Paul Domowitch continues his road trip visiting former Eagles. This time he checked in on Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott:
"Following somebody who has had a lot of success, the expectations are almost unfair," [Panthers Head Coach Ron] Rivera said. "When I was playing for the Bears, Vince Tobin came in and replaced Buddy after he left to become the Eagles' head coach. Vince never got the respect he deserved because it was Buddy this, Buddy that. But when you look at some of the things Vince did, you say, ‘Wow, that's pretty doggone good.'
“So when I look at Sean's situation — and Andy and I talked about it — just the expectation level was so great, Andy thought this would be a great opportunity for Sean to come down here and reinvent who he is."
Our memories of McDermott's convoluted schemes are certainly tempered by Juan Castillo's disastrous coaching job last year. I wonder how much following Jim Johnson really doomed the former Eagles coordinator. Certainly we know that he struggled to command respect from veteran players.