Reid: McDermott will be back
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Reid: McDermott will be back
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
Andy Reid said that defensive coordinator Sean McDermott will be back next season for the Eagles.
"You're dealing with a guy that's a tremendous worker and is a very smart individual," Reid said Monday, the day after the Eagles' season ended with a 21-16 loss to the Packers in the playoffs. "And so, I look at it a little bit different than you do. In that I've seen him work with young guys, I've seen him work through injuries, I've seen him stay positive through those situations, and still put us in a position to win football games.
"And know that he's going to do nothing but improve as a coach, just like all of us, with experience. I got a lot of respect for him and the way he does business."
McDermott, in his second season in charge of the defense, had to deal with a number of significant injuries to his unit. He lost six of his 11 starters at various points in the season. But even McDermott would have to admit that his defense underperformed this season. It allowed 31 passing touchdowns -- the worst number in Reid's 12 seasons -- and had the worst red zone percentage in the NFL since 1988.
"The problems? You can't say the scheme because they give you a play and you have to go out there and execute it," Eagles linebacker Moise Fokou said. "And if you want to blame it on personnel, then blame it on the player. But I don't think it was ... I don't know. You got me stuck. We just didn't execute as well as we thought we would. I think we had some shining moments here and there."
But what if the scheme isn't right?
"Come on, the scheme's not always going to be perfectly correct," Fokou said. "Sometimes you're going to make a mistake here and there and things are going to happen. You're never going to play a perfect game. Let me put it like that."
McDermott rose up through the ranks with the Eagles under Reid. Initially an assistant to Reid, McDermott then became a defensive coach, working mostly with linebackers and the secondary, until he was named coordinator in July, 2009 shortly before his predecessor, Jim Johnson, died.
i admire loyalty as much as the next guy, but at some point you have to look at the numbers. mcdermott has produced horrible numbers. horrible. the red zone defense is actually embarrassing- GB didn't break a sweat to score. same deal all season. other teams deal with young players and injuries and still can stop teams more than one of four trips. in almost any business he would be fired or demoted after 2 disasterous years. winning yesterday would only have prevented a loss in a week or so. AR talks constantly about putting players in a position to succeed. how about putting the whole team in that position with a huge upgrade in defensive coaching. strangely, the team has no loyalty to ageing veterans such as dawkins or mcnabb (and i concur) but has huge loyalty to a failed defensive coordinator.— stopbooing- This is the only franchise that takes 10 years to find out when something doesnt work ,,,Of course they should keep a guy that runs the worst red zone defence of all time.. Im also tired of Reid saying week to week, year to year that they will learn from thier mistakes,,,,Lurie will be making a mistake if he keeps the same old bullheaded coaches and players running this team,.. But facts are facts,,, Maybe after ten more years of failing we will find out that it isnt the players afterall.....But I doubt it,,,,Lurie is coming up short again for his fans and this city.... Not demanding the best starts at the top.... Lurie is an average owner so we got a average coaching staff with average players, running average plays,,, thank god he has above average fans,,,or he would of pulled the plug along time ago if the fans stopped buying tickets,,,,Maybe thats the secret.. If the drunk stupid diehard eagles fans stop buying tickets we will get better.....naaaaaaaaaaaa !
