Eagles to hire Bowles; Castillo remains DC
The Philadelphia Inquirer Blog - Eagles
Eagles to hire Bowles; Castillo remains DC
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
The Eagles are set to hire former Miami interim head coach Todd Bowles to be their defensive backs coach and Juan Castillo will remain defensive coordinator, an NFL source told The Inquirer on Monday.
The team will meet with Bowles, who remained under contract with the Dolphins until only recently, today and it is expected that he will accept the job. He will be in charge of the entire secondary so safeties coach Mike Zordich will be under Bowles.
The announcement will come later today and Eagles coach Andy Reid will meet with the media on Tuesday.
The Eagles had a vacancy after Johnnie Lynn was fired earlier this month.
The decision to keep Castillo as defensive coordinator ends weeks of uncertainty over his future. Reid obviously decided that the final four games of the season in which the defense showed improvement was enough to keep Castillo in charge of the unit.
There have been reports, since confirmed to The Inquirer, that the Eagles had shown interest in bringing former assistant Steve Spagnuolo back to run the defense. But Spagnuolo chose to take the defensive coordinator job with New Orleans.
Castillo, in Mobile, Ala. last week to scout the Senior Bowl, declined to comment on his status.
"You got to go through Andy,” Castillo said, deferring Reid. "I'm just working."
The 48-year-old Bowles has vast experience as a defensive backs coach in the NFL. He had been Miami's secondary coach since 2005. He was also assistant head coach from 2008-11. Before Miami he worked in Dallas, Cleveland and in New York with the Jets. He has never been a defensive coordinator in the NFL, but held that role at Grambling State in the late 1990s.
Bowles had a hand in developing Miami safety Yeremiah Bell, who represented the AFC in the 2010 Pro Bowl. In his three years in Dallas, three Cowboys defensive backs were chosen to a combined five Pro Bowls, including three by safety Roy Williams. In 2007, three-fourths of Dallas’ backfield cornerback -- cornerback Terence Newman, safety Ken Hamlin and Williams -- was selected to the NFC All-Star squad.
Bowles is a Temple graduate. He played eight seasons in the NFL with the Redskins and 49ers from 1986-93.
Bowles' days in Miami were up when the Dolphins hired Joe Philbin to be their next coach and it was decided that he would not be retained. Bowles had interviewed for that opening along with the Oakland Raiders head coaching job.
The Raiders, who had also interviewed Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, hired Denver defensive coordinator Dennis Allen instead.
"They still have no safeties or line backers" --- see, for example, jimloughery knows this because he called the Eagles, requested the game tapes with notes on what they were running, and then evaluated every single defender on the field against what they were supposed to be doing. Jim, do us a favor -- hit the road. Become a Union fan -- Macy's has those Union stoles on sale.
— Murrayman- Castillio will still be in charge of headbutts and boo boo kisses.— ej610
- it will be a nasty ugly place for andy aand j juan they will be glad to leave!!!been there before— harry
- The defense doesn't need a DC. They need talent. Trade Asante, free up some cap room and make a play for a few FA's. Bowles is a stellar hire. Good to see a Temple guy coming back to town.— beegal99
- For all the posters who have nothing to say other than about Andy's weight, please post your own weight and supply a pic in your avatar showing your beer gut— 09
- At this point who cares? I mean really is it worth it? They don't care what the fans think, they're going to do what they want to do. They've lost me hometown or not. I'm done!— Nunzscar
- sad day u guys that are doing damage control for the eagle mgt we know who u r— harry
- If the defense had the same performance this year (8th in the league) with Jimmy Johnson as the coach, there would be no calls for his head. The negative reaction is based upon Juan's lack of experience – not based upon the defense's performance. He was provided no impact players, and a defensive line coach who was already in place with a system that he had to work around. With all that against him, the D was still in the top 10 in the league. The difference between the Eagles being 8-8 and 11-5 was associated with turnovers – not the defense. Don't let the facts get in the way of your vitriol over Juan Castillo…— Bobphxville
- Don't let football knowledge get in the way of your blind faith! Look at the records of the teams we played and tell me again how good the D was! The only team we beat with a winning record was the Giants. Every other team with even a decent QB ripped our D apart! What was their standing before the last four "fools gold" games? Cr@p! — gdibig
- Huh?? where am I? what just happened??— chilenos
- Huh?? where am I? what just happened??— chilenos
- Eagles in 2013 baby. Hopefully Bowles is renting because the new coach is going to want to bring in his own people and run his own system. The Tonner's going to go have a couple Genny Cream Ales to ease his troubled mind.
- I have mixed feelings about Castillo as DC. Bowles is a great move. I am anxious to get to September to see what the D will really look like. I am optimistic as usual.— Clt Philly Fan
- This reminds me I gotta go take a dump. Time yours— chilenos
- What does it take for you fans to open up your eyes and see what has been going on for the last 7 years? Last time! Laurie & Reid must go! I said 2 weeks ago nothing was going to change! Laurie sold you some mor kool-aid and you drank every drop!— losteagle
