A tough, gritty style
New coordinator Desai wants the defense to embody Philadelphia
PHILADELPHIA – Sean Desai is the Eagles’ first-year defensive coordinator, and he didn’t earn a political science degree from Boston University without learning how to outline an appealing plank.
So there he was Friday, in his first public training-camp appearance before microphones, saying what he knew Philadelphia fans have been demanding to hear for generations.
“We want to run,” he said. “We want to hit. We want to impose our will on people. We want to embody the brand of this city and be gritty and be tough. And we’re not going to take anything from anybody.
“We want people to be able to feel us, physically, mentally, emotionally, whatever it takes. We want people to know that we’re on the field, too, and we’re going to dictate how we play the game on defense.”
Desai used to do a little assistant coaching at Temple, so he knows what is expected in a city once roamed by Chuck Bednarik and Reggie White and Brian Dawkins and Bill Bergey. So hit, apparently, the Eagles will.
Desai even made sure to imply the Eagles will not be playing much of the bend-don’t-break defense that invariably leaves Eagles audiences annoyed.
“We have some metrics that we use and then we’re still kind of working through making sure that it fits with everything,” he said. “But the biggest thing is you don’t want to give a big yards of real estate. There’s 100 yards on the field, and that’s the field that you’re defending. Any chunk of real estate that comes – whether it be through penalties, through explosive plays, missed tackles that lead to big chunks of yards – those things are things that we don’t want to play. They’re going to happen, but we want to try to limit those as best we can and get on the positive side of that as much as we can.”
Desai will have to replace five defensive starters from the NFC championship team. But he figures he has the system to make it work.
“We don’t want to get caught in a place of complacency and rely on our past,” said the man who will replace the ever-unpopular Jonathan Gannon. “So that’s the big thing. Whoever we’re bringing in, if it’s 11 guys, we’re trying to find the best 11 to fit this defense and our personnel and our players and our team well.”
Nothing stays the same in pro sports, but Jordan Mailata, for one, figures the Eagles will miss the veteran presence of Isaac
Seumalo on what was recognized as the best line in football. Seumalo signed with the Steelers as a free agent.
“You knew you had a guy who was technique-driven and very accountable,” Mailata said. “It didn’t matter what position you put him in, he was going to execute it to the best of his knowledge. His smarts, man, would always make it easier for us. When he spoke, we listened.”
Darius Slay once said he had lost all “respect” for Matt Patricia after playing for the former Lions head coach in Detroit. Since Patricia has joined the Eagles as a senior defensive analyst, something had to give.
“We talked about it during the offseason,” Slay said. “They called me I said, ‘It’s cool with me,’ because I want to do what’s best for the organization.
“We talked man-to-man. We have a great understanding. We both want to win. He is here to help me get better. He wants to get better as a coach. So we’re in good hands right now.”
The Eagles will make replicas of their new, Kelly green alternate jerseys for sale beginning Monday morning at 9 at their pro shop at the Linc. The shirts will also be available at the Eagles’ pro shops in Lancaster and Cherry Hill, N.J.
The Eagles will be off Saturday. Training camp will resume Sunday morning.