All I could do was laugh when I heard Eagles new defensive coordinator, Sean McDermott say what was the most important piece of advice he has received from Jim Johnson. "Bltiz and blitz and again".
That was a fun part of the news conference today at the Nova Care Complex as Eagles head coach Andy Reid introduced McDermott as their new defensive coordinator.
Reid said that he and the Eagles plus the guy whom McDermott is replacing have the upmost confidence in him.
Reid said the young coach knows what he's doing because he has sat and learned how to run an NFL defense from Johnson for over a decade.
McDermott said he has dialogued back and forth with Johnson in recent weeks.
"Jim has always been behind me in my life and in my coaching career."
Reid had said previously that the fact McDermott was taught by one of the best gives him lots of confidence. The head coach says he's known for a couple of years that Sean would be able to step into this position.
I agree with all that but he's never been in charge of an NFL defense when things were going bad. That's when we're going to find out about Sean McDermott as an NFL defensive coordinator.
McDermott said he's honored to be sitting in the defensive coordinator's position right now.
He said Jim has taught him plenty both on the field and off. McDermott told us he couldn't say all that Johnson has done for him in just one statement.
He also praised Eagles organization for giving him this opportunity. He beleives he's profited greatly from being with the outstanding people in the Eagles organization.
There was no question after McDermott spoke that he believes in the defensive system which Johnson has taught him.
He exclaimed, "This system works". when asked about the system.
The total truth of the matter is that the system worked so well because Johnson knew what to do when things weren't going well. He knew when to change something subtlely.
There were times when I'm sure he felt like yelling and going into a panic but he let the guys know he was still confident that they could get the job done. Johnson's players believed in him. McDermott will have to earn that.
The young "D" coordinator said that he would add his own wrinkles to the scheme and he will make it a point to be himself.
He'll need to think about that when somebody has put up 35 against his defense and he's got to get up in front of the media and tell what went wrong and what he's going to do to fix it.
As for the fact that he's coaching in the city where he grew up, McDermott said this is a dream come true to coach in the city where he was raised. He said this is beyond all expectations.
Previously in his coaching career with Johnson, McDermott said he would relay the calls from Jim to the defensive signal caller. He said the veteran coach would even let him call the defenses during games and practices, when he could.
The young coach gave his mentor credit for getting him ready for such a time as this, now he's got to make him proud.
I’m just commenting to let you be aware of of the exceptional discovery my cousin’s daughter enjoyed going through your blog. She discovered lots of issues, most notably how it is like to have a very effective giving heart to have many more effortlessly fully understand certain extremely tough matters. You really did more than my desires. Many thanks for displaying the helpful, healthy, educational and also easy thoughts on the topic to Gloria.