The guessing game of musical chairs continues for who will be the Eagles next defensive coordinator. By now we’re pretty sure the man for the job will be working this Sunday at the Super Bowl. But it may not be the guy we currently think has the inside track.
My guess is it will be Winston Moss (pictured above), the Packers assistant head coach and inside LB coach…
Most people in the know think it will be Packers DB coach Darren Perry…others say Bears DB coach Jon Hoke, who’s already been interviewed. Some are still saying Packers DL coach Mike Trgovac is in the mix. I’m leaning toward Moss…
Moss joined the Packers 5 years ago as linebackers coach and a year later was named assistant head coach/LB coach. His position responsibility was specialized to inside linebackers with the addition of Kevin Greene to the coaching staff in 2009. You may also remember Moss as a pretty fair country linebacker himself, coming out of the U. of Miami football program as a 4-year player, then playing 11 straight years in the NFL with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1987-90), Los Angeles Raiders (1991-94) and Seattle Seahawks (1995-97).
Moss has paid his coaching dues. He began his coaching career in 1998 as a defensive quality-control assistant for the Seattle Seahawks, the club for whom he played his final NFL season. He then spent a total of six seasons with the Saints, where he also coached linebackers. Originally hired by the Saints in 2000 as defensive assistant/quality control, he was promoted to linebackers coach near the end of that season to replace John Bunting, who departed to become head coach at the University of North Carolina.
I like Moss’ resume, and especially the reports of his outstanding leadership skills in getting the most out of his players…I also like his role in the transformation of the Packers defense to a 3-4 system (three down linemen, four LB’s)… not that a 3-4 is really in the Eagles’ future, but nice to know a DC has that card in his bag. Moss has coached up guys like Nick Barnett, A.J. Hawk, Brandon Chillar and Desmond Bishop from points in their careers where there were some question marks. I like how that experience could translate very nicely to the next edition of the Eagles defense.
At age 45, Moss is young enough to be able to relate well to the Eagles youth movement… but also old enough and decorated enough as a veteran of the NFL wars to command respect.
To be fair, another “unexpected” candidate who may surprise us by getting the job comes from the Steelers’ side of the ball—DB coach Ray Horton, the 10-year veteran cornerback for the Bengals and the Cowboys who’s now entering his 17th year as an assistant coach in the NFL.
Another interesting note about Winston Moss— he has ties to working with the late Jim Johnson while JJ was still in Seattle back in 1998. Johnson was the linebackers coach back then. Moss studied under JJ in his first NFL coaching job as defensive QC assistant. That reference won’t seal the deal for Moss with the Eagles…but it sure can’t hurt!
And for many Eagles fans, much of the drama surrounding the Super Bowl this weekend will be waiting for the final whistle, when the Birds will receive permission to interview their mystery men and narrow this DC job down to a finalist.
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