Billy Davis, the new Philadelphia Eagles Defensive Coordinator, has upset Eagles fans, and he hasn’t even schemed a game yet.
Eagles new Head Coach Chip Kelly (who seems to have something against hiring good coaches who happen to be black) hired the now-former Cleveland Browns Linebacker Coach, but this space wonders if he bothered to check on Davis’ time as the San Francisco 49ers Defensive Coordinator. In 2006, this space reprinted a blast by Oakland Tribune Columnist Monte Poole. Let’s pick up some of the more juicy comments:
More to the point, the defensive coordinator Billy Davis — who drifts between the 4-3 scheme and the 3-4 scheme — not only has been incapable of masking these deficiencies but also seems to find ways to accentuate them.
Consider, please, San Diego’s sixth offensive play. Tight end Antonio Gates, arguably the best in the NFL, left the huddle and split wide left. Across from Gates was a man named T. J. Slaughter, listed as a linebacker but more accurately described as a special teams player.
This is what one might call a mismatch.
“I saw that they had a linebacker out there on him, and I thought to myself, ‘Could that be?’” Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers said, resisting the urge to giggle.
While San Francisco’s playing personnel leaves a lot to be desired, with an urgent need for upgrades in the secondary, Davis also is proving himself profoundly replaceable.
And Poole suggested then-Assistant Head Coach Mike Singletary. The 49ers hired him as their head coach in 2009.
Why Chip Kelly elected to pick Billy Davis is a mystery. Especially since he could have made an offer to the much superior Mike Singletary, who’s currently the Assistant To The Head Coach for The Minnesota Vikings.
Stay tuned.