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.
Time's not yours.— rickm- The reason for this mess was the hiring of Jim Washburn. Andy wanted him to run the D, Washburn said no but I'll coach the line if you run my Wide 9. So then Reid had to find a coordinator who was willing to at least partially defer to Washburn. And what guy who has the credentials to run a defense wants to defer to a D-Line coach?!? If they are 6-6 or worse after the second Dallas game then Lurie needs to fire Reid and cut Vick and get a head start on 2013. — oyoyer
- Sorry, Rich.
The biggest day was in 2007 when Reid traded out of the 1st round and drafted Kevin Kolb.
We were still in SB contention at that time and needed only a few pieces.
Here we are 5 years later and we're are NOT in SB contention.
That move alone, set this team back 5 years . . . and counting.
- Reid put Castillio in a position to fail.— ej610
- Yes, yes he did. Make me wonder, firing mcDermott then Casitllo...yet nothing ever happens on offence? Why is Morningweg/Vick/Mudd getting a free ride?
Castillo is a scapegoat here (just like McDermott was).
We all know the best defense is a good offence and the playcaling and turnover machine Vick is what's killing this team.— Professor1982 - NOMITT: THe offense before this year was very good. Top seven in past three years. That's why there hasn't been a change on O. The D was different. They weren't good for years. The firing of Juan may not be the only move coming. — SC Philly Fan
- This comment has been deleted. — bigghago
- Um, I think his little logo means that he's anti Alabama, not Obama. Use your brain. — Eintracht Frankfurt
- And "anti Alabama" guy, please tell me you're kidding. — commenter1111
- No, I'm being dead serious. Of course I'm kidding! — Eintracht Frankfurt
- Might want to crack open a dictionary next time before you call someone out, because offence is a perfectly acceptable (though British) spelling of the word. — commenter1111
- pfft what country u think we live in? in this country that spelling would be marked incorrect in 3rd grade — bhamss12
- And in other countries, it wouldn't. Your point? — commenter1111
- I don't think that anybody has anything bad to say about Juan except that he wasn't experienced enough to take over DC at a professional level. There is a chess match that happens, particulary late in a game. JJ was always exceptional at that. 2nd half adjustments. I think it takes a lot of experience to be able to do that successfully week after week. Andy didn't get his #1 choice Spags and thought that hard work could make up for lack of experience. He was wrong.— Vote for Dickie
- Now DUMP VICK...Vick will break the all time turnover record this season..and Vick has led Eagles to LAST in points scored per game...WOW with all this offensive DREAM TEAM talent Vick has Eagles LAST in scoring...any other QB on any other team would BENCHED..BENCH VICK..START NICK.— Bob112
