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.
- Start Nick based on meangingless pre-season games? Listen...the guy is a turnover machine yes. However, read Peter King's quote on Juan Castillo. It's damning. The league notices that his blitzes were vanilla, and he simply couldn't get the job done. Also, do you remember Bobby Hoying? Kevin Kolb? These were the same guys we clammored for who stunk! To put a rookie in against Dallas twice, the Giants, and the Redskins twice is flat out stupid.
— PSU_Chuck - Also, have you looked at the offensive line genious? It's a sive...the o-line stinks! I'm not putting a rookie QB behind that line. — PSU_Chuck
- Bring in Dawk to run the secondary!!— Earl J
- Marty will be the next to go, Foles will replace Vick as a starter, then Andy will be let go at season's end. Book it.— guitarman
- It is Andy Reid's job to place people in position to excel. He dropped the ball with this one from day 1. Castillo was far from ready for this job. This is as much on Reid as it is on Castillo. But since last seasdon, the Eagles are 11-11. Out of the 11 losses, 7 are blown 4th quarter leads. In turn, Castillo had to go.— FetchDixon
- Reid had to make a change in order to save the season. Letting a few minor players go did not wake up this team, letting Juan go will.— dennismithusa
- The only problem with your logic is the Eagles' defense is doing fine. It's Vick that's the problem. — Doho2008
- Doho - you are right. The problem is that replacing replacing Vick is not easy and replacing Juan is. People need to have realistic expectations of Foles. When your job is on the line 7 weeks in, do you put it in the hands of a rookie with no NFL snaps? Part of me thinks Trent Edwards may be our best option. — the-elguapo
- If Coach Reid truly wants to address the team's most obvious problem - turnovers and inept offensive performance - he'll make two changes: (1) replace Mike Vick, and (2) fire Marty Morningwig.— tbird
- Rich - you guys in the press box are all screaming for change and then it happens and you're 'stunned'? I am no fan of what's happening with the Birds but you in the press guys are clearly earning your stripes as a pernickety lot.— Diaperman50
- Juan would make a OK special team coach— camasbud
- Next date to mark down: Lurie replaces Reid...— Ohmy
- This is such a scapegoat move it is embarrassing. Offense is second to dead last, defense is 13th in the league points scored/surrendered. Juan was no Jim Johnson but the only reason this team is not 0-6 or 1-5 is the defense.— Sidewinder7
- So let's see - The Eagles are 31st of 32 in offense points per game. So, let's fire the defensive cordinator. Got it !!— VitoCorleone
- Gotta love the comment, Vito!
The giveaways are a big part of the ineptness of the offense, if it is an offense at all. T. O. Vick has been a turnover machine! but the defense gets the blame. I believe the Eagles are second worst in giveaways as well!
Seems to be the key is to cut down on the giveaways and give the defense a bit more break with improved offense. But, that would call for getting rid of good buddy Marty Mornhinweg and (horrors) pulling the turnover machine out of the starting lineup!— BEMiller
