Less than two weeks after the Eagles were knocked out of the playoffs in the Wild Card round for the second year in a row, it was clear that changes needed to be made. Well, changes are starting to come down, as the Eagles have fired both defensive coordinator Sean McDermott and defensive line coach Rory Segrest. The McDermott firing came a few days ago, as he's already been picked up by the Carolina Panthers to be their defensive coordinator.
While some people are questioning how McDermott went from being one of the best young coordinators with the Eagles to out of a job just two years later, there is some substance to this firing, rather than McDermott just being a fall guy. McDermott wasn't working with the best group of players out there, but the fact of the matter is that coaches and coordinators need to do the best with who is out there. It doesn't matter if you have a bunch of first round picks or undrafted free agents. A good coach can make it work. Jim Johnson was able to do that with players that weren't first round picks, and he got through injuries as well. Remember, the Eagles had Shawn Barber, Levon Kirkland and Carlos Emmons as their starting linebackers in 2002...and they only allowed 241 points. This year's group allowed 377, the most in one season by the Eagles since 1974.
Let's not even talk about the red zone defense, either. The Eagles had the worst red zone defense in the NFL, and allowed a franchise high 31 touchdown passes this season. Yes, that's the most in team history. A large part of that does come down on the players, but the fact is that some of the blame also has to go to the coordinator. Sean McDermott should have seen some of the mistakes his guys were making out there and attempted to adjust for them. The secondary wasn't that great, but we've all seen worse groups out there that have had better results.
However, a large portion of the passing and red zone defense did lie with the defensive line, and that's why Rory Segrest had to go. By the end of the season, the defensive line was getting little to no pressure on the opposing quarterbacks, and even Joe Webb looked like a solid NFL quarterback in his first career start. Trent Cole disappeared, Brandon Graham looked like a disappointment even before his knee injury, and Chris Clemons and Jason Babin each made the Pro Bowl with double digit sack totals...for teams other than the Eagles. Again, there were injury issues with the defensive line as well, but the Eagles struggled even before the injuries. The defense as a whole just wasn't that good this year. Go ahead, look back. It really wasn't. The run defense had it's moments against some of the best backs in the league, but when this team needed a stop, how many times did they actually get it?
Do I agree with firing both McDermott and Segrest? Not necessarily, but something needed to be done. You can't fire the players, but the coaches are fair game, and after the season that this defense had, just two years removed from being led by the late, great Jim Johnson, it was time to do something. The writing was on the wall, even when Andy Reid said his coaches were going to be safe. There's a lot of people that the Eagles are looking at to run the defense, from Dick Jauron to Jim Mora Jr, and honestly, they would be an upgrade from McDermott.
The Eagles had been regressing on defense over the last two years. When a team has had this much turnover with players in the last two seasons, it's somewhat clear that it's not the players that are the problem. It just might be the coaches. Giving up 377 points on the season, having one of the worst red zone defenses of the last two decades and not getting pressure on the quarterback for most of the season sounds like good enough reasons to make some changes to the defensive coaching staff. Now all that's left to do is see who comes in to replace McDermott and Segrest and hope that they can improve what is, at this moment, a very poor defensive unit.
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