Just four days after Sean McDermott was announced as his successor, beloved Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson passed away after a six-month battle with spinal cancer. He was 68.

Johnson was known as an aggressive coach, leading his Eagles defense to remain ranked second in the NFL with 390 sacks from 2000-2008.

In his 10-year tenure, the Eagles had 26 defensive players selected to the Pro Bowl. The team also played in five NFC championship games, won five NFC East division titles and made it to one Super Bowl.

Born in Maywood, Ill. in 1941, Johnson was a quarterback at the University of Missouri and then a tight end for two seasons with the AFL’s Buffalo Bills.

In 1967, he became a college coach and finally came into the NFL in 1986 as a defensive backs coach for the St. Louis Cardinals.

"There has been no finer coach or man than Jim Johnson," owner Jeffrey Lurie said. "It doesn't get much sadder." Johnson coached the Eagles' defense through January's NFC championship loss to the Arizona Cardinals, and then finally stepped down to battle a cancerous tumor on his spine; he had before battled melanoma in 2001.

Sean McDermott was announced at the Eagles’ new defensive coordinator on Saturday, July 25.

Johnson was considered by many as one of the top defensive minds in the NFL, and as the Eagles have been picked by many to win the title this year, you can be sure the Birds will be soaring in honor of Johnson, as he will now have a birds’ eye view.

“There’s been no finer coach or man than Jim Johnson,” said Lurie. “The Eagles family has been blessed [along with] everyone who’s surrounded the football team or surrounded Jim in everything he [did]…we had a true gem here and there aren’t a lot of Jims.”