Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

Great DCs

Posted July 21st, 2025 | 1 Comment »

One of the things I’m most excited about heading into 2025 is seeing how Vic Fangio’s defense performs in his second season as defensive coordinator. Fangio had about as good an opening season as you can. His defense finished the season #1 in yards allowed and they played a key part in the Eagles winning Super Bowl LIX. The only thing missing was a shutout or a game that made Jerry Jones openly weep.

The Eagles have had a lot of great DCs over the years. You can go all the way back to Marion Campbell and the Eagles SB team from 1980. I’m going to focus on things since the Buddy Ryan era as we discuss the different coaches. Who is the best defensive coach of the last 40 years?

Here are my rankings.

Jim Johnson
Vic Fangio
Jim Schwartz
Bud Carson
Buddy Ryan

Jim Johnson – 1999-2008

Johnson never won the Super Bowl. He never had the #1 defense. But he just missed on both. The Eagles were 4th in yards in 2002 and 3rd in 2008. They were 2nd in points allowed in both 2001, 2002 and 2004. That 2004 team reached the SB, but lost 24-21 to the Patriots. Johnson’s defenses were generally good in the playoffs. They allowed 17.4 points per game over 17 postseason games, the equivalent of a full season. That’s impressive. The Eagles were 10-7 in those games, with 5 NFC championship game appearances.

Andy Reid tried to hire Marvin Lewis as the DC in 1999, but Lewis decided to stay in Baltimore. Johnson was the second option and proved to be a great choice. Reid had faced his defense when Johnson was with the Colts. JJ’s fire-zone scheme impressed Reid.

Campbell and Ryan both did their share of blitzing while running the Eagles defense. Johnson put a twist on that with his zone blitzes. He wanted pressure, but also wanted good coverage. This meant bringing a blitzer and then dropping a rusher into coverage…the zone blitz. QBs couldn’t make their hot reads as effectively against this. That forced them to hold the ball and gave time for the blitzer to get there.

The scheme led to sacks and turnovers. The Eagles were dead last in takeaways in 1998. In JJ’s first season, the Eagles led the league in takeaways. That wasn’t an accident.

Johnson wanted those turnovers, but he also wanted to limit big plays. He was of the belief that if you forced an offense to work methodically down the field it would be harder for them to score. There would be a dropped pass or a holding penalty. Or maybe the defense would make a play. Once offenses got to the Eagles 40-yard line, Johnson changed. He got aggressive. You didn’t have to worry about big plays at that point so you would just attack.

If there is one player you think of when talking about JJ, it is Brian Dawkins. Dawk started 42 games prior to JJ becoming the DC. Dawk had 7 INTs, 1 FF and 2 sacks over those three years. Dawk was used as a free safety. JJ saw him as a weapon and turned Dawk loose. In 1999 Dawk had 4 INTs, 6 FFs and 1.5 sacks. That performance led Dawk to his first Pro Bowl.

Dawk was special because of his ability to make plays all over the field. He could fly off the edge, lock up WRs in man coverage or go back and play centerfield. Dawk was a good run defender and was right at home playing in the box.

I’m going with Johnson as the top DC due to his 10 years of running the Eagles defense and the consistent success he had. Johnson had players come and go. The only constant was him and success. And Dawk.

Vic Fangio – 2024-present

It may seem crazy to put Fangio so high on this list after just one season. I think he deserves that when you look at what he did. The Eagles finished with the #1 defense in the regular season, something they hadn’t done since 1991. The Eagles won the Super Bowl, with the defense playing a great game. The Chiefs didn’t cross midfield until almost the 2-minute mark of the third quarter. The game was 34-0 at that point. The Eagles defense had outscored the Chiefs offense.

Fangio was given good talent to work with, but we’ve seen more talented Eagles defenses in the past. Fangio found a way to get the most out of his players. They played well as individuals, but more importantly played well as a unit. The coverage by the back six or seven was outstanding. The Eagles allowed the fewest passing yards in the league, at only 174.2 per game. They were 3rd in passer rating allowed. They were 6th in completion percentage. And they did this while facing Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Jordan Love, Jayden Daniels, Matt Stafford and Baker Mayfield.

