Pretty surprising to hear this just a day before the Eagles last game. There has certainly been some talk about whether Schwartz deserved to be brought back or not, but Jim calling his own shot and leaving himself was not something I expected. I originally took this news as a negative against Howie, however something other than Howie’s ineptitude appears to be the source of Jim taking a step back. His health.
That’s some interesting information right there. Jim is a hard nosed coach, and I can’t imagine how hard it must be to maintain that intensity day to day while dealing with surgeries. But I do wonder how much the Eagles current situation has impacted his decision. Their current 2021 outlook certainly makes retiring an easy decision. None the less, I personally hope Jim has a good 2021, and can hopefully return to coaching in 2022.
Looking back at Schwartz’s tenure in Philadelphia and I can confidently say that it was a successful one. He gave the Eagles a top 10 defense his first 2 seasons here, and then has done a solid job with practice squad caliber players outside of the DL since 2018. I do think there’s been a lot of questions surrounding his biggest weaknesses though, such as his influence on personnel, his stubbornness in not scheming for his players, playcalling in critical moments, and the simplicity of his play designs. These questions have led to us wonder if a change on the defensive side was necessary for 2021. But at the end of the day, I can confidently say that Schwartz has been the best DC that this team has had in quite a while. He brought stability and consistency that has been sorely lacking. It will be interesting to see what the Eagles do to replace him.
The Philly Blitz 