Rank the DCs of the post-JJ era

[jmac+djaxallday]

I've chosen to omit Bowles, Desai, and Patricia due to lack of sample/opportunity, but you can do with the list what you'd like.  Feel free to merge with other threads on the defense if this doesn't warrant its own thread.

1.  Fangio (2024-)

2.  Schwartz (2016-20)

3.  Gannon (2021-22)

4.  McDermott (2009-10)

5.  Castillo (2011-12)*

6.  Davis (2013-15)

*Fired six games into 2012 season

[Mike030270]

Fangio's defense as a whole is great but he's also got talent at a bunch of positions. Great thing is it's from rookies or just young guys

Schwartz had a great Dline that would constantly get pressure and sacks. Problem was everything else. If the QB didn't get the ball out in a certain amount of time then he's getting sacked. I do wonder what his defense would look like if he had better players in the secondary

[beto_eagles]

Juan Castillo #1

[Bwestbrook36]

1 hour ago, Mike030270 said:

Fangio's defense as a whole is great but he's also got talent at a bunch of positions. Great thing is it's from rookies or just young guys

Schwartz had a great Dline that would constantly get pressure and sacks. Problem was everything else. If the QB didn't get the ball out in a certain amount of time then he's getting sacked. I do wonder what his defense would look like if he had better players in the secondary

He has a boatload of talent in Cleveland and still isnt #1. Got to go Fangio here. 

[VaBeach_Eagle]

He's not post Jim Johnson, but I really enjoyed the D under Bud Carson and of course Buddy.

[Mortimer]

On 1/16/2025 at 5:25 PM, VaBeach_Eagle said:

He's not post Jim Johnson, but I really enjoyed the D under Bud Carson and of course Buddy.

The good old days.  Despite the team's success in this century, watching their absolutely devastating defense was the most fun I've had as a fan.  Well, except for the time Nick Foles became BDN.

[Mortimer]

On 1/16/2025 at 4:31 PM, beto_eagles said:

Juan Castillo #1

Maybe my memory is worse than I thought, but IIRC, he was fired after the game in which the defense played pretty well.

[Godfather]

Gym shorts helped win us a SB. He's number 1 at the moment

[VaBeach_Eagle]

3 hours ago, Mortimer said:

The good old days.  Despite the team's success in this century, watching their absolutely devastating defense was the most fun I've had as a fan.  Well, except for the time Nick Foles became BDN.

Definitely. The D was the most dominating D I'd ever seen, I'd say even above the 85 Bears. 

[brkmsn]

3 hours ago, Godfather said:

Gym shorts helped win us a SB. He's number 1 at the moment

I mean ... yeah ... we won and all, but did allow 613 yards and 29 1st downs despite NE only having the ball for less than 26 minutes. That was pretty much the farthest thing from a defensive Super Bowl. 

[VaBeach_Eagle]

21 minutes ago, brkmsn said:

I mean ... yeah ... we won and all, but did allow 613 yards and 29 1st downs despite NE only having the ball for less than 26 minutes. That was pretty much the farthest thing from a defensive Super Bowl. 

Don't forget, zero punts by the Patriots. 

[eagle45]

15 hours ago, Godfather said:

Gym shorts helped win us a SB. He's number 1 at the moment

He was instrumental in helping us get there, which counts for a lot.

Did absolutely nothing to help win it once in it.

[Aerolithe_Lion]

Billy Davis was better than Castillo. We had a string of games under him where no opponent scored over 21 pts. Let me look it up

Edit: 9 straight in 2013 and 12 of 13 regular season games

He wasn’t great, but Castillo had nothing on that

[ManchesterEagle]

3 hours ago, eagle45 said:

He was instrumental in helping us get there, which counts for a lot.

Did absolutely nothing to help win it once in it.

Right. Schwartz was massively underrated here. While he was DC of the Eagles, we averaged giving up 17 points in the playoffs, including the Pats game.

He had pretty much nothing at corner and linebacker.

Fangio has been superb. But he’s had more talent. 

[xxeaglesfanxx]

Is Fangio that good or is it the talent? I’ve heard mixed things about him. He has good defenses but when the talent isn’t there it’s average.

[Bwestbrook36]

Jfc you need talent to be good at something. You people think that if you cant win without talent you are no good. 

[Godfather]

On 1/18/2025 at 12:17 AM, brkmsn said:

I mean ... yeah ... we won and all, but did allow 613 yards and 29 1st downs despite NE only having the ball for less than 26 minutes. That was pretty much the farthest thing from a defensive Super Bowl. 

 

On 1/18/2025 at 12:25 PM, eagle45 said:

He was instrumental in helping us get there, which counts for a lot.

Did absolutely nothing to help win it once in it.

It was Brady. What he did against the Falcons and Vikings was impressive

[brkmsn]

25 minutes ago, Godfather said:

 

It was Brady. What he did against the Falcons and Vikings was impressive

Nobody ever held Brady under 500 yards passing before, I guess. 

He passed for an average of 286 yards per game that season and averaged 279.2 yards per game in his postseason career. But we managed to hold him to a disappointing 505 yards passing in the Super Bowl. So clearly, Schwartz is the best. 

[Godfather]

1 minute ago, brkmsn said:

Nobody ever held Brady under 500 yards passing before, I guess. 

He passed for an average of 286 yards per game that season and averaged 279.2 yards per game in his postseason career. But we managed to hold him to a disappointing 505 yards passing in the Super Bowl. So clearly, Schwartz is the best. 

Never said he was the best. I said he was number 1 at the moment

[Procus]

We had some pretty stellar DC's before Andy Reid was hired  Bud Carson oversaw a monster D in 91 when the Eagles led the league.  The 91 D was even more impressive than Buddy Ryan coached teams - who were more helter skelter, but scary.  Marion Campbell wasn't a good head coach, but he was a stout D coordinator for Dick Vermeil (which is how he got promoted to HC in the first place)