Fangio has a simple idea. He wants to keep both safeties deep as much as possible. He is willing to play with a light box, which can invite teams to run the ball. Big plays come from the passing game so Fangio is more concerned with stopping that. The Eagles pass defense was great in 2024. The run defense finished 10th in yards allowed so it wasn’t like teams had a lot of success on the ground. Fangio took these simple ideas and got his players to execute them at a high level.

If you think of one player when talking about Fangio, it has to be Zack Baun. He went from role player to All-Pro. Fangio saw something in Baun. That vision turned out to be brilliant. Baun had an amazing season and turned linebacker from a question mark to a major strength.

That’s part of what made 2024 so special. Baun was an unknown. The defense got major contributions from three rookies. Nolan Smith was considered a question mark heading into the season. Nakobe Dean hadn’t done much in his career. The Eagles were 26th in yards and 30th in points allowed in 2023. Fangio didn’t exactly inherit a juggernaut.

Fangio turned this collection of players into a great defense, one of the best in team history. It is one of the best coaching jobs I’ve ever seen. No one realistically thought the Eagles defense would be at that level. The hope was that if things went right they could be a Top 10 unit. Now the question is if the Eagles can stay at this level for the next few years. Fangio could cement a special place in team history if they do.

Jim Schwartz – 2016-2020

The Eagles ran the 3-4 under Chip Kelly. I was thrilled when Schwartz was hired in 2016 and brought the 4-3 back to town. This was a better fit for Fletcher Cox, Brandon Graham and the other DL. It helped that Schwartz was a veteran DC with a proven track record. He had multiple Top 10 defenses with the Titans. The Lions defense improved under Schwartz. He was DC for one year in Buffalo and they were 4th in points and yards allowed. This was the guy the Eagles needed after three tough years with Bill Davis running the show.

Schwartz improved the Eagles defense right away in 2016. They went from 30th in yards allowed all the way up to 13th. In 2017 the defense finished 4th overall in points and yards. You may also recall the Eagles won Super Bowl LII. They gave up 613 yards and 33 points in the game, but made just enough plays to win the game. BG’s strip sack is arguably the greatest play in Eagles history.

Schematically Schwartz wasn’t all that complicated. He was old school and believed in stopping the run. He wanted his rushers to be able to attack. His coverages weren’t complicated and the pass defense was vulnerable at times. Some fans don’t appreciate how good of a job Schwartz did.

Those numbers were only through early October last year. Still, you can see the overall picture. Schwartz was worlds better than Gannon/Desai/Patricia.

There isn’t one player I completely associate with Schwartz. I guess Fletcher Cox would probably be the best candidate. Schwartz brought out the best in his stud DT. In 2018 Cox had 10.5 sacks, 12 TFLs and 34 QB hits. Those are incredibly impressive numbers for a DT. Cox made the Pro Bowl every year he played for Schwartz.

The one complaint with Schwartz is that he didn’t do a good job of developing young talent. His defense thrived with players already in their prime (Cox, BG, Nigel Bradham, Malcolm Jenkins, Rodney McLeod, Patrick Robinson, Chris Long, etc.). I think that can be forgiven since he delivered the first Lombardi Trophy to South Philly.

Bud Carson – 1991-1994

I don’t think nearly enough people appreciate what a great coach Carson was. His first 10 defenses in the NFL finished 8th or better in yards allowed. That was with the Steelers and Rams of the 70’s and early 80’s. He worked for several more teams before landing in Philly in 1991. Succeeding Buddy Ryan wasn’t easy, but Carson managed to pull it off. In his first season, the Eagles had one of the greatest defenses in NFL history.

