Catching up with McDermott, Spags
Philly.com, Inquirer, and Daily News coverage of the Eagles
Catching up with McDermott, Spags
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Many of the players who were on the field for Sean McDermott's final game as the Eagles' defensive coordinator are no longer with the organization.
Juqua Parker, Daniel Te'o-Nesheim, Trevor Laws, Brodrick Bunkley, Asante Samuel, Dimitri Patterson, Quintin Mikell and Ernie Sims were all in uniform for the team's playoff loss to the Green Bay Packers.
I sometimes wonder if McDermott looks at the moves the Eagles have made since that game - signing Jason Babin, Cullen Jenkins and Nnamdi Asomugha; trading for Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and DeMeco Ryans; and drafting Fletcher Cox - and wonders why he wasn't given the same level of talent to work with before getting fired.
McDermott spent 2011 coaching the Panthers' defense, a group that finished 27th in the league, allowing 26.8 points per game. They added linebacker Luke Kuechly in the first round of the draft and will now try to catch up with an offense led by one of the league's most dynamic players in Cam Newton.
Speaking to Anthony Gargano and Glen Macnow, McDermott said the Panthers are trying to model themselves after the Eagles in many ways.
"I’ve moved on, and the Eagles have moved on," McDermott said. "They’re a successful organization, and for us as a young organization down here and where we’re trying to go, they’re a team that we’re trying to compare ourselves with in a lot of ways. Make no mistake about it. I think that the Eagles, whether they were down last year or not, there’s a lot of teams that are trying to play catch-up to Philadelphia and the Eagles and what they do and the success that they’ve had over the years up there, spearheaded obviously by Andy Reid. When we look at ourselves, we’re trying to get to where they’ve been in terms of the multiple NFC championship games and what not."
The Panthers, who finished 6-10 last year, visit the Eagles in Week 12 for a Monday night matchup at the Linc.
SPAGS' NEXT STOP
When Andy Reid tries to sell everyone on Juan Castillo this summer, don't forget: the Birds wanted to add Steve Spagnuolo (in some capacity), but he chose to go to the Saints instead.
That was before the bounty scandal surfaced, Sean Payton was suspended for the year and Drew Brees' contract squabble became an issue.
Spagnuolo will take over a defense that allowed 21.2 points per game in 2011 (13th in the league), and if he somehow turns New Orleans into one of the league's better defenses (a major challenge, given the state of the franchise), he could be in place for another head-coaching gig in 2013.
"Yeah, there's a burn there, I'm not going to lie to you," Spagnuolo told Greg A. Bedard of The Boston Globe about getting another head coaching job. "I think the professional thing to do in this situation is you concentrate all your efforts and all your focus on the job that you have right now."
AND FINALLY...
Lots of good stuff in our Eagles section this weekend. In case you missed it, check out:
Jeff McLane's feature on Andy Reid going back to his home town in California.
Jonathan Tamari's feature on Eagles WR Mardy Gilyard.
Paul Domowitch's column on Joe Banner.
You can follow me on Twitter or become a fan of Moving the Chains on Facebook.
People don't give Howie Roseman the credit he deserves. He done a good job of bringing in more talent from multiple sources. He's also good at negotiating and re-signing young talent.— soulman386- He also was involved in bringing in most of the bad talent that was listed in the beginning. Sims, Patterson, Te'O were signed while he was a high ranking part of the organization. And he was responsible for two very bad drafts before this one.— mjc1
- Yea. Howie is a star! Signed Brown,Young and Smith last year but no linebacker. Wasted how many draft picks? When you overpay --see Desaun Jackson--- easy to resign young players— Ssteve115
- Don't kid yourselves, Reid's greasy paws are over the last fw drafts, I can't believe this one went as well as it did.
- McDermott helped get the Eagles to the playoffs with a far less talented group of players than Castillo had last year. I thought he got the shaft.— p-diddy
- Carolina drafted the MLB Kuechly everyone in Philly wanted. It will be interesting to watch how he does.— watsonmr
- --watsonmr - At BC Kuechly lead the country in tackles last season, so you can rest assured that he'll contribute on day one for the Panthers. The real question will be how much Fletcher Cox will contribute to the Eagles this season - I'd bet allot. The kid's a HOUSE and from what the other D-Lineman are saying, tremendously gifted and fast!
We have T. Ryans the Texans' best player, their team captain and a standout Pro Bowler. I think they'll be okay moving forward. Sheil asked folks to remember that we decided not to draft Kuechley -- "How could we forget the fifty articles that were written on the kid?!"
Go Eagles!!!— Laughingaloud123 - Hey Spags, yea you, the one that orchestrated one of the Giants Super Bowl seasons. How would you like a to work for an Offensive Line Coach turned Defensive Coordinator with only minimal High School Defensive experience?— younged
- With Kendricks, who need Kuechley. Kendricks is athletic and at least has a DESIRE to tackle. I'm not saying Luke doesn't but Luke is a good LB with great instinct. But he's not athletic as Kendricks— Ace-Philadelphia
- Rather than focus on the negative, let's look at the positive. This draft appears to be alot better than any draft the Eagles had in quite some time. The piece left not included in this year's equation was Banner. In those other drafts, Banner was involved. So to tag last year's draft on Roseman is a little misguided, given the involvement of Banner. Remains to be seen if Roseman is the guy or not, but I love his progression to date. Very optimistic about this season. Something I haven't been in a long time.— beegal99
- @P-diddy.. I agree.. He definately got shafted. You give him last year's defense and we would have been a top 5 D. What stood out to me in regards to McDermott's level of talent was he was able beat Peyton Manning in 2010. When you look at the secondary he had.. the pass rush and the linebackers it was a most impressive feat. If he was with the team last year he'd be a hot head coaching prospect for next year. But he is in Carolina trying to recycle even less talent than he had here. But Farmer Fran doesnt know what he is doing. I hope the talent is good enough to overcome his schemes. Good luck Sean.— Zeru
- Not only did he beat Peyton and the colts but also the ref's. Another one of the worst officiating efforts by the seemingly endless supply of terrible crews assigned against the igg's. Remember the phantom call for blow to the head? Terrible. That being said, Sean had the WORST red zone defense in the league and got worse in that category from the year before, he isn't exactly a HoF yet. — xlGmanlx
- All true-- However, the players didn't buy into his system; pulling guys out after one play. Not allowing the veteran players to get into a rhythm. You could tell from the player interviews during the season that something was up.
Whether that justified his getting canned is another thing all together.
— Laughingaloud123
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