Eagles discards find success in Carolina
SAN FRANCISCO - Sean McDermott and Kurt Coleman have two very important things in common. The first is that both were Eagles discards. McDermott was fired by Andy Reid after just two seasons as the team's defensive coordinator. Coleman was benched, then not re-signed following the 2013 season.
SAN FRANCISCO -
Sean McDermott and Kurt Coleman have two very important things in common.
The first is that both were Eagles discards. McDermott was fired by Andy Reid after just two seasons as the team's defensive coordinator. Coleman was benched, then not re-signed following the 2013 season.
The second thing they have in common is that both will be competing for a Super Bowl title Sunday night - McDermott as the Carolina Panthers' fifth-year defensive coordinator, Coleman as their first-year starting free safety.
Coleman has been an integral part of a Panthers defense that finished sixth in the league in total defense and points allowed and first in takeaways with 39, including a league-high 24 interceptions.
The ex-Eagle had seven of those picks, which tied for third in the league. He had two more in the Panthers' 49-15 win over Arizona in the NFC Championship Game.
"This league is all about (getting) the right opportunity," Coleman said Tuesday. "You get in the right system, you get around the right players . . . I don't have to do anything other than what I'm asked to do in this system. I'm playing with some great guys out on the field that I can trust. That's why I've been successful."
McDermott knew what he was getting when he encouraged general manager Dave Geddleman and head coach Ron Rivera to sign him last spring.
Coleman was selected by the Eagles in the seventh round of the 2010 draft - their 13th and final pick that year. He wasn't very big and he wasn't very fast, but he was a hard-nosed player with pretty good ball skills.
He made two starts and played 276 snaps as a rookie for a McDermott defense that finished fourth in the league in takeaways but was 32nd in red-zone defense and 21st in points allowed, which helped grease the skids for his firing.
McDermott went, Coleman stayed and started 27 games the next two seasons. But then Chip Kelly arrived with a new defensive coordinator - Bill Davis - and scheme. Coleman's skill set didn't fit what Davis was looking for in safeties in his scheme. He played just 74 snaps that year and wasn't offered a new contract.
He ended up signing with the Minnesota Vikings, was cut by them and spent last season in Kansas City with Reid.
"I felt my years in Philly were productive," Coleman said. "Even though I might not have been as consistent as I wanted, it isn't just about me. It's a bigger picture. Even though I wasn't having the success that I wanted, I knew I was moving in the right direction."
Coleman had been a terrific player at Ohio State. But scouts were leery of both his lack of speed and his small size. He's listed at 5-11 and 195 pounds, but his predraft measurements were 5-10 and 188. Few believed he could survive a 16-game-a-season pounding, particularly considering the fearless way he played.
"I always felt I should've been drafted higher, but I play for a higher being," the deeply religious Coleman said. "I play for a lot more than to just silence the critics and the naysayers.
"I love the game of football, I really do. The passion (for playing), it's just a fire that burns inside of me. The willingness to be successful is more than just the willingness to prove someone wrong.
"I know what I'm capable of doing. I know how good I can be. I feel like I'm just now getting to where I want to get. But there's a lot more that I want to do. There are areas that I want to continue to get better at in my game."
Coleman has flourished playing in McDermott's system, playing alongside outstanding players like cornerbacks Josh Norman and Charles Tillman and linebackers Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly. It has brought out the best in him.
"I think part of it is about opportunity," Rivera said. "The nice thing with him coming to us is he had some familiarity with who Sean McDermott is. We look for guys that fit our system. Kurt is a great example of that."
Coleman saw it the same way when he was exploring his options last March after becoming a free agent again. When the Panthers expressed interest, he quickly signed with them.
"I was familiar with what Sean wanted to do," he said. "That gave me the belief that he could trust me in this system.
"This defense is very technically and fundamentally sound. There's no gray area. And when there is, we get it worked out. We're not asked to do anything other than what our job states.
"If I'm the deep post, I'm not going to go and try to stack something across the middle. I'm going to stay in the deep post because I know my corners are trusting me to do that so that if anything comes across deep, I'm going to be there to make a play on the ball."
Life experience often helps people grow and flourish. They learn from their mistakes. Coleman has seen that in McDermott. The guy who's coaching him now isn't the same guy who was coaching him six years ago.
McDermott was put in an impossible situation by Reid in 2009 when he was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator to replace the legendary and beloved Jim Johnson, who was dying of cancer.
McDermott was just 35 years old and tried to be somebody he wasn't. He tried to be a hard-ass, but it didn't look good on him.
"He's gotten better," Coleman said. "His play-calling has gotten better. His understanding of players, of being able to manage them (has gotten better).
"Now, he's very open to being willing to change things. He's not a guy who (says), 'This is what I say, this is how it is.' And he's done a great job of in-game management. We've made a lot of adjustments during the game and have really found ways to be successful."
On Twitter: @Pdomo
Blog: philly.com/Eaglesblog