Opposing quarterbacks completed just 44.1 percent of passes, the lowest rate for any defense since 1978. They led the NFL with 55 sacks and 43 forced fumbles. They finished third with 26 interceptions. And the defense wasn’t one-dimensional: The Eagles allowed just 2.97 yards per carry on the ground, which ranks fifth since 1978. They put up these obscene numbers in standard stats despite playing the fourth-toughest defensive schedule in the league. Their division rivals finished first (Washington), fourth (Dallas) and sixth (New York) in offensive DVOA.

Those numbers are mind-boggling.

Buddy Ryan built the defense with his personnel moves, but it was Carson who put together the playbook that brought out the best in them. Carson had complicated gameplans for each opponent. He wanted to shut down the run and then attack the QB. Carson wanted his players to out-think the opponent and out-play them.

The Eagles finished Top 6 or better in yards allowed in 3 of his 4 seasons. The one year they struggled was 1993, right after Reggie left. Injuries hit and the defense had all kinds of issues. The team only made the postseason once with Carson running the defense. He did his job. The offense had issues and the team had some terrible injury luck.

If there is one player I think of with Carson it is Seth Joyner. He was certainly good under Buddy, but took his game to another level in 1991. Joyner made his first Pro Bowl and actually finished 5th in MVP voting. He had 6.5 sacks, 3 INTs, 6 FFs, 4 FRs and even scored a pair of TDs. He was at his best in the infamous House of Pain Game.

Carson is one of the great DCs in the history of the NFL. He had #1 defenses with three different teams. His Gang Green unit is the last to finish first in total defense, run defense and pass defense.

Buddy Ryan – 1986-1990

Buddy is the reason I’m an Eagles fan so it kills me to put him this low. The problem is that he spent five years building a great defense and got fired before he could really see the unit at its best. The Eagles highest ranking under Ryan was 8th in yards allowed and 5th in points. They were #1 against the run in 1990. The defense led the league in takeaways in 1987 and 1989.

You have to talk about takeaways when you talk about Buddy. Most defensive coaches focus on stopping the offense. That wasn’t enough for Buddy. He wanted to take the ball away. Even more than that, Buddy wanted to score. Getting the ball was only half the battle. Why let offensive players have all the fun? The Eagles defense scored 7 TDs in 1989 and 1990 combined.

How did Buddy make all of this happen? Attacking. He wanted to stuff the run and then unleash blitzers to attack the QB. That would lead to sacks, fumbles and INTs. Buddy brought his famous 46 Defense to Philly. It took a few years for the team to master it, but it was dominant at times. The one game that comes to mind is the Body Bag Game.

If you’re thinking of one player when you think of Buddy it has to be Reggie White. Buddy was creative with his defensive star. He knew how to bring out the best in #92. Reggie played in 76 games for Buddy and had 82 sacks in those games. They were a great combination. Reggie was All-Pro in each season under Ryan and was the Defensive Player of the Year in 1987.

Beyond stats, Buddy brought attitude to Philly. That may sound silly today, but you need to understand how things were back then. Dallas was still America’s Team in the mid-80’s. Washington had won a Super Bowl and played in another. They had some dominant teams. The Giants were building a great defense and were a regular playoff team. The Eagles were a nobody. Ryan never delivered fully on his promises, but he did build something that got the attention of the other teams and gave us a fun era of Eagles football.

Thank you Buddy.

*****

Emmitt Thomas ran the Eagles defense from 1995-1998. They had some great moments in that period. He and Ray Rhodes came up with some really good gameplans during those years. They were the first people I heard talk about “mush rush”, which they did in a 1996 win over the Falcons. They blitzed Brett Favre a ton in a 1997 win where the Packers only scored 9 points.

Bill Davis ran the Eagles D under Chip Kelly. The highlight was a shutout win over the Giants in 2014.

Jonathan Gannon ran the defense from 2021-2022. The Eagles had a franchise record 69 sacks in 2022 and made the Super Bowl. Gannon was incredibly frustrating because of his soft coverages, among other things.

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One Comment on “Great DCs”

  1. 1 The Linc - ESPN’s NFL roster rankings have the Eagles in second place - SportSourcio said at 10:03 AM on July 22nd, 2025:

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