Jim Schwartz to remain with Philadelphia Eagles: 3 Reactions

We have an answer to one of the biggest questions of the Eagles offseason so far. Defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will remain in Philly.

We expected an answer about what the Cleveland Browns would do about their vacant head coaching position on Saturday. It came a day later. The Browns are set to hire their 18th head coach in team history. Jim Schwartz will remain as the defensive coordinator of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Here are three immediate reactions.

1. Who is the Browns’ choice?

Ian Rapoport was the first to report that the Browns will hire former Minnesota Vikings offensive coordinator Kevin Stefanski as their new head coach. Cleveland has shown interest in him before.

Prior to 2019, the Stefanski was in the running for the Browns’ job but wound up the runner-up as they went with Freddie Kitchens. Some believe that there were better options this time around, San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh for instance, who had just outdueled Stefanski the day before the Browns made their decision, but maybe Cleveland didn’t see that game.

Maybe it was all about familiarity. The Browns know Stefanski well, but if none of that had to do with it, this one’s a head-scratcher. You can throw this in both the category of shocking and a decision that isn’t a major surprise.

2. Here are the reactions of a few other experts.

Browns fans don’t seem to be excited. Neither are some of the experts. Take a look.

Well, we know that he won’t be welcomed like a conquering hero.

3. Philly still needs to find a couple of coaches of their own.

As mentioned, Stefanski’s hiring means that Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz will remain in his current role. Doug Pederson has publicly endorsed Schwartz, stating that unless he accepted the Browns job, Schwartz’s position was secure.

That threw off a few theories about possible replacements, including a few that we had at ITI. Marvin Lewis was among the names that had quite a few Eagles fans charged up. Philly still has a vacancy at their offensive coordinator position and at the position of wide receivers coach.

Everyone has their theories, including the ITI staff and that’s sparked a few debates, but we can add Jim Caldwell‘s name as one that has quite a few ‘Birds’ fans interested. Does the Eagles brass share that interest? We’ll all be watching this one closely.