New coordinator Sean Desai brings ‘workman mentality’ to Eagles defense

Desai has inherited a talented defense. He vows to "build this thing from the ground up."

Sean Desai, Eagles defensive coordinator, speaks to the media at the NovaCare Complex on Thursday.Read moreTyger Williams / Staff Photographer

Published May 11, 2023, 6:21 p.m. ET

New Eagles defensive coordinator Sean Desai takes pride in his East Coast roots. He grew up in Connecticut and began his coaching career as a graduate student at Temple roughly 17 years ago. After NFL stints with the Chicago Bears and Seattle Seahawks, Desai’s journey has led him back to Philadelphia.

Desai, 40, met with reporters on Thursday afternoon for the first time since he was hired by coach Nick Sirianni. He discussed parts of his overall defensive philosophy and also acknowledged several looming position battles. However, his response about his return to Philadelphia will likely endear him to fans.

“What’s attracted me to [the city] is I think the personality, the grit,” Desai said. “You’ve got to earn it, and you’ve got to earn it every day. You’ve got to put in the work. We’re tough-minded people. We don’t take stuff from other people.

“That doesn’t mean you do it in an egotistical way, doesn’t mean you do it in any type of way, but you know who you are, you know what your identity is, and you try to achieve that identity every single day. You have this workman mentality that you’re here to put in the work. That’s kind of how I’ve built my career, with that mentality. That it wasn’t given to me and I had to earn it.

“I learned a lot that year in Philly. Getting through the doctoral program at Temple while I’m coaching, and then creating and taking advantage of the opportunities that were given, that’s kind of where I came of age.”

Desai is hoping to get off on the right foot as he replaces his predecessor, Jonathan Gannon. The two coaches have some similarities in their zone schemes, but Desai will attempt to forge his own style in his second coordinator gig. He previously served as Chicago’s defensive coordinator in 2021.

Gannon helped construct one of the most tenacious and successful defenses in franchise history, although his tenure in Philadelphia will be tainted by his unit’s poor showing in Super Bowl LVII. The Eagles lost, 38-35, and were outscored in the second half, 24-11. Chiefs coach Andy Reid, former offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, and quarterback Patrick Mahomes picked apart Gannon’s scheme with an assortment of looks that featured pre-snap motion and left the defense completely fooled on several occasions.

It was later revealed that Gannon started discussing the Cardinals coaching gig with general manager Monti Ossenfort ahead of the Super Bowl, which violated the league’s tampering policy. In turn, the Eagles swapped midround draft picks with the Cardinals, jumping 28 spots from pick No. 94 to No. 66 to select safety Sydney Brown.

Gannon’s rough closure with the Eagles could lead to added pressure for his successor.

“I’m new and they did have a tremendous year and we’re not going to take anything away from the defense that they had because it was historic,” Desai said. “Seventy sacks, third most in over 100 years of the NFL — we’ve got to give the credit where it’s due. But having said that, I think the big thing we’ve got to remind ourselves, and we’re talking about it with the players also, is every year is a new chapter, and past predictors don’t necessarily indicate future success in this league and really in any industry.

“We’ve got to make sure we take the mindset that we start from the bottom again and build this foundation and build this thing from the ground up, regardless of what [the play call is]. If you’re playing Cover 1, go ask 32 defensive coordinators, there’s pretty much only a couple ways you can play outside leverage in Cover 1.

“It’s about reestablishing those techniques and those fundamentals to be able to do it at a high level and giving them different tools and traits based on route progression and how you’re working to excel. That’s what we’re going to really build on.”

Said offensive coordinator Brian Johnson: “In the short time that I’ve spent with [Desai], he’s incredibly bright, he’s incredibly detailed.”

The Eagles defense lost five starters, including defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, linebackers T.J. Edwards and Kyzir White, and safeties Marcus Epps and C.J. Gardner-Johnson. However, the Eagles retained a handful of key veterans, including Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox, James Bradberry, and Darius Slay. Desai also will benefit from an infusion of talented draft picks, headlined by defensive tackle Jalen Carter, linebacker Nolan Smith, cornerback Kelee Ringo, and Brown.

The intricacies of Desai’s scheme will be revealed throughout training camp, which is scheduled to begin in just over two months. Until then, Desai is planning to fully implement his playbook and teaching points across the locker room.

“My overall defensive philosophy, I’ve talked to our players and our coaches, it’s something that we want to build together,” Desai said. “I don’t think it’s something that I can impart on somebody and say, this is the all-inclusive way to play defense. The one thing that we’ve agreed on and we’ve talked about as a group is there’s a certain mentality that we want to reflect. I really believe the city’s teams got to reflect the city, and we’ve got some grit, we’ve got some toughness, we want to be able to impose our will.

“We want to make sure that people feel us. We want to be able to run. We want to be able to hit, and we want to play smart. I think that’s a reflection of, really the history of the Philadelphia Eagles defense, and a reflection of this city, and that’s what we want to be. We want to be an encompassing part of that.”

At the conclusion of a recent meeting, Desai posed a simple question to his players before they departed. He asked the group if it knew what the word palpable meant. By definition, palpable equates to “capable of being touched or felt.” For Desai, he’s hoping this particular message strikes home.

“That’s what we want,” Desai said. “We want to be able to be felt, whether you’re watching us on TV, whether you’re in the stadium, and obviously on the field. We want to make sure people feel this Philadelphia Eagles defense.”