Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Where's Marv Levy?

***

A second member of the Buffalo coaching staff is now here in Philly.  Dick Jauron will take over as our DBs coach.  I should have seen this coming.  He and Andy Reid spent time together in Green Bay.  Jauron is the kind of experienced coach that our defense probably needs with young guys in several positions. 

Jauron was a good Free Safety during his NFL career with the Lions and Bengals.  He picked off 25 career passes.  I heard an older sportswriter interviewed a couple of years ago and he said that Jauron was arguably the greatest prep athlete in the history of Massachusetts. 

Jauron has good experience.  He's been a DB coach, Defensive Coordinator, and Head Coach.  He worked for winning teams in GB and JAX.  He led the Bears to a 13-3 record back in 2001.  Jauron has a reputation as a players coach.  That is fine as an assistant, but got him in trouble as the head man.  His BUF teams of the last few years needed more mental/emotional toughness and discipline.  He didn't set a good tone for the team.  As a positional coach he's more of a teacher and that is right up his alley.  Jauron knows football.  He's just not meant to be the leader of 53 men on a sacred quest for eternal glory. 

One of the good aspects to this hire is that it will give Sean McDermott someone to lean on for suggestions.  When Reid first took over the Eagles he brought in Rod Dowhower as OC.  Rod was here to help Andy run the offense, but also to give Andy advice about running things.  Rod had been a HC for a short time.  He was no threat to Andy's power, but had enough experience to be helpful when called upon.  Jauron now takes that role for the defense. 


COMP FOR SAV

The Eagles signed Punter Durant Brooks.  He was great at Georgia Tech.  Brooks won the Ray Guy Award as a Senior as the nation's best Punter.  He spent half of 2009 as the Punter for Washington, but struggled and got cut. New STs coach Bobby April (also from BUF) must feel like Brooks can be good competition for Sav Rocca.  Sav actually had a pretty good year, but there were some costly shanks. 


VICK STAYING?

There were some reports on Tuesday that the Eagles have decided to keep Mike Vick for 2010.  We'll see.  This reeks of a leaked rumor with intent to deceive.  NFL teams will use agents and writers from time to time to leak reports.  If the Eagles want to trade Vick they need it to appear that they have strong thoughts of keeping him.  That way he's got some value.  If teams know a player isn't wanted by his current team they are going to use that in trade negotiations. 

I'm sure the Eagles do have some interest in bringing Vick back.  He turned out to be a good role player.  The question is whether Vick is willing to come back, knowing he'd be just a role player.  Mike flew under the radar this year.  He never demanded more snaps or to be used a different way.  Can he do that for another year?  I have my doubts.  I don't mean this as a question of him personally, but the clock is ticking.  Every year he doesn't start makes it less likely he'll ever get back to being a starting QB. 

Pride is also a question.  Vick had no problems being the backup to Donovan McNabb.  There is no shame in that at all.  What if we deal Donnie?  Would Vick be cool with being the backup to Kevin Kolb?  I'm not so sure of that. 

I'm fine with keeping Vick, but I'd also love to deal him if the value is right.  This really is a fluid situation.  I doubt the Eagles have drawn a line in the sand and said "We are going to keep/not keep Vick no matter what".  The smart thing is to see what kind of offers are out there and react accordingly.  All we need is one team to make the right offer. 
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12 comments:

shlynch said...

If only someone had suggested Jauron at the time Stewart was allowed to leave ...

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=4955582067533116261&postID=7222868592099188878

"I'd have to think they will want to bring in an experienced guy to assist McDermott. If he got hired away to be a HC, for example, we have nothing in the pipeline. I'd have to think that we get a Greg Blache/Dick Jauron-type former DC or HC to be the Rod Dowhower for McDermott."

:whistle:

izzylangfan said...

OK Jauron looks like a good hire. I thought ou DB play was wanting last year. Congrats to shlynch for figuring this one out. But doesn't it strike anyone as odd that Jauron goes from Head Coach to below coordinator level so quickly. I know McDermott is a rising star but I doubt he is ready to be tapped as a head coach just yet.

Tommy Lawlor said...

Lynch,

I had no doubt that you made that call. I didn't even bother to go back and look. You are the master of assistant coach predictions, among other things.

Well done sir, as usual.

Tommy Lawlor said...

RE: drop from HC to DB coach?

Jauron is a football guy. He probably wanted a job as much as anything. Also, he's been a part of some poor teams the last few years. This gives him a chance to be part of a winning organization.

T_S_O_P said...

What chance a new Special Assistant offense a la Whipple? Because I have never had such a feeling of melancholy with approach to FA and the draft. Maybe I'm wrong?

Myron said...

Only thing I worry about wrt to Jauron is that he's essentially going to be a working for someone much younger than him in McDermott. That's a huge step down from being the head coach of a whole team, even if it was an unsuccessful team. If it was me, I'd at least want to be named the Defensive Coordinator and not just a Secondary Coach. Might breed some resentment, I dunno.

Also, here's a really good article written about the Julius Peppers situation from the perspective of potential suitors (in this case, the New England Patriots, but it still applies to the Eagles):

http://www.csnne.com/pages/landing_patriots?The-problem-with-Peppers=1&blockID=173174&feedID=3946&qv=1#bp

Lastly, Tommy, do you have any thoughts on Kolb's arm strength (or lack thereof) and how it will affect him in games down the road? Not concerned about it at all or what?

Netherman said...

I like adding Jauron. I am worried about the depth of our coaching staff as much as anything. With JJ, you did not worry too much about him taking an HC job. Maybe this adds a little stability if we were to lose McD in the next couple years?

Cliff said...

We certainly upgraded over Stewart, at least. I don't read much in to this besides we went after the best available assistant coach.

It's not like this is Rex Ryan or Ron Rivera. Jauron was a good head coach with limited success in that role, as Tommy mentioned. If there's some sort of "power struggle" between McDermott and Jauron than we should be questioning McD's leadership anyway.

I also don't see this as having anything to do with the future as Netherman suggested. Reid has already defied the NFL odds by coaching the same team this long, I doubt he stays longer than his new contract. If Reid's gone, we look for a new HC who brings a new staff. Of course, I'm thinking further than just a couple seasons.

Netherman said...

I am not suggesting that he becomes our head coach at any point...only that if by some chance our D turns into a wrecking crew and McD was hired somewhere else, the cupboard is pretty bare coach-wise behind him. Before when JJ was here, they were constantly grooming people under him (a la Rivera, Spags, etc) Which would you trust to take over the D more, Jauron or Segrest?

tagryn said...

For what little difference it makes, Brooks was the Redskins' punter for the first half of '08 (not '09). He spent last year's camp competing for the GB punter spot before getting cut. It'll be interesting to see whether April can make anything out of him, the kid was a lights-out punter in college but hasn't done much in the NFL to date.

Unknown said...

Any news on the senior bowl write-up Tommy? I'm pacing the room waiting for a good ol' scoutsnotebook game review!

Unknown said...

Just saw your new mock draft and i really like it. Seems to be far better reasoned than most of the ones floating about at the moment and Jerry Hughes at #24 makes me happy!