Castillo move looks desperate but isn't
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Castillo move looks desperate but isn't
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
Some day-after thoughts on Juan Castillo becoming the Eagles' defensive coordinator:
*When I think of Juan, I think of hard work, at the most basic level -- put your hands here, step that way, bend your knees. I see a technician, not a strategist. A mechanic, not a design engineer. Maybe I don't have the whole picture. The Eagles limit media access to assistants who aren't coordinators; I've talked more with Juan about his son Greg's play at Iowa than about anything involving the Eagles. But I can't help but wonder if Andy Reid, who isn't all that interested in defense, underestimates the complexities of defensive scheming.
*This looks like a desperate move, but it wasn't. Plenty of well-qualified, exciting people were available. This didn't happen because somebody somewhere turned the Eagles down. They wanted to do this. It's interesting that they didn't want to do it enough to announce it, say, the day after they fired Sean McDermott; I think they had some respect for how crazy, insular and arrogant the move would seem. They wanted to do some interviews, get a feel for outside thinking about their defense. But in the end, they did what they wanted to do. Still not sure why they let it be known unofficially that they would interview somebody from the Super Bowl staffs, then didn't bother. They had to announce Juan this week? Why?
*In the end, Juan is a guy who isn't going to demand a lot of changes in the way the Eagles do things, like some guy from the Steelers or Packers might. This is very much about Andy Reid's comfort level, and his control. If things go bad, nobody is going to clamor for Juan Castillo to take over the head coaching job, the way they might if a higher-profile candidate had been hired to run the defense.
*And make no mistake, this was an Andy Reid move. We can speculate until the cows come home over whether Andy wanted to fire Sean McDermott, but there is no way Howie Roseman or Joe Banner pushed an idea like this on Andy.
*Saw where somebody noted that Jim Johnson had never coached defense before Notre Dame hired him as d-coordinator in 1977. Several points -- this ain't Notre Dame. This ain't 1977. And a mere 22 years of defensive coaching AFTER he came to Notre Dame, Johnson was hired to run the Eagles' defense. Sorry, that "precedent" doesn't do much for me.
*The other meme being trotted out is that the Michael Vick starting quarterback decision was even more shocking, and it turned out OK, so this move must be a good one, as well. But the shocking thing there wasn't the idea that Vick could be a starting NFL quarterback; he had already done that in Atlanta. The shocking thing was that the Eagles had been so adamant about Kevin Kolb as Donovan McNabb's successor. In turning quickly to Vick, they were doing something they'd told us they had no intention of doing. And one of the big reasons they did it, by the way, was that their offensive line wasn't very good, and Vick was more mobile than Kolb. Who was running that o-line deal, again? Oh, yeah ...
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Think about this: if Andy thought they were "retooling" last year with Vick becoming the QB and us having this super offense, why wouldn't he turn his attention to the Defense and pick one of the up and coming Defense Guys (Moss, Horton, Perry, Allen) to bring the Defense up to the same level as the offense? I like Castillo but this move makes absolutely no sense!! We are going into another season with no clue about the defense!! How about drafting some impact people that can actually play on the feild and have some attitude!! We haven't had a defense with attitude since Dawk, Trotter, and Douglas!!— hawaii2000- I'm buying in to the "control" part of it. Big red will have more control. Period.— Grazman
- I think Andy is just hiring people that don't have jobs or who are in the same boat as he. He knows he is gone if he does not win the championship this year and does not want someone who has to leave a job to get fired along with him. JMHO— latur99
I agree with you hawaii2000. Without the personnel to "get to the quarterback" and "hold offenses in check", all of this hiring is just a breeze job. It means nothing. Then you have Fat Andy on the podium talking about how he can't wait, and how he's anxious to "get this thing goign"? PLEASE! Haven't we heard this EVERY YEAR for the last 10 years??- It hasn't been 10 years, it's been 12 years. 12 long years.
— ej610 - i agree.......Andy needs less control over this team....It's obvious that he can't handle it all. There are a ton of holes in his game alone that he can't fix....— pokerplayersunite
- I wonder if you are the same people who said 6-10, rebuilding year... We won division did we not? We won with a horrible defense that will get better, cant get worse. This year is one of the biggest years in free agency. Stop your crying! We need players who cares who coaches at this point— fman727
- It is considered a complete WASTE of time to think about the free agent market this year bc of the lockout. What are you talking about? — ccheung
- what are YOU talking about? If there is going to be a season next year, then there will be free agency. You do understand that right? And this is going to be a big year in free agency because so many free agents were restricted last year because of the impending lock out. Your comment was a WASTE of time — flyers70
- You misuse the word "meme." A meme is a belief that's passed on from generation to generation analogous to a gene. A meme goes mostly unquestioned.— soulman386
- I think Andy has pretty much decided that he wants to quit after 2012-13 season. The Vick move, the extra emotion Andy showed last year, and this move all signify that Andy knows he only has a self imposed couple chances to win a SB ring. Castillo allows Andy to not worry about personality clashes etc within the staff, nor his defense having to learn new language that could impact the progress of the defense. When you only have two more shots at the brass ring, you don't want a lot of disruption in your methods or your chemistry among coaches.— JBP
- Watch your back Juan!! This move could mean that Andy's making next season your swan song.— PhilMar
- Hm, let's see.... The offensive line pretty my folded all year and got both the QB's nearly killed. Now the OL coach is rewarded for that? After all, they did change the fate of the season by allowing Klob to get klobbered, giving Vick a chance— mrbean
- "Castillo move looks desperate but isn't".....it is freakkin insane. You do not promote an offensive line coach to defensive coordinator. Has it ever been done in the history of the sport?— Larry Byrd
- Have they hired Pinkston yet to coach the Linebackers?— younged
