For the second week in a row, Eagles offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur will see a familiar face — a very familiar face — when he looks at the opposing sideline.
Last week, Shurmur put his offense up against Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who he spent eight years with on Andy Reid’s staff.
This week, the Eagles face the Panthers, whose defense is led by head coach Ron Rivera and defensive coordinator Sean McDermott.
Shurmur and Rivera were together on Reid’s staff from 1999 through 2003. McDermott and Shurmur coached together for 10 years under Reid and, more specifically, under Jim Johnson.
“Yeah, that original staff with Coach Reid, there are guys all over the place and we interact quite a bit,” Shurmur said. “(Spagnuolo and McDermott) are very similar how they deploy the defense. Some of the techniques of how they play up front, some of the coverage concepts are different. And again, you just have to follow the path of the guy we're talking about.
“Sean kind of reconnected with Ron Rivera, who was involved with the (Buccaneers coach) Lovie Smith, Tampa-two type of stuff and configuration, and so you see some of that, where Spags was kind of out of the nest, on his own, and then interacted with (Ravens coach) John (Harbaugh) down in Baltimore.
“So you kind of take on and you kind of add to yourself based on the experiences you've had, and I think that can be said for Sean.”
NFL
The Panthers have won nine straight games, with McDermott’s defense allowing just 14.4 points per game during that span.
Over the last three years, the Panthers have the No. 2 scoring defense in the NFL, behind only the Seahawks.
During the same span, the Eagles have the No. 4 scoring offense in the league, behind the Broncos, Patriots and Packers.
“They are really well-coached and the one thing that I think Sean does a great job of is he always makes adjustments,” Kelly said of McDermott.
“He always has a way to, if you're hurting him with something, he's going to make a counter move. So a game that goes on within the game and he does a really nice job with it.
“You can see it in each game, whether it was the Houston game or the Saints game, if somebody beat them with something or hurt them with something, he comes back and makes an adjustment on that and I think that’s part of what makes them a really good defense.”
In addition to Harbaugh, Spagnuolo, McDermott and Rivera, Bucs defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier is also a member of Johnson’s coaching tree.
Other former Reid assistants currently coaching in the NFL are Ravens offensive line coach Juan Castillo, Jets head coach Todd Bowles and Chiefs senior offensive analyst Brad Childress.
The Eagles, 3-3, and undefeated Panthers meet at 8:30 p.m. Sunday at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“It’s a tribute to the coaching staff that Andy Reid had established and set up because a lot of us from his first staff have moved on to … moved up in the world in terms of becoming coordinators, becoming head coaches,” Rivera said.
“And I think it’s kind of nice. It really is. It’s just a tribute to what Coach Reid had done and, quite honestly, a little bit of a tribute to the Eagles’ organization, to what Mr. (Jeff) Lurie has built there as far as the Eagles are concerned.”