The Bucks and Eagles have a lot of new faces on their coaching staffs. Tampa Bay has a new offensive system with coordinator Dave Canales and wide receivers coach Brad Idzik. There were also differences for the Eagles after former defensive coordinator Brian Johnson signed to be the Cardinals’ head coach and Philadelphia hired Sean Desai as defensive coordinator.
Eagles DC Sean Desai – Photo Credit: USA Today
Canales and Johnson are new to their team, but are familiar with each other. Canales and Desai were assistant coaches with the Seattle Seahawks last season, with Canales serving as quarterbacks coach and Desai serving as a defensive assistant.Part of match up Every game will feature the offensive and defensive coordinators facing off against each other, so you’ll see a big chess match between two coaches who know each other well.
Bucks’ Canales vs. Desai is a chess match
Prior to joining the Eagles, Desai was on the Bears’ defensive coaching staff, and Canales really appreciated what he could do as a coach. Canales vs. Desai was a notable matchup between the Seahawks and Bears in 2021. Desai is scheduled to play against the Bucks and Eagles on Monday night.
“Sean and I have been able to spend quite a bit of time together and bounce ideas off about defensive structure and different things like that. He’s really sharp. When Chicago comes to Seattle in 2021 , I played against him in a snow game. He brought us something great. He was making great adjustments to every situation. It was like it was custom-made. It didn’t feel like he was necessarily just calling plays out of a hat or just rotating calls. They were very specific and very intentional. It will be a good challenge.”
It’s natural that Bucks fans will start booing Desai as the game progresses, but Desai should also receive some praise for his role in the development of the Bucks’ newest starting safety, Ryan Neal. The two put in a lot of effort together last season, and Neal credits him with elevating his status as an NFL player.
“Great guy. I mean, he really helped me with my safety,” Neal said of his former coach. “Really, just giving me details and fine-tuning me as a person. He understood me as a player. That’s something I really appreciate him for. It’s one of those things that always gave me a little reminder of ‘gentle feet, gentle eyes’.
Bucks S. Ryan Neal – Photo by Cliff Welch/PR
game within a game
Pewter Report calls Canales “Human Celsior” because of his cheerful personality. I don’t know what the Eagles call Desai, but Seattle will probably call him a computer to represent what he knows about the game. Neal talked about his relationship with his coach.
“He’s a really smart guy. Super smart in the game. I call him a computer, he’s a computer. He’ll laugh at me when I say that, but the little things in the game, adjusting to situations. He really taught me about things like that. I owe him a lot. He’s a great guy and I’m looking forward to seeing him this Monday. It’s going to be great to see him again.”
Neal was happy to talk about his former coach that week. Whether the result of the match is good or bad, it may have a different flavor.
