Juan More Time? Not That Thrilled
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Juan More Time? Not That Thrilled
Les Bowen, Daily News Staff Writer
I've gotten some emails and tweets from people who say they will be just fine, if the Eagles decide to do nothing to shake up their defensive decision-making hierarchy, in the wake of Steve Spagnuolo signing on with the Saints. Their thinking, of course, is that Juan Castillo's defense improved dramatically down the stretch, that players talked of having needed time to come together and grasp their roles, get a sense of one another, so on and so forth.
No question, the Eagles' defense improved, allowing no more than one touchdown in each of its last four outings, yes, against subpar quarterbacks, but looking much better than it had looked against equally subpar quarterbacks earlier in the season. (Ryan Fitzpatrick? Tavaris Jackson?)
Castillo is an earnest, decent man who doesn't deserve to be cast aside summarily. And if you're going to retain Jim Washburn and the Wide 9, which seems advisable, the easiest way to do that is to keep Castillo in place. Still, I want to see a prominent, experienced voice given a position of power on the defensive side, with Juan, in place of Juan, whatever.
The Eagles missed the playoffs for two reasons: Turnovers and Castillo's learning curve. The turnover thing they're going to have to fix by beating Michael Vick over the head with it all offseason. The Castillo problem isn't just magically cured by the former offensive line coach having one season on defense under his belt now.
Yeah, they'll shore up the linebacker position and maybe safety, too, and that will help. But how do we know Castillo won't stand and watch Larry Fitzgerald beat him again when Larry Fitzgerald is the only real weapon on the field for the other team? As much as I like Juan, I don't want to see him matching wits with, say, Bill Belichick, or even Drew Brees, in the third quarter of a close game. There is no way Castillo is going to have the grasp of defensive nuance of someone who has worked on the defensive side for many years, no matter how hard Juan works. My feeling down the stretch was that players and other coaches got Juan to simplify things, to blitz more, to junk the complex zone coverages he'd designed. I don't trust the man's instincts, based on what he planned for his rookie season.
I still think it's inexcusable that the Eagles missed the playoffs in large part because Andy Reid couldn't forsee that making his offensive line coach the defensive coordinator in a lockout year, with no offseason preparation, was going to be a disaster. The lockout didn't just sneak up on anybody. Teams knew it was coming, for a couple of years.
I don't think "well, what the heck, Juan seemed to be catching on there, let's see what happens" is a good way to prepare for a Super Bowl-or-bust season. Reid was incredibly lucky that last year's Castillo decision didn't cost him his job. This year's Castillo decision still could.
***
Note to people who might read a couple of the comments below: The Eagles' ranking of 8th in defense pertains strictly to yardage, which is close to meaningless. Ask the Patriots, who ranked 31st there.
The Eagles gave up 27 touchdown passes last season despite having rich talent at the cornerback position. That figure ranked 24th in the NFL, and that stat DOES mean something. They were 30th in red zone defense. They tied for 17th in the league in interceptions, despite tying for the league lead in sacks. When you're getting such good pressure, it ought to convert into turnovers. It didn't.
And I don't think I'm the one bending stats to fit an agenda.
Where was I when Juan was lighting up the league as the O line coach? He was average at that and can only hope to be average as DC.— zfaber- Les is on point with this. The reality is, though, it would not matter who the defensive coordinator is as long as the unqualified front office is allow to make the player selections for the draft. Short of a complete house-cleaning from Banner on down (which I have long advocated on these pages) the two most pressing needs are a GM who knows how to scout and draft NFL LEVEL TALENT and a defensive coordinator who know how to put that talent to use. It is really that simple.— coloradoeagle
- I'm looking forward to another crappy draft and a so-so season, hoping that Andy and Howie both go. Laurie and Co. have turned me into a "I don't care" fan until major change happens.— jimmymack
- come on les write about management real position. The 2011 season was sucessful, the net worth of the orginzation increased ,all tickets were sold all parking spaces filled and all jerseys sold. oh yea they were in the race and finished second. All goals met .
with that record, why change anything?— tnjoe 
Comment removed.- No playoffs again!— phillynupe4
- No playoffs again!— phillynupe4
- It is sooooooo funny that all the Spags talk was brought up. There was NO way he was coming back here. We have our defensive coordinator and the "D" will be fine next year.— Tozmanian
- The worst part of the Eagles this season was their defense, coached by Castillo.
The best part of the Eagles is season was the steady and improved play of the offensive line.... no longer coached by Castillo.— Iron Giant - Comment removed.
- >> Les - Eagles were 8th in total defense. I wonder how many years those Defensive Coordinators 9-32 have under their belts. <<
Dude, get a clue... back out of the last 4 jokes of the season, and the eagles rank at the bottom half of the league in total defense.— jl4045801 - Comment removed.
- Juan will definitely be better, but will he be excellent? I would think you'd want excellent if your job was on the line.— hillbillybirdsfan
- Well done Les - like the fact that you're going with your gut instincts; plus, your arguments are well supported.
I wanted the Eagles to stick with Juan (and still do), mainly because of the continuity argument, and the desire to have Andy live or die with Juan without creating another excuse for giving Andy "one more year." But you've convinced me that they need to give Juan some help, as you put it. Will be interesting to see if they decide to do that, and if so, how they structure it so that Juan (and Andy) save face....— Mr. Magee - Don't worry about the defensive scheme; Juan will be getting a bright assistant. Howie has a call in to Sheldon Cooper as we speak.— dasher
