Castillo's firing: stunning and desperate
Andy Reid fires Juan Castillo
Castillo's firing: stunning and desperate
Rich Hofmann, Daily News Sports Columnist
First reaction: stunned.
I am not surprised that Juan Castillo is not calling the defenses for the Eagles anymore -- and especially not after cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha openly criticized schematic decisions at the end of the Eagles' collapse on Sunday against the Lions. But I figured head coach Andy Reid would protect Castillo, leaving him in place and having secondary coach Todd Bowles begin calling the defenses from the press box. That way, Castillo could continue to wear the headset on the sidelines and relay the information to the players and save face. But no.
Yes, stunning. Castillo is out and Bowles is the defensive coordinator. A year and a half after the world guffawed in Reid's face when he turned his offensive line coach into a defensive coordinator, and months after he flirted with the idea of making a change and giving the job to Steve Spagnuolo -- which would have happened had Spagnuolo said yes -- Reid is very publicly admitting a grievous error. There is no other way to read this.
All of the talk about how things were turned around at the end of last season was just that, apparently -- talk. And any benefit of the doubt that Castillo received after this defense got off to such a good start in 2012 also evaporated pretty quickly. This kind of in-season change happens very rarely in the NFL -- and it is hard to remember a coordinator who was fired from a .500 team with overall defensive numbers that are not alarming.
But the trend obviously was. I have said all along that while we all had our suspicions, it was hard to really know about Castillo because none of us are inside the process, and because they did get better in the second half of last season, and because the defense has been pretty stingy overall in 2012.
But now we know, after two late-game losses, two more blown leads at the end, that Reid feels compelled to make the kind of in-season move that he has never been pushed to make before. He fired himself as the play-caller once during the bye week, but this is different. And it is desperate.
With that, mark down two days:
The day Reid replaced Kevin Kolb with Michael Vick.
The day Reid named Castillo as defensive coordinator.
If this goes badly from here, those are the days that will have gotten Andy Reid fired.
After the Castillo firing was announced, Rich Hofmann discussed the news in a video chat with Noah Coslov of Cinesport.
Juan Castillo did everything he could to save A. Reid behind, hold others team offense for under 17 points per game during the 4 games. A. Reid made the wrong call again, winning by 10points, under 5:18 left in the Game. As a coach or offense coordinator u tried to surprise the Lions with another 60rd pass and gets intercepted, put the defense back on the field, 17 turnovers how can a defense maintain its domination if they have to be on the field for so long... no wonder they ran out of gas in the 4th quarter, but hey blame it on the Defense......take care Castillo thanks for your hard work.....— T.K.O- Juan never had a chance. Reid undermined Juan's authority by hiring Wasburn then Bowles. The players loyalty was split among Juan, Washburn, and Bowles. It was a no win proposition for Juan. Reid is just deplorable.— Carlos2
- reid is basically the offensive coordinator of the worst offense in the nfl. how is he still employed?— sgamble077
- Andy made several impulsive decisons in recent years.....please tell no1, but they traded the WRONG QB (#5) ..They fired McDermontt prematurely....They gave an option QB the keys to the most complicated passing offense in the nfl...and gave him 100 mil...the special teams coach...the oline coach (mudd), who by the way, forced juanny (andy's loyal asst coach from 1998) to defense..— Wizmix
- McNabb had a great career here, but he was done by the time they traded him. — Sidewinder7
- dude...#5 was the rite QB for this pass happy coach..although he was inaccurate at times on some short/intermediate routes, he took care of the ball...stayed in the pocket..and played with toughness!! We traded the wrong 1...Kolb is a back-up...Vick is an option QB..if vick had a clue he would not DRIFT n2 sacks...it's borderline impossible to read defenses when you spend a majority of your career doing the read option..#5 IS THE BEST QB ON THIS ROSTER RITE NOW,AS HE SITS AT THE NFL NETWORK & CSN STUDIOS — Wizmix
- Eagles are 2nd to last in scoring offense. Why wasn't the offensive coordinator fired instead?— Griffer
- derp— richardecredico
- Reid is the dumbest football coach on the planet.
- Vick and the offense is much worst than the defense.....Defense is ranked 13th....while Vick and offense is LAST IN ENTIRE NFL in points scored per game.....DUMP VICK.— Bob112
- Andy Reid is such a coward. He makes Juan Castillo the scapegoat here for his failures. He has failed as a coach and I am sure in other aspects of his life. Juan Castillo is twice the man Andy Reid will ever be. Reid is a joke.— rockinrob
- i think juans a good coach, just should have never been put on the defensive side. bowles definitly is the better coach and this is why they made the move. honestly, i dont think the D has been awful. the offense hasnt produced in the 4th, leaving them on the field all quarter. they get worn down because of it. honestly, i think marty should have been gone before castillo, but they dont have a set replacement. with all that talent on offense, they need to produce better and reid/marty have been terrible. i think reid is trying to divert the attention from himself and buy some time to get the team better to keep himself off the hot seat— HDemetriou
- The Eags are fundamentally flawed in two places.#1- The "Howard Mudd type" (smallish athletic) O line and their scheme. #2-They have more of a running back playing QB.— Mike Boryla
- As for Juan- I was always concerned about him since I saw him head butting guys with helmets on....— Mike Boryla
- When is Andrew Reid finally going to be held accountable?!?!? This franchise is turning into a joke— pflynn20
