Early Birds: Doug Pederson to "turn the keys" of defense over to Jim Schwartz

For the first time since he coached Calvary Baptist Academy from 2005-08, Doug Pederson will be responsible for more than just offensive players. But even though he's the head coach, Pederson wanted to find a defensive coordinator who could serve as "head coach" of the defense. That's why he considered Jim Schwartz such a critical hire.

"I wanted to find a defensive coordinator that I could trust; sort of that head coach on defense," Pederson said. "He's been that head coach, obviously, but now he's a guy that you can turn the keys over to him and say, 'Hey, this is your deal, because my focus is going to be more on offense.'

"I'm intrigued by his philosophy. This spring, as we start diving into the Xs-and-Os with our players, I'll get a little more involved with what he's doing on that side of the ball. Being in this position now as a head coach, it allows me to bounce around and see that side of the ball a little bit more, because I really haven't, as you know, being a coordinator, you're focused on offense. So this really gives me that ability to really understand his style and gives me that freedom in the spring to do that."

Pederson said it's important that he spends time with the defense and special teams to show he's "not just stuck on offense." He learned that from Andy Reid. During practices, Pederson said he would spend half his time with the offense and half his time with the defense. But he will not split his time during meetings. Pederson said "the majority of my time is going to be in the quarterback room putting my stamp on that position," and he feels comfortable giving the defensive responsibilities to Schwartz.

That was part of the appeal of the job for Schwartz. He wanted to pair with an offensive coach. Schwartz and Pederson did not have a relationship before they came to Philadelphia, but Pederson said he admired Schwartz's defenses from afar.

"Going against him for so many years, it's an attack style of defense. He's done a great job over the years. He's developed pass rushers," Pederson said. "You look at guys like [Cliff] Avril, you look at [Ndamukong] Suh, guys that were impact players for him in Detroit ... Kyle Williams in Buffalo and Mario Williams in Buffalo. Guys that come off and really attack the passer. That's what's intriguing, when you can put pressure with four, instead of five or six, and you don't have to blitz all the time, it makes it a better defense."

Reid's defenses have been known for blitzing. Pederson said Schwartz would call blitzes at times. However, Pederson said the best quarterbacks understand blitz packages and get the ball out of their hands quickly, so it helps when a defense can get a four-man rush and drop seven players into coverage.

"You have to blitz," Pederson said. "But if you can just do it with four, that's what intrigued me about Jim."