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)