R.I.P. Jim Johnson

This has been a tough year for the Philadelphia Sports community – first Harry Kalas, then Danny Ozark, Gary Papa, and now Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Johnson. Johnson lost his battle with cancer yesterday less than 3 months after taking a leave of adsense with the team to focus on his health. The loss is a big one. I have faith that Sean Mcdermott  will follow in the footsteps of other Johnson disciples such as Ron Rivera, Steve Spagnuolo, and John Harbaugh, but Johnson brought 50 years of experience to his role. While the others may be able to match intelligence, they can’t match the experience.

sNever has a coach been a better match for this city. While Buddy Ryan was beloved, his teams were short on results. Ryan also had better talent. Johnson had the knack of understanding the strengths of his players, and maximizing those strengths. Year after year, Johnson made do with whatever talent was provided to him, and year after year Johnson posted one of the leagues best defenses, and that consistency led to results that Ryan could only dream of.

The only regret is that the Eagles couldn’t pull it out for him last year. Instead his in his last game, the defense let him down. Regardless – it’s those 10 years of consistently outthinking the opposing offenses that I’ll remember.

Thank you Jim, you’ll be missed.