Second Thoughts

Head coach better check back for knife

Eagles Coach Doug Pederson may be  having his power usurped by defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, according to a report over the weekend that Schwartz denounced.
Eagles Coach Doug Pederson may be having his power usurped by defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz, according to a report over the weekend that Schwartz denounced.

Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz strongly denounced a report published over the weekend that he is angling behind the scenes for Doug Pederson's head coaching job.

"I'll say this, and I'll say this unequivocally: I am very comfortable with my relationship with Doug Pederson," Schwartz said Tuesday during his weekly news conference. "I know he's comfortable in his relationship with me. What I do here is, I work extremely hard to execute the defense the way that he has outlined it for me. OK? I'm very comfortable with that. Not everybody is privy to those instructions.

"If anybody misunderstands or misinterprets any actions, just know this: Coach Pederson is aware of everything that I do in this building and outside of the building."

Schwartz's comments are in response to a report from Jeff McLane of Philly.com that there is a feeling within the Eagles' facility that the former Detroit Lions coach is waiting for an opportunity to replace Pederson as head coach.

"At the very least, the optics aren't favorable," McLane wrote. "One Eagles staffer said the only coach who probably doesn't think Schwartz is trying to undercut Pederson is Pederson. Three players, who requested anonymity, said that it has become well-known in the locker room that Schwartz is waiting to usurp power."

After admitting that he had not read the original report, Schwartz admitted that his upfront coaching style can sometimes be misinterpreted.

"I just know the way that Doug outlined the job for me," Schwartz said. "It has nothing to do with having my personality. He embraced that. Look, I can be brash. I can be in your face. It's the only way I know to coach defense. As long as Coach Pederson is fine with it, I'm going to continue that."

He's fired

A middle school assistant football coach in Roswell, N.M., has been fired following a game where his players were using a racist word. The odd part is that he said he was the one trying to stop the problem -- and the head coach still has his job.

Thomas Davis was an assistant coach at Mesa Middle School for two years. He said confronting players about their use of the "n-word" with each other during and after a Mesa football game cost him his job.

"I did what I've been trained to do, corral the incident," Davis told KRQE-TV in Albuquerque. "If you're not head in charge, you take it to the people in charge and let them handle it. That's exactly what I did."

Davis, who is black, said he took his concerns about the offensive language to his head coach, who told him it wasn't his job to reprimand the players. The two then got in a fight.

"What I was taught being a coach for so long is that you gather the situation and you nip it in the bud before it gets any worse. Apparently, it didn't get done that way and that's when it escalated into something totally different," Davis said.

According to police reports, the team's head coach, Gabriel Flores, called 911 in reference to a fight. Both coaches were asked to leave the field, but only one lost his job.

Davis said this isn't the first time he's confronted players about their use of the offensive word. He said the players were using the word with each other and were not directing it any opponents or black players.

Sports quiz

How many playoff games did the Detroit Lions win with Jim Schwartz as their head coach?

Answer

None. The Lions lost to the New Orleans Saints in a 2011 NFC wild-card game in their only playoff appearance under Schwartz.

Sports on 09/15/2017

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