Sean McDermott vs. History

As Jim Johnson continues to bravely battle cancer, Sean McDermott will assume duties as Eagles‘ defensive coordinator throughout training camp. It seems highly likely that McDermott will be the man in charge in ‘09. I hope I’m wrong. I hope JJ makes a full recovery. But even if he does, I doubt he will have the strength to endure the stress of coaching.

Of all the questions entering training camp, McDermott’s ascension to defensive chief is the most important. Replacing one of the great minds in all of football is a daunting task. If the defense suffers any sort of drop-off, the fingers will point at one guy. To say Sean has significant pressure on him would be a massive understatement.

Right or wrong, there is plenty of Super Bowl chatter circumventing Eagles Nation. With this in mind, I thought I’d take a look at defensive coordinators from past Championship teams to see how many rookie coaches have captured the elusive Lombardi Trophy.

Unfortunately, history is not on McDermott’s side. Of the last 19 Super Bowl winners, only three had rookie defensive coordinators. Two – Butch Davis and Dave Campo – were part of the Cowboys‘ dynasty during the ’90s. No offense to Davis and Campo, but when you have players like Charles Haley, Darren Woodson, Ken Norton Jr., Russell Maryland and Deion Sanders, how difficult a coaching job is it?

The third rookie coordinator happens to be a JJ disciple – Steve Spagnuolo. He represents the silver lining in this whole study. Like McDermott, Spagnuolo worked his way up the Philly coaching ranks. He spent eight seasons under Johnson before joining Tom Coughlin’s staff in New York.

McDermott has been a Johnson understudy for the last six years. At 35, he is considered a bright defensive mind, but reputations don’t win titles. McDermott presumably has the confidence of both Reid and Johnson. Although, it’s not as if either are going to display anything but faith in their young protégé. I think McDermott will be fine in his new role. Good enough to be coaching in February ‘10? History says probably not. Then again, defying history can be really sweet.

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