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.
Bringing back Castillo is like going to war with a water pistol! Lets see: Stubborn HC who refuses to run the ball, CHECK, Failed Offensive Line Coach as DC, CHECK, Accountant/Lawyer/Valet as GM, CHECK, A super rich, uncaring Owner with no sense of accountability, CHECK. Yep, the Eagles are still the laughing stock of the NFL. Looks like they're "ALL IN" again!— younged- Juan is developing. Now he´s getting one of the final pieces of the puzzle: the secondary coach. Let´s get a couple of good linebackers and with all that, plus the experience we´ll be fine. Mark my words: this is the trophy year. GO EAGLES!!!!!— Mexican Eagle
- No, NO- you ALL have it all wrong. Reid will be gone and CASTILLO will wind up as head coach.— mrjarn
- Fools Gold Standard— Luriesucks
- There's a serious leak down there at One Novacare Way.— PhillySubsMac
- It ia a good sign for the Eagles. Unfortunately, the talent evaluations on the Defensive side of the ball are horrible. So who are we going to mold? The guys that keep getting hurt? Lets just put them all in the zone again and expect the safeties to stop the run because the LBs can't stop it.
This is a no win battle. Unfortunately, he will be looking for a job this time next year when the current crew gets hired after finishing 2nd or 3rd in the division. And before I hear people saying otherwise, please show me one thing since Jimmy died that tells you this Defense can rebound or that this staff can change their logic. You can't teach an old dog new tricks, or clock management, or defensive talent evaluations, or second half adjustments, etc...— SlinkTMP - Give Castillo another chance and stop whining you intolerable pansies.— jimqk
- Keep crying for Reid's firing. Oh, and keep buying tickets, jerseys, those big finger things, etc. It's only January so we still have 7 months until the season begins, so let's start the whining now. I'm sure Lurie is reading this and getting ready to do what most of you want. I think the word is sucker. Oh, for ten bucks I can get an Eagles insignia stamped on your forehead.— fredgwynne
- How many ways can I say, "Not Good Enough!" This is clearly not an improvement from what they had before and there's still NO ONE to coach the linebackers who knows anything about good defense - Unbelievable!— Tom Man
- the only thing that difference between fat Andy and Lurie is money,other the that they are just plain stupid— allan1938
- the only thing that difference between fat Andy and Lurie is money,other the that they are just plain stupid— allan1938
- Total joke - get ready to watch another run by the Giants next year while we hear how close we are. Total joke!— SDFlyer
- Did you really try and use the Dallas secondary as an example of talent development? Roy Williams might go down as the most over rated safety in the last decade. Every one of the DB's listed is the Dallas version of Izel Jenkins— xlGmanlx
Comment removed.- One more year for Andy and then Lurie makes a trade for a No 1 draft choice from San Diego for Andy's 14 glorious years of service to the Eagles. Can't wait. This will be monumental in more ways than one!— walt1
