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Ex-Eagles assistant Jim Washburn says he was 'the Antichrist' in Philly

If you're among those Eagles fans who haven't forgotten about him, well, you might like to know that he hasn't forgotten about you, either.

Jim Washburn was the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line coach in 2011 and 2012.
Jim Washburn was the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line coach in 2011 and 2012.Read moreYONG KIM / File Photograph

By the time Jim Washburn's not-quite-two-year tenure as the Eagles' defensive line coach ended in 2012, the words "wide" and "nine" were among the most reviled in the Philadelphia sports vocabulary.

Washburn was given a lot of blame that year for the Birds' eight-game losing streak, during which his unit gave up an average of almost 30 points. To this day, any time you say "wide nine defense" in this town, you risk causing shudders. (Just ask current Birds defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, who has a similar playbook.)

If you're among those fans who haven't forgotten about Washburn, well, you might like to know that Washburn hasn't forgotten about you, either. He revealed that this week, during an interview with a sports radio station in the Nashville area, where he now lives.

"I don't regret going to Philadelphia – not one bit," Washburn said on 104.5 The Zone's "The Midday 180" show. "I enjoyed my time up there."

Washburn was asked when he came to be at peace with the wide-nine's philosophy of not blitzing as much as other defensive schemes do – even if, as the show hosts quipped, it meant his players might be offside a lot.

"I told Andy Reid one time: If you hire me now, there's going to be collateral damage," he answered. "He [Reid] didn't understand."

One of the hosts pointed out that Washburn's time in Philadelphia "didn't go great, to hear it from the accounts – how we watched it here." Washburn countered by noting that in 2011, his first year with the Eagles, his unit had the eighth-best defense in the NFL and led the league in sacks. (By the numbers, the Eagles were eighth-best in yards per game allowed. When it comes to sacks, the Eagles' 50 that year tied for the league's best mark with the Minnesota Vikings.)

But he was quick to concede that 2012 was a disaster.

"The whole thing started bad," Washburn said, noting that the problems began when Andy Reid's son Garrett died of an accidental heroin overdose during training camp.

"God bless him. … That was tragic. It was awful. He was a great kid," Washburn said. "And then after that, it was just a mess. So, I don't know. I know the press didn't care for me, and one writer in particular. I was the Antichrist in Philadelphia. So anyway, I got fired with four games to go, and that was sort of a bitter pill for me to take."

Washburn was asked if he was "the Antichrist to everybody, or just that one writer." [That writer's name never came up in the conversation, if you're wondering.]

"Well, I don't know – I was made out to be that way," he answered. "They said stuff about me I never said. … We almost beat Reggie White and Jerome Brown's sack record. We missed it by a sack and a half, that first year. I don't know. It was just a strange situation up there."

One of the Eagles players Washburn got to know best during his coaching career was Jason Babin. They were together in Detroit in 2010, and Philadelphia in 2011 and 2012. The Eagles cut Babin one week before they fired Washburn.

Washburn did not mince words when asked what went into that decision.

"Reid told me, 'Yeah, I hate him,' " Washburn said. "Because he'd just run his mouth, and stuff, and I don't know. I loved him. He's, like, my guy."

At another point in the interview, Washburn relayed this conversation he had had with Schwartz when they worked together with the Detroit Lions.

"Schwartz and I, after one year, I wouldn't talk to him for about a month. He finally came in and said, 'What's the problem?'… I love Jim Schwartz. First of all, he should be a head coach again. But I said, 'I've got really good players. Let us just rush four. Let us be creative. I've got a lot of different things I want to do. You [go] be a genius with the back seven and let's see how we do. In 2007 and '08, it sort of came to fruition, and it was good."

Eagles fans can only hope that Schwartz's current defense comes to fruition this year.