At Super Bowl media day, some lobbying for Eagles job

ARLINGTON, Texas - Media day at the Super Bowl - with its stages, signposts, and swarm of reporters - has the feel of a political convention.

So in some ways, it was appropriate that several assistant coaches from the Packers and Steelers were openly campaigning for the Eagles' defensive-coordinator vacancy on Tuesday. With the biggest game of their coaching lives looming, it might not have been the most appropriate time to look ahead to career opportunities.

But this week and, more important, Sunday's game will be the last chance for some of the candidates to impress the Eagles and two other NFL teams still in search of defensive coordinators. And assistants like the Packers' Winston Moss know that advancement opportunities come around about as often as Super Bowl appearances.

"The Eagles have some established talent there right now," Moss said. "It would be fun to work with that group. . . . It's a very aggressive culture there. It's a very fearless culture. You can tell how Andy Reid attacks people from his offensive scheme, and that's what he wants. And I believe that I have that same passion. I have that same relentless, fearless desire."

While Moss, 45, may not have the credentials of other contenders - he's the Packers' inside linebackers coach - his resumé reveals a close tie to the Eagles. In his first coaching gig, with the Seahawks in 1998, he worked under former Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson.

Moss was the Seahawks' defensive quality-control coach and Johnson their linebackers coach.

"He had such an impact on me that I will carry it the rest of my life," Moss said. "He was such a tough guy. It was almost like a mentorship."

Johnson died of cancer in July 2009. Sean McDermott was another of the defensive innovator's proteges, but he failed to improve the Eagles' defense in two seasons and was fired last month.

The opening has remained unfilled now for nearly three weeks, and the Eagles have interviewed only two known candidates - Saints assistant Dennis Allen and Bears assistant Jon Hoke. Both are defensive-backs coaches, so the Eagles could be narrowing their search to that field.

They are expected to request permission to talk with Packers safeties coach Darren Perry once the Super Bowl is over. But some don't consider the former Penn State and Steelers safety a serious candidate, because he has exclusively worked in 3-4 defenses and the Eagles, team sources have indicated, are sticking with a 4-3.

"I think that's overrated," said Perry, 42. "I really do. We have just as much 4-3 element to our defense as we do 3-4. . . . If you got a good football mind, you adapt."

Ray Horton couldn't agree more. The Steelers' defensive-backs coach has worked with 4-3 defenses before, but he's become a hot name only because of the success of Pittsburgh defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau's 3-4 scheme.

Horton, though, pointed out that the Steelers have incorporated a number of Johnson's blitzes into their system - for example, when cornerback Ike Taylor sacked Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez and forced a fumble in the AFC championship game.

"That was really one of his blitzes back in the early '90s," Horton said.

While Moss, Perry, and Horton had no trouble lobbying for the job, Packers outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene and Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler deflated any talk for the time being. Greene has only two years' experience in coaching, but Butler is a veteran.

In fact, he was rumored to have a clause in his contract that he would eventually succeed LeBeau. "Not true," he said.

Butler is probably more likely to follow former colleague and friend Ken Whisenhunt to Arizona, where there is an opening.

"There's usually not in this point in time this many jobs open." Butler said. "If you look at the history . . . most guys get hired as coordinators the year after they go to the Super Bowl, not the year of."

The most obvious candidate among the Super Bowl assistants is Packers defensive line coach Mike Trgovac. He worked with the Eagles in the late 1990s and was a successful coordinator with the Panthers for six seasons.

But Trgovac has downplayed his candidacy over the last few weeks because, he has said, he may not want to move his family at this juncture. Still, he did not sound like a man who had shut the door on the possibility.

"It's nice to have your name out there and think about those things," he said Tuesday. "I have a lot of confidence in what I do. To be honest with you, I don't really know Andy all that well. I've probably talked to him a couple of times. . . . But I would hope I would get the opportunity to be a coordinator again."