Castillo Stunner: Panic Setting In?
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Castillo Stunner: Panic Setting In?
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Last spring, Juan Castillo vowed that he would "take a bullet" for Eagles coach Andy Reid. Tuesday, he did.
Castillo was fired as the Eagles' defensive coordinator, to be replaced by secondary coach Todd Bowles.
More on Bowles background here.
The move is stunning, with the Eagles 3-3 and allowing a respectable 20.83 points per game. But the defense failed to get off the field late each of the past two weeks, at Pittsburgh and in the horrendous collapse Sunday against the Lions. After the Detroit game, corner Nnamdi Asomugha openly questioned changes in strategy down the stretch.
Monday, Reid announced he would review everything, including Castillo, during the bye week. He said Castillo would continue to call defensive plays "as I stand here right now."
Reid's painstaking review didn't last long. While many people close to the team thought the loyal offensive line coach was a bizarre choice to lead the defense two years ago, and many felt he should have been replaced after last season, axing him at 3-3 seems transparently panicky, the move of a coach who is desperate to hold onto his job and is willing to try just about anything.
If Reid thought Bowles would be a better defensive coordinator than Castillo, he could have hired the former Dolphins interim head coach for the job last offseason. If Reid made the wrong call then, it's hard to muster a lot of faith that he's making the right call now.
In a statement, Reid said: "I want to make it clear that I have nothing but the ultimate respect for Juan Castillo as a coach and a person. He's one of the finest football coaches that I've ever worked with. He has served this organization extremely well for 18 years, and letting him go was a difficult decision. I know he will continue to be a successful coach in this league and I wish he and his family nothing but the best.
"We're six games into the season and average isn't good enough. I know the potential of our team and insist on maximizing it."
Of course, cynics will note that Castillo's defense has been much better than Reid's offense this year, but Andy isn't firing himselft, or offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
surefire sign of a terrible manager.
promote someone to a position they are unqualified for. hang them out to dry. then fire them.
the D had its issues, but the real problem here is the offense. vick has 13 turnovers in 6 games. he has 30 fumbles in his last 30 games. the offense is ranked 31st in points per game even though they have explosive players.— schmidty123- We have a premier running back, an outstanding fullback, an o-line thats a mess, a QB that is getting killed and Marty Morningafter and FatAide call 14 run plays. THEY SUCK— stevem292799
- Indeed!— Justaschmuck
- The defense is not the problem.Vick IS THE PROBLEM. Take away 1/2of his turnovers and they are 5-1. Foles is bigger, stronger, smarter, and has a better arm than Vick. Dump Vick now, before it is too late.— bubbiwubbi
- talk about setting a guy up for failure. Moving him to defense in the first place showed how incompetent Reid is.— pumperknickers
- Fire Marty. Fire Andy. Keep Mudd and Washburn. Hire Chucky Gruden or some other respected coach.— BirdinParadise
- Jon Gruden is a respected coach?
Here's a feller who's been, essentially, a failure everywhere he went till he lucked into a ready-made in Tampa!
Actually, Andy Reid, IS, LIKE OR NOT, a respected coach. When the chance to win was actually at hand, all Jeffrey Lurid and Nickels and Dimes Banner could worry at was the BIG profit!
Now, all of a sudden, JL seems afraid to lose ticket buyers so he's going about issuing silly uLtimatums!
GOOD GRIEF!
— BEMiller - What's important to keep in mind here is that the head coach sets the tone for the team. It seems at this moment that the franchise is in disarray. Andy is in charge and sets the tone, if there is disarray it is as he so often points out to us, his responsibility. The whole mess is his responsibility. The removal of JC and any subsequent moves are last ditch efforts to save this season and ultimately Andy's job. That is in my estimation the manifestation of Andy's panic.— bentlip
- After all those horrible draft picks, the years of bad clock management, the stubborn refusal to run the ball, the running joke that is the special teams; of course Castillo had to go.— tornadoh
- You have to go back to the very beginning to see how dopey this whole thing played out. The 1st bad move for Reid was hiring a D-Line Coach and installing his scheme, before actually hiring a real D-Coordinator. Nobody in their right mind would agree to be a DC under that setup (not their system). When all the legitimate candidates said NO THANKS, Andy had to go with Castillo, who felt lucky to have a job, let alone a Promotion. Reid calculated and rightfully so, that he would let things pan out and if it failed, he had a scapegoat to place the blame on. Trying last year to hire Spags, who would report to Castillo was, pure and simple, a joke! Then of course the Birds won those "Fools Gold" games to close the season and everything was rosey for Juan! When Players openly question your game plan and adjustments, the unemployment line is close at hand. Nnamdi told the truth and Reid had to act. Bowles will do a better job and I'm sure the Players welcome the change!— cooperhawk
- I hope some of your got to watch Alex Smith benched against the Giants. Didn't work out to well. This is good for the Eagles. They lack a killer instinct and now have to play the rest of the year as if their lives depend on it. That is going to light a fire under their hind quarters and I expect to see their talents displayed from here on out.— notch44
- special teams coach should be fired NOW!— bill poore
- Dear Andy Reid:
You have done a fine job overall as the coach of the Eagles.I truly hope you get the opportunity to continue on.In my opinion Michael Vick will NEVER be a successful NFL quarterback. If you continue with him as QB you have no chance to stay on.While you are continuing with your "evaluations" please recognize him for what he is;the worst QB in the entire NFL.— phillyfanincal - it can be panicky AND correct. It is rare for a coordinator to be fired midseason, yet andy reid has done it when he has always resisited changes before, ie panic. Still, is there anyone out there that thinks this firing will make the team worse? didn't think so, therefore, correct.— doc al
- Next week andy will be at the after game review and will again say, I will do better next week. In fact Andy my send a tape of the excuse and not personally be at the review. It is all the same so why come?????— rduexpress
