Mora tops list of candidates for Eagles defensive coordinator
The three publicly identified candidates to succeed Sean McDermott are veteran coaches with extensive resumes.
THE EAGLES aren't going for anybody's understudy, this time around. The three publicly identified candidates to succeed Sean McDermott as the Birds' defensive coordinator are veteran coaches with extensive resumes.
The front-runner would seem to be Jim Mora, the former Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks head coach who was Steve Mariucci's defensive coordinator in San Francisco in the late 1990s, when Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg ran the other side.
The Eagles also seem to be considering just-fired Arizona defensive coordinator Bill Davis, whose father once was an Eagles linebackers coach under Dick Vermeil, and Dick Jauron, a member of McDermott's staff last season who has been a head coach with the Bears and Bills. But with Eagles coach Andy Reid on vacation this week, it seems unlikely they will make a decision right away, and Mora and Jauron, anyway, have other opportunities they might be pursuing in the meantime - Jauron is expected to interview in Cleveland today, for example.
McDermott, 36, found out Thursday he would not be returning for a third season running the Eagles' defense, though the team elected not to release the news while McDermott pursued other jobs. He has interviewed in Denver and with at least one other team, believed to be the Carolina Panthers. A source close to McDermott, a former La Salle High star, said he is doing well in the wake of the firing. Reports in Denver indicate McDermott might be the front-runner there to run new head coach John Fox' defense.
Also let go, team sources confirmed last night, was defensive line coach Rory Segrest, the team's former special teams coordinator. Segrest spent 5 years with the Eagles after joining the staff with no NFL experience as a player or coach. The defensive line managed just seven sacks in the last six games.
There seems to be a good chance the new coordinator will get to choose his line coach and potentially his defensive backs coach should Jauron either be promoted or leave for another team.
If the Eagles really wanted to hire Jauron, 60, they could have already done so, without taking the risk of losing him to Cleveland. Davis, 45, once an Eagles ball boy, didn't fare well running Arizona's defense and is believed to have called the Eagles about an interview, rather than them calling him. Mora, about whom there has been the most buzz, is a client of Bob LaMonte, who also is Reid's agent; it seems possible the team could reach an understanding there without announcing a decision until Reid returns.
Mora, 49, has spoken with Reid about the job, a league source told the Daily News, and is interested in the job. Like Davis, Mora has a father (also named Jim Mora, though they have different middle names) with a Philadelphia connection, from his time as head coach of the USFL Philadelphia Stars.
"I always thought [Mora] would be a perfect coordinator, because he is a defensive guy at heart, and he has that infectious personality - players relate to him," said former Eagles linebacker Ike Reese, who played for Mora with the Falcons from 2005-06. "He grew up around an NFL locker room. He has an aggressive approach. He's not an over-blitzer; Jim believes in getting after you with the front four and in strong secondary play."
Mora, of course, coached Michael Vick in Atlanta. Last October, he interviewed Vick on behalf of the NFL Network; Vick apologized to Mora for being immature and not being focused on his job when they were together.
McDermott's firing wasn't a shock, given that the Birds' red-zone defense in 2010 was the NFL's worst in more than 20 years, and that the unit declined in most categories from his initial year, when it wasn't very good. But the move was a surprise, in that everyone involved seemed to think the results were mitigated by the youth of McDermott's group.
In fact, the lengths Reid went to defend McDermott a week ago today in the coach's end-of-season news conference - along with the timing of Reid's vacation - will fuel speculation that this move might not have entirely been Reid's call. Sure, Reid didn't want to say something to the world on Monday that he hadn't had a chance to say to McDermott in private. But here is what Reid said:
"Well, I would tell you you're dealing with a guy that's a tremendous worker and is a very smart individual. And so I look at it a little bit different than what you do in that I've seen him work with young guys, I've seen him work through injuries, I've seen him stay positive through those situations and still put us in a position to win football games," Reid said. "Knowing that he's going to do nothing but improve as a coach, just like all of us, with experience. And so, I have a lot of respect for him and the way that he does business."
Maybe that was just part of Reid's effort to help McDermott get another job. But as Reese noted yesterday, "those were heartfelt words," and they did not seem like the preface to a firing.
McDermott took the job under difficult circumstances, promoted days before his revered mentor, Jim Johnson, passed away in July 2009. The defense was a problem area that season, but given the timing of the change, McDermott got a pass. The Eagles traded for defensive end Darryl Tapp and weakside linebacker Ernie Sims, and they used their first five draft picks on defensive players, six of their first eight. But first-round defensive end Brandon Graham and second-round free safety Nate Allen suffered season-ending knee injuries. Third-round defensive end Daniel Te'o-Nesheim proved to be a project. In the playoffs, the Eagles ended up starting the 11th and 13th players they drafted last April, safety Kurt Coleman and middle linebacker Jamar Chaney.
It's unclear how much say McDermott had in personnel, but he was the guy who called Sims "a shark in the water." Sims, undersized, seemed to either overrun plays or get run over much of the time. McDermott also seemed to go hot and cold on players; linebacker Moise Fokou was the strongside starter through the spring and into training camp, but was replaced one day into Lehigh workouts by Akeem Jordan. Then, at midseason, Fokou supplanted Jordan.
"I'm not sure they were going to be a top-10 defense with the players they had on the field," Reese said.
Despite his yo-yo experience, Fokou said yesterday he was surprised at the firing. He extolled McDermott as "enthusiastic, smart, a great guy to be around. He was always working, always thinking." Fokou said he wasn't sure the red-zone problems were McDermott's fault.
Via Twitter, cornerback Asante Samuel had this to say: "It's unfortunate how this business works. Sean is a good guy and a good coach. I wish him the best and I know he is determined to succeed."
But some players clearly felt McDermott's schemes could get too complicated, particularly in the red zone, where the Eagles seemed less aggressive than they had been under Johnson, who had run the unit since Reid's 1999 hiring. Defensive end Trent Cole obliquely criticized the way he had been used down the stretch - Cole was often asked to drop into coverage - when interviewed a few days before the Eagles ended their season with a wild-card round playoff loss to the visiting Packers.
Reached Saturday night by the Daily News, Cole said: "I'm not allowed to say nothing."
Sources close to the situation say that you shouldn't expect the Eagles to join the 3-4 trend, but they are looking for a fresh scheme, a fresh approach.
Daily News sports writer Paul Domowitch contributed to this report.
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