Philadelphia Eagles DC Jonathan Gannon will make fans forget Schwartz

By the looks of things, this Jonathan Gannon guy is a hit with the Philadelphia Eagles fan base and the always-tough Philly media. Prior to May 20th, there were still quite a few Birds fans that didn’t even know what the new defensive coordinator’s voice sounded like, but everyone got their fill during OTAs.

Coach Gannon spent about a half-hour with various members of the media during a virtual session on May 20th, and the man charged with resurrecting a unit that didn’t always play up to snuff in 2020 had much to say including the following.

Coach was all smiles as he discussed his role in recruiting one of the newer Eagles, former adversary Ryan Kerrigan. Do yourself a favor. Give this one a detailed look.

"I wanted to get Ryan here a lot. The number one reason is the person that he is. We have a very good, strong locker room of really good character guys, I feel, and the pieces that we added, him being one of those pieces, the first thing that Nick and I talked about with Howie was we want to bring really high character guys in here, whoever that may be, whether that be draft picks or coaches or free agents."

Gannon will make Philadelphia Eagles fans forget about Schwartz. Just watch.

The good news about Kerrigan’s addition is this. He doesn’t have to do anything other than make the most of the snap counts he sees. He doesn’t need to take over. He just needs to slide into this improving rotation.

Philly’s seemingly loaded at the defensive end position now with him, Josh Sweat, Brandon Graham, Derek Barnett, and rookie Tarron Jackson. Don’t forget about the fact that Joe Ostman, Matt Leo, and rookie JaQuan Bailey are hanging around as well.

Here’s a bold statement. Jonathan Gannon is going to make you forget about Jim Schwartz. You just watch. Here are two reasons why.

One, former Eagles head coach never hired Schwartz. He was just given the guy by Howie Roseman. Now, looking back, was that to try to keep Doug in line a little?

The second reason that Birds fans are going to love this team is there’s better chemistry with the new regime. New Eagles head coach Nick Sirianni hired his own staff. These are his guys, so while there were, at times, an inability to agree on the part of Schwartz and Pederson, it kind of feels like Gannon, Sirianni, Shane Steichen (the offensive coordinator), and Michael Clay (the special teams’ coordinator) all realize they need each other.

Each man’s success is tied to the success of everyone else. We don’t completely know what Gannon’s scheme will look like other than he’s going to tailor everything to his players, something Schwartz forgot to do sometimes.

Rest easy Philadelphia Eagles fans!

We also know with the Philadelphia Eagles new additions, guys like Anthony Harris and Eric Wilson, both of whom came to Philly partially to reunite with one of their former coaches with the Minnesota Vikings, and with the addition of the aforementioned Ryan Kerrigan, the stress on the defensive coordinator is eased slightly. Perhaps Coach Gannon put it best.

"(Ryan Kerrigan is) a hard guy to block. He’s extremely intelligent. I’m looking forward to getting our hands on him and working with him."

That should put a huge smile on your face if you’re a Philadelphia Eagles fan. That and the fact that we never have to see the Eagles run Jim Schwartz’s ‘sticks’ defense again.