Contingency Plan? It Feels Like Jim Schwartz And The Eagles Could Do Business Again

It's become a Hollywood trope for a reason. Close friends of the opposite sex who make a deal.

'If neither of us find someone, let's get married at 50.'

Contingency plans exist for a reason in all walks of life and it sure feels like a potential 2027 reunion between the Eagles and their former defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz is the fallback for both sides.

When he left the NovaCare Complex on Jan. 7 2021, the spin was that Schwartz would take some time away from coaching with some even throwing the word “retirement” around.

Turns out the savvy Schwartz was getting ahead of what he felt was coming and three months later, he was the defensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.

Ultimately, Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie moved off of then-head coach Doug Pederson after deciding the Super Bowl LII-winning mentor’s plans to move forward with his coaching staff (Press Taylor as offensive coordinator and either Matt Burke or Cory Undlin at DC to replace Schwartz) were not the right direction.

Long-regarded as one of the best defensive minds in the sport, Schwartz has kept delivering top-tier defenses since leaving Philadelphia, especially excelling in Cleveland, where the veteran coach inherited perhaps the most dominant defender in football, Myles Garrett.

Over the past three seasons, the Browns defenses were Nos. 1, 4 and 4 in the NFL while attempting to prop up one of the game’s least-productive offenses over that span.

In 2023, Schwartz was named the NFL’s Assistant Coach of the Year and after setting the single-season sack record last season, Garrett was named Defensive Player of the Year.

Ironically, former Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski got another opportunity to be a head coach in Atlanta, and Schwartz was passed over for promotion in Cleveland, in favor of the offensive-minded Todd Monken.

Instead of propping up the Browns again, Schwartz resigned with two years left on his existing DC contract (2026 and a team option for 2027).

Ostensibly, Cleveland isn’t going to hold Schwartz hostage in 2027 so the plan right now is to sit out in 2026 and return in 2027.

The Reunion

Don’t be surprised if that is in Philadelphia.

The Eagles own well-regarded DC, Vic Fangio, is on the year-to-year plan and will turn 68 during training camp this summer.

Already, Fangio has seriously pondered whether to walk away after both the 2024 and 2025 seasons, and Schwartz was part of the contingency plan this year had Fangio walked away, according to multiple reports.

Pulling that off would have been easier said than done with the Browns playing hardball. However, GM Howie Roseman and his counterpart in Cleveland, Andrew Berry, have a very strong relationship dating back to Berry’s stint in Philadelphia under Roseman as Vice President of Football Operations.

More so, Berry’s twin brother Adam, is the Eagles’ current Vice President of Football Operations and Strategy.

You just get the feel that Schwartz and the Eagles have an understanding. That said, Fangio is so good that he will be allowed to determine his future and he could always decide to go into the 2027 season.

At that point Schwartz can’t just wait around and will almost certainly take another DC job.

There is also the complication of scheme change where Schwartz’s aggressive wide-9 mindset up front is far different than Fangio’s variable front, gap-and-a-half approach.

In the back seven, Fangio is about disguising coverages post-snap, and Schwartz is about playing fast and allowing the “engine” of his defense, the front, to get home.

After living through the Sean Desai experiment in 2023, all evidence says the Eagles’ defensive coaching philosophy is about getting the proven commodity with a demonstrated production history rather than scheme consistency.

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