Seth Vigdor
One of the more mind-boggling things that transpired during the Eagles’ head coaching search was that former Eagles and current Panthers defensive coordinator, Sean McDermott, never had an interview for the vacancy. He’s one of the best defensive coordinators in the league and he’s a big part of the reason the Carolina Panthers are where they are today. Hell, he practically lobbied for the position on 97.5 The Fanatic.
A fascinating bit of info came out yesterday in an article by Marcus Hayes on Philly.com regarding the Eagles and Sean McDermott. It just so happens the Eagles did talk to McDermott after [before?] their season ended. But, apparently, it wasn’t anything serious.
Hayes discloses an interesting bit of information about this in his column. Here’s the part of what Hayes says that I find the most interesting.
Jeffrey Lurie is not perfect. He and his lieutenants, Howie Roseman and Don Smolenski, essentially excluded former defensive coordinator Sean McDermott in their coaching search; a homegrown, bootstraps guy who happens to be the defensive coordinator of the best team in football, which is playing in the NFC title game this weekend. It was a spiteful exclusion. Smolenski said Roseman did at least call McDermott, 41, now in his 17th season as an NFL assistant and his seventh as a coordinator.
Neither Smolenski nor McDermott elaborated upon the purpose of the call, but it appears it was a cursory nod; thanks, but no thanks. Then they hired Doug Pederson, 47, who has seven years of experience, three as a coordinator. Sure, they fired McDermott in 2011, but you know who else they fired? Doug Pederson, with Andy Reid, two years later. Reid, the Chiefs’ head coach, was stumping for Pederson before Chip Kelly hit Key West for unemployment therapy.
Well, Panthers coach Ron Rivera, a former Eagles assistant under Reid, recommended McDermott as highly. The Birds flew to Kansas City to interview Pederson, but, as every traveler knows, you can’t go anywhere without a stopover in Charlotte. Lurie could not be bothered.”Philadelphia’s always going to be home,” McDermott said after his defense beat the Seahawks on Sunday. “It sounds like they zeroed in on Doug. Couldn’t have found a better person. I’m happy for the Eagles, Doug, and his family.” He smiled, but there was hurt in his eyes.”
I’m confused. Why would they even bother calling McDermott if they weren’t even planning on interviewing him? After listening to Ron Jaworski spew bullshit about a list of 22 names that could be the next coach of the Eagles, you’re telling me that McDermott wasn’t one of the top guys on that list? The whole coaching search was nonsense. The Eagles brought no defensive-minded coaches in for interviews.
They were clearly biased to the offensive side of things and all we got to hear about was Jaworski’s eccentric love for Doug Pederson. The whole coaching search was disappointing in my view, but it is what it is. The Doug Pederson era has begun. Woohoo!