Trotter: McDermott wasn't ready
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Trotter: McDermott wasn't ready
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
As the Eagles continue to search for their next defensive coordinator, reaction to Sean McDermott's firing continues to trickle in.
McDermott's already landed a new job in Carolina and turned down an offer to become defensive coordinator of the Broncos, according to the Daily News' Les Bowen.
But for whatever reason (here's a look at the numbers), McDermott didn't work out here.
And one former player says he's not surprised.
Jeremiah Trotter, who played 13 games (starting seven) in 2009 for McDermott, doesn't think McDermott was ready for the job.
"I may be the only guy in the city that wasn't surprised," Trotter said during an interview with Derrick Gunn of Comcast Sportsnet. "The writing was on the wall, and especially a lot of things that happened last year during the course of the year and then going into this year, Sean digressed as a coordinator. The defense went backwards. It was worse in the red zone. And we had a better year last year on defense. So any time you see a young coach that in my opinion really wasn't quite ready to step into that defensive coordinator role just yet, and have two bad seasons, sometimes you just gotta cut your losses."
I mentioned this in a weekend post, but in case you miseed it, Trotter also said on WIP that he spoke to an Eagles defensive player this year who called McDermott the worst defensive coordinator he had ever played for.
Trotter was asked during the CSN interview if he thought McDermott tried too hard to put his own stamp on the defensive system that Johnson ran.
"Oh yeah, without a doubt," he said. "Any time you got a legend like Jim Johnson... I said before that if Jim Johnson had gotten fired because he didn't get the job done, then you come in and change things up. But Jim Johnson's a legend around here. I think he's a Hall of Famer. And when you do something that works for 10 years and you were really great at it, you want to try to duplicate those things when you come in as a young coordinator. You don't come in and try to put your own stamp on things. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it."
To be fair, Johnson was McDermott's mentor. He talked constantly about what he learned from Johnson and how he was trying to use those things. McDermott's job was to carry out Johnson's system, but to also add his own wrinkles.
Those wrinkles obviously did not always work, and now McDermott will get a chance to try again with the Panthers.
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- The Giants won the Superbowl with Jim Johnson's system against the greatest Quarterback of this era in Tom Brady, so you are completely wrong that his system is flawed. The system works. The problem with the Eagles is they don't have the players to get it done. We are undersized on defense and we always have linebackers that are average at best.
— ChrisM - Not really the giants were able to get pressure with just their front four, without having to send the farm. They both run the 4-3 but the schemes are different. — PaulLewisSmith
- Yes really. Steve Spagnuolo learned from Johnson. Ya Giants had a front four that got alot of pressure, but that goes to my point of the Eagles lacking the players. He still used many agressive blitze packages that he learned from Jim Johnson. He also went to alot of single coverage the way Johnson used to.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/playoffs07/columns/story?columnist=clayton_john&id=3217285— ChrisM - I totally agrre with JLB, Johnson's defenseive scheme has contributed to our run of futility. Most if not all the big games in the McNabb era that we lost were defensive meltdowns created by good quaterbacks beating the blitz and moving the chains (glaring examples are Warner in 2008 championship game and Brady in superbowl who has even gone on record in the past saying "they blitzed on every down" after he killed us with screen passes). Its time for a new approach. — Mount Olympus
Comment removed.- Comment removed.
- Trotter never got along with McDermott. Trotter and McDermott had a heated argument during training camp after practice with Spikes jumping in while McDermott was the LB's coach. A couple of days later, Trotter was cut and Spikes cut at the end of the year. Then Trotter was brought back two years later when they did not have a MLB in mid-season after his retirement.— Clt Philly Fan
- You don't take your best pass rusher, especially when you are having issues getting pressure, and drop him back into coverage. You just don't do it. Can anybody picture Reggie White dropping back? Now Trent Cole is great, and he's no legend like the minister was, but he's not good enough to drop back 20 yards running with a TE and come back the next play and generate pressure. Move him all over the line, right end, left end, joker, whatever, but you have to have him rushing every play. You don't see Asante filling running lanes taking on fullbacks do you? McDermott canned himself.— Bleue
- amen. — JACK V
- Comment removed.
- All this talk of defensive coordinator's. It's apparent one will be in place when Reid gets back who I feel sure has already decided on the person.............welcome Mike Singletary.— JACK V
- I read on PFT.com that Alfred E. Neuman has already been offered the job. His defenses specialize in spying on the QB, the cheerleaders, and videotaping everything.
While I'm at it. how about Bob Kraft. All he cares about is getting to the playoffs and selling more merchandise. He doesn't want to spend the extra sheckels to sign Randy Moss, Logan Mankins, that DE he gave away to Oakland. He keeps using low-round CHEAP draftpicks and heaven-forbid, undrafted free-agents to run his offense and defense. Can you believe he has the audacity to call his team the platinum-standard fo franchises, He definitely does NOT want to win any more SB. He won't even pay his HOF QB. It makes me proud of Andy and Joe Banner. Go Eagles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!— tommy_the_k - Trot, as much as I love him, also threw JJ under the bus after the Arizona title game 2 years ago on 610WIP. Obviously, Trent Cole is the unnamed source. Maybe Trent should focus on his own lack of production instead of throwing his coach under the bus. He, Assante, and Mikell were the only vets on that D this year (and consequently, the only 1/2 decent players). Mikell and Assante backed McDermott till the end and STILL backed him after he was fired. Shows you what kind of leader Trent Cole is...zero.— vdstrading
tROT IS RIGHT ON THE $- I believe Trotter-he bleeds green.— hallux
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