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- JIM JOHNSON, 1941-2009
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Johnson had knack for seeing best in all his players
BETHLEHEM - Many coaches look at players and too often only see what they can't do. Jim Johnson looked at players and saw what they can do.
When everybody was ready to send defensive end Darren Howard packing last summer after his miserable, one-sack performance in '07, Johnson insisted that Howard still could be useful to his defense as an inside rusher on passing downs. Johnson was right. Howard ended up with a team-high 10 sacks last season, with most of them coming as a nickel tackle.
"Jim was great at figuring out ways to get everybody on the field, keep people fresh and get productivity out of everybody," Howard said yesterday, as he and the rest of his teammates mourned the loss of Johnson, who succumbed to cancer on Tuesday. "That's hard to do, but he was able to do it."
For every Pro Bowler like Brian Dawkins and Jeremiah Trotter and Troy Vincent and Hugh Douglas who flourished in Johnson's defense, there have been important role players like Howard and nickel linebackers Ike Reese and Mike Caldwell and nickel corners like Joselio Hanson and Rod Hood. No defensive coordinator in the league regularly rotated as many players as Johnson.
"That was one of the biggest things we loved about playing his defense," Reese said. "We knew Jim was going to use 16 to 20 players every game. An eight-man rotation at defensive line. A five-man rotation at linebacker. A six-man rotation in his secondary when you count his nickel and dime packages and his 'Okie' packages and 'Buffalo' packages.
"We used so many different packages and he found a way to use everybody's talents. If you could learn his defense and if you could produce and play under pressure, he was going to find a way to get you out on the field.
"We all knew we had a role and we looked forward to it like a kid getting candy from his dad when your number got called. When he dialed up something for you, you felt special. It meant that he recognized your ability. And that's why you wanted to play hard for him.
"We knew only 11 players could start. But he found a way to use as many players as he could.''
Strong safety Quintin Mikell spent his first four seasons playing mainly on special teams and in Johnson's goal-line packages. Finally got a chance to start in '07 and earned second-team All Pro honors last year, leading the Eagles in tackles.
"He could tell I played well in the box," Mikell said. "So he started me out playing goal line. Goal line, goal line, goal line. Then I got better and more comfortable playing deep in the middle and stuff like that.
"On top of that, I was kind of a knucklehead early on. Every time I'd get on the field, I'd make a mistake. But Jim kept giving me opportunities, kept giving me shots. And I'm really grateful for that."