but its just a thought,,,just to prove my point,,,lurie and reid put an excon at qb ,, and you all thought he was better than mcnabb,,, what a bunch of losers,,,,,,same old song and dance my friends....i hope there isnt any football next year,,,,but i got a feeling the dumb diehard eagles fan will still end up at the stadium on game day anyway... they been cheering for nothing for years,,.— jackhanna - jeff wants mcdermott to stay for his personal reasons so just because reid says that mcdermott will be back, he'll put it down as big news for him. reid's going to say that and not throw anyone on the bus and with the way he was saying it, it sounds like he's going to be gone. dont listen to jeff, he's one sided with the organization— lonewolf83
- Great we will have another year of a decent regular season and then boom playoff loss. Boy the Eagles are fun. Ah Jeff Lurie its been 51 years pal 51 years get that through your head will you!!!!!— slade1955
Comment removed.- Reid is the village idiot and how does he have the authority to unilaterally decide who will be the d-coordinator next year? Hey Andy keep draftig those fastballers and have no name running rbs like Starks cut you up. Graham and Teo-Nesheim and on and on and on with the fastballers because Andy Reid does not know it is a violent game of intimidation -- he thinks it is a chess game. Guys like Clemons and Babin move on to other teams and dominate because they are allowed to try to blow up the backfield rather than be relegated to the role of dropping into coverage or hanging around the line of scrimmage. This si the same Andy Reid who trades high 2nd round picks to move up in the first round and then ends up with a roster that is horrible on the offensive line and at cb. He acts like he is one player away when he has right tackles that could not block me and cbs of Pop Warner quality. Redid shoudl be fired today so we get back to physical and intimidating defense and throw the opposition around offense.— uts
- You always hear that the coaches are loyal to the guys who start the year as #1s. Well they should be playing the BEST player , not the guy who looked to be the best guy in preseason. That is one big problem, especially on the Eagles. Babin was pretty good last year, when the coaches put him in. I would rather see continuous competition for all positions on the field and the best player in the game than all this loyality and inferior play.— chucksf
- complete joke, sbl's are for sale— tooltime
- 1 truth about Big Red: He lies.
so, i will not be disappointed yet. McD deserves to be fired. Injuries or not, the Eagles D was not well prepared for most of the season. If this team had the defense of the Packers it would have been 15-1 this season. If indeed McDamnit (usually what i end up saying after the opposing team converts another 3rd and long) stays, then it continues the cycle of my waning interest in Eagles football.— jakeAZ - Wow, I can't believe someone on this forum actually wrote "would have" instead of "would of."
Things are looking up!
And oh yeah, fire McDoormat.— perkele - Before McDermott would go I will expect Jeff "money matters" Lurie to first get rid of Andy Reid and Marty Morhninweg or whatever his name. Once again, Andy and Marty has shown that they can alway be out-coached and rely heavily on big plays to succeed forgetting the fact that little gains will open the door for big plays. This is not the defense and it's not Vick....this rests heavily on Andy Reid. I'm even surprised he has the guts to say who is staying or who's not. Until Jeff Lurie starts running this team like the Phillies run their team, nothing will ever come out of this Andy Reid coached nonsense.....the players completely did what they were told to do.— Nzenaozo
- it was a football game, get over it. WE LOST. The best team won on that day. The defense gave up 21 flippin points, against one of the best offenses in the NFL. Watch the NFL network, see how many categories that GB leads in. No, it's not the defense, the offense should have scored at least 30. Dumb plays from the start, no protection. Same as always. Offensive line in flux since preseason. Keep the center and left side, draft the rest. Give vick time, he puts up 59, no time and you get 16. Wake up. This one was easy, with the right protection. Draft O-line Andy, Defense is fine— eagledon
- and another thing...
i've been saying for years that there is very little accountability in this organization. Reid creates a nice happy atmosphere in which the players feel comfortable enough to get to the playoffs each year, but there seems to be little drive to accomplish much more. The Reid teams always seem to lack tenacity or a killer instinct like the Steelers, Patriots, and Ravens of the world. McDermitt did a sh**ty job this year, oh...no problem, come back next year buddy, we'll get it right. This continues the message of "that's good enough." For these reasons the Eagles will always be a second-tier team.— jakeAZ - fat boy and mcdufas and marty were out coached and out-schemed again and we get to listen to the same old post game bs!"I need to put the team in better position to win" yadi yadi etc.No ,we need to run the ball more,need better o-line play,and better play calling.Defense and running the ball in Dec/Jan when you need to keep drives alive wins championships!Clean house and see if we can get Cowher or Dungy or ever Chuckie out of the booth!— PhillyFaninFla.
- After the Eagles lost to the Cowboys last year, I posted on here that not one of the Eagles starting linebackers would start for any of the the playoff teams. I still maintain that opinion this year. We don't know how good McDermott is. He's got 7th round rookie draft picks playing for him. He has to play who he's dealt. The team let go Babin, who was an All Pro this year, and Clemons of Seattle who had like 11 sacks both ends we could have used. But the team trades up to draft Graham.McDermoott didn't do this. He didn't trade for Sims, or let Dawkins go, to have Harris or Demps play free safety last year. We can't possibly know how good is with these brilliant moves.— watsonmr
