What Jonathan Gannon's Return Will Mean for Eagles' Defense

Continuity will help the Eagles on and off the field with the defensive coordinator's return

After weeks of uncertainty, all doors are now presumably shut on Jonathan Gannon when it comes to a head-coaching position in the NFL and the 39-year-old defensive coordinator will return for a second season with the Eagles as Nick Sirianni’s defensive boss.

In a different environment perhaps that wouldn’t have been the case as Gannon generated multiple interviews around the league and was seriously considered in Houston and Denver before finally being ruled out by the Texans over the weekend, according to an NFL source.

A great communicator, Gannon’s interviews were described as home runs but political concerns took teams interested him in other directions.

The Broncos hired Nathaniel Hackett, who has had eight years of offensive coordinator experience with Buffalo, Jacksonville, and Green Bay versus Gannon's one year as a DC in Philadelphia.

Houston. meanwhile, is honing in on Lovie Smith out of left field after the high-profile racial discrimination lawsuit by Brian Flores leveled at the league.

Minnesota was the third team to interview Gannon but was looking to get away from any Mike Zimmer tint and Gannon’s career arc really took off with the Vikings as a Zimmer assistant.

Gannon’s return to the Eagles will not be liked by some fans weaned on a different era of football and expect things that just don’t exist in the modern NFL.

Continuity alone is perhaps the biggest positive as Philadelphia will not be searching for a third DC in three years. More so, Andy Weidl and the scouting department can now focus on defensive talent that fits into what Gannon wants to be accomplished.

The knocks on Gannon have typically been related to a lack of aggression and the failure his defense was against good quarterbacks in 2021 and into the playoffs against Tom Brady.

In fact, the dummy’s guide to the Eagles’ 2021 defense was good, sometimes very good, against bad quarterbacks and bad, usually very bad, against good signal-callers.

The fact that the unit performed so well against the teams the Eagles should have handled is the foundational piece that should be focused on, however,  because that’s where the building begins. 

An outlier here and there against lesser opponents would have been a bigger warning sign than struggling against Brady or Patrick Mahomes because guess what? Most other teams do as well.

From Weeks 11 through 17 when the Eagles made their postseason run against admittedly poor opposition, the defense allowed 74 points over a 4-1 span, allowing just 14.8 points per game.

That’s the starting point, stifling offenses that are not accomplished with no worry about letdown even with talent deficiencies.

If Weidl and Co. give Gannon a finisher on the edge, a player capable of excelling in 4I technique to open up multiple fronts, as well as a true playmaking linebacker, and a safety that can handle intricate disguises on the back end, the Eagles’ defense would really be cooking with gas.

And then you can start talking about the new DC in 2023 when second place on the coaching carosuel won't be Gannon's fate.

-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's EagleMaven and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on both PhillyVoice.com and YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen

Ed Kracz is the publisher of SI.com’s Eagle Maven and co-host of the Eagles Unfiltered Podcast. Check out the latest Eagles news at www.SI.com/NFL/Eagles or www.eaglemaven.com and please follow him on Twitter: @kracze.