Eagles Wake-Up Call: Jim Schwartz Leftovers

The Eagles' new defensive coordinator discussed his time away from football and more.

Jim Schwartz. (USA Today Sports)

Jim Schwartz. (USA Today Sports)

In his first media availability since the day he was hired in January, Jim Schwartz declined to assess many of his players because he doesn’t think enough time has elapsed to accurately gauge them. He did, however, discuss Fletcher Cox, Marcus Smith and a few others.

Here are several more highlights from his meeting with the media on Tuesday afternoon.

Schwartz said taking a break from coaching last year has helped him as the Eagles defensive coordinator.

“I think the biggest thing is looking at things from a different perspective. Looking at it through an official’s eyes. You know, when you’re on a team whether you’re the defensive coordinator, the head coach or quality control coach, you have a dog in the hunt, so to speak. You have a slanted perspective of what a foul is, what should be thrown, what shouldn’t be thrown. You’re always going to see it through that prism. When you’re truly neutral and you can just watch, I think you can learn a lot about how things get officiated and I learned an awful lot that way last year.”

The Eagles added four ex-Bills from Schwartz’s time in Buffalo in 2014, which shaped his role as the Eagles leaned on him a bit during free agency.

“Well, anytime you have experience with players you’re going to have greater insight than people that haven’t been up close and personal with them, so to speak. I’m not writing any checks and I’m not making any final decisions. But anytime we have a resource, whether it’s me, another coach, some scouts came from different organizations, you know, you always try to get some firsthand knowledge of a player, and I think it was obvious that I was comfortable with those guys.”

Schwartz also touched on the draft process and how important scheme fit is.

“Well, obviously it matters. You don’t draft guys blind. You don’t draft guys and say, you know, hey, let’s do something with them. I think our greatest input as coaches came probably before draft meetings, where there was a lot of back and forth and what we were going to ask players to do. What kind of skill sets we were looking for and what criteria we were going to judge them on. And the scouts could use that lens to be able to see those guys. Scouts had a very difficult job because they spent most of the college season or all of the college season, particularly for defensive players, even a little bit the case for offensive players, scouting for a system that changed. And that’s a very difficult situation.

“So one of the very first things we did when we got here was sit down and go through a couple days and talk about just blind of players, not talk about a particular player, but just generalizations, what a player’s going to be asked to do. What kind of guys you’ve had success with. What kind of guys you’ve had failures with. You know, try to be able to mold a model of what we’re looking for.”

Given Schwartz’s five-year tenure in Detroit, Doug Pederson has already started to use him as a resource.

“I’ve been a head coach before. I think that’s valuable insight to him. I think that’s one of the good things about him. He doesn’t have very much of an ego and he’s open minded when it comes to a lot of different things. The same thing goes with players. I see him talking to players all the time and getting their input on things. I think that’s all important. He’s going to make his own decisions. He’s his own man, and he’s going to have to find his own way. But sometimes people can have a little different — you know, a little different input or a little different experience that he might be able to draw from. He’s not shy about asking anybody their opinion.”

 Schwartz relayed what he’s learned about implementing a new defense in the first year, given his past few experiences with that.

“Every year is different and you can’t judge one year on something else. Everybody picks things up at a different pace. Players are different, you know, there is a different dynamic with coaches. I think if you prejudge anything and say this is what’s going to happen, I think you’re on the wrong track. You’ve got to keep an open mind. It’s hard to be patient in the NFL. But you have to be patient this time of year because we don’t have any games scheduled on Sunday and the most important thing is making progress on technique and fundamentals, and building a good foundation that you can draw on in September. I think that’s the most important thing now and anything else you just have to play it as it comes to you. You just have to judge everybody on this year and not what happened in the past.”

WHAT YOU MISSED

The Eagles released their training camp schedule.

“No one was able to get in the flow. It was odd.” Mychal Kendricks on his dip in performance last year.

“I don’t think players really have the confidence in the league to do the right thing.” Malcolm Jenkins on how the NFL handles concussions.

WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

Frank Reich hints that Sam Bradford faces competition at quarterback, reports Les Bowen of the Daily News.

Reich talked about the need for competition, even if an order has been established. Reich seemed to say Bradford has not been given the title of “starter, no matter what,” as is the case for, say, Tom Brady in New England. Attempts to clarify his remarks through the Eagles on Wednesday were unsuccessful.

“You’ve got to establish . . . a culture of competition,” Reich said. “This is one of the most competitive industries in the world and so, to say that there’s not competition, that’s just the furthest thing from the truth.

“So I don’t see the problem with creating order and competition at the same time, personally. Every one of us as a coach and a player, you’re working hard to get better, but in that process you have to establish order and things have a way of working themselves out.”

Leodis McKelvin is likely a favorite to start at corner, says PhillyVoice’s Jimmy Kempski.

Schwartz acknowledged a certain level of comfort with former players of his that the Eagles have brought aboard.

“Anytime you have experience with players you’re going to have greater insight than people that haven’t been up close and personal with them, so to speak,” he said. “I’m not writing any checks and I’m not making any final decisions. But anytime we have a resource, whether it’s me, another coach, some scouts came from different organizations, you know, you always try to get some firsthand knowledge of a player, and I think it was obvious that I was comfortable with those guys.”

It’s also noteworthy that the Eagles are paying McKelvin more than another presumed starting candidate, Nolan Carroll, who re-signed with Philly a week into free agency on a one-year deal worth $2,047,500.

It is assumed by most that Eric Rowe will start at one corner spot in his second year in the NFL. Beyond Rowe, there are a handful of players competing for the starting job on the other side. Many believe that job will be won by Carroll, who started for the Eagles a year ago. Very early into the Eagles’ offseason, I don’t see it that way.

COMING UP

An All-22 on what Rodney McLeod adds to the Eagles’ defense.