To win over Eagles fans, all you need to do is drop bunch of platitudes in your debut press conference:

Checklist:

  • team has to reflect the city
  • grit
  • toughness
  • “impose our will”
  • taking nothing for granted
  • people need to feel us
  • need to be able to hit
  • play smart
  • mention the history of the Eagles defense
  • team has to reflect the city (2nd mention)

That’s not to say this guy doesn’t believe what he’s saying. Listing out blue collar bullet points wins hearts and minds in Philadelphia while being more or less meaningless at the same time. All Desai had to do on Thursday was deliver a good first impression, which he did, so ultimately this debut media session was successful.

Time will tell if “grit” and “toughness” and being a reflection of the city results in more blitzing, or more press man coverage, or a more aggressive defensive style. We’ve talked at length about how Philadelphia pines for a defensive coordinator that largely does not exist, simply because we’re in an epoch of football where zone coverage and four-man rush is effective and popular. If Sean Desai has some Jim Johnson in him, that’s great, but the more realistic scenario is that he’s a version of Jonathan Gannon or Vic Fangio that is more quick to adapt within the game and make adjustments on the fly. More than anything scheme-related, that’s what Gannon’s biggest detractors wanted. They wanted a response when things weren’t going well and a plan to slow down elite quarterbacks. We’ll see if Desai can do that.

Full presser here: