on the full side next to strong safety Quentin Demps).

McDermott gets Eagles defensive coordinator job (Philly Inquirer)

A Little Bit More About Sean McDermott

By now, I assume you all know of the news that Jim Johnson has decided to take an indefinite leave of absence. And you may have heard somewhere that some schmuck named Sean McDermott is taking his place. And while all of the attention has been on Johnson and the hoping that he will be all right and able to come back (and rightfully so), if the horror story were to unfold and Johnson is not able to come back, it is probably rather important to learn a thing or 2 about Jim Johnson's successor. From Ray Didinger in a column in CSN Philly where he discusses how Johnson will be missed on the field.

Sean McDermott, the senior ranking assistant on Johnson’s staff, will take over the defense. He will keep Johnson’s system in place. For now, the coaches will focus on educating the new players. Everyone hopes Johnson can return at some point, if only in a consultant’s role, but at this point, no one knows.

Even if the X’s and O’s remain the same, how do you replace what Johnson brought to the Eagles on a daily basis? It will be a huge blow if he cannot return. That’s not to say McDermott doesn’t know his stuff. All of Johnson’s lieutenants – from Steve Spagnuolo to Leslie Frazier to Ron Rivera – have proven they were well-schooled during their time in Philadelphia. McDermott is the last pup from that original litter, so he knows Johnson’s playbook inside and out.

The question is more about confidence. The players knew Johnson so well and respected him so completely that when he made a call during a game, even if it was a call that went against the book, they believed in it because Johnson called it. When it worked – which it usually did – it was for that reason.

The Eagles made a lot of high-risk, “where-did-that-come-from?” calls work because, under Johnson, they played them so fearlessly. If the same call came in from another coach, the players might break the huddle thinking, “Geez, I don’t know about this,” and the result could be entirely different. In pro football, doubt will defeat you every time.

I do believe McDermott is a smart young guy who’s capable of doing a very good job. But there was something about Johnson, the craggy-faced old soldier with the gravelly voice, that made the players believe on game day. They always felt that no matter what the situation may be, the old man had the answer somewhere on his laminated card.

How do you replace that? The Eagles are hoping they don’t have to try.

I too have the utmost faith that McDermott, who was the coach of the secondary under Johnson, knows the system and can execute the same defense that Johnson did. And as the article points out, his other protoges, if you will, have certainly met with success, most notably Steve Spagnuolo. But when push comes to shove, Jim Johnson will certainly be missed just for who he was as a person and what he as a person has brought to the coaching and the players, and not just his defensive scheme, which hopefully can be replicated by McDermott with little hassle.