Eagles promote Castillo to be DC
In a stunning move, the Eagles have named offensive line coach Juan Castillo to be the team's next defensive coordinator, a league source told The Inquirer.
Eagles promote Castillo to be DC
Jeff McLane, Inquirer Staff Writer
In a stunning move, the Eagles have named offensive line coach Juan Castillo to be the team's next defensive coordinator, a league source told The Inquirer.
Howard Mudd, considered one of the best offensive line coaches in the game, will replace Castillo.
The team later made the moves official.
Castillo has been the Eagles' offensive line coach for more than 15 years. He was, however, once a linebackers in the USFL. The Eagles are known for promoting within, but the move is a shocker and will be questioned by many.
Castillo replaces Sean McDermott, who was fired almost three weeks ago after two seasons at the helm. McDermott worked his way up through the organization and was a defensive coach for over a decade.
The 51-year-old Castillo has been an Eagles offensive assistant since 1995 when he was a part of Ray Rhodes' staff. He became the team's tight ends coach two season later and then offensive line coach a year later.
Castillo was one of the few leftovers from the Rhodes regime that new head coach Andy Reid kept on staff when he was hired in 1999. Castillo has long been hailed as one of the best line coaches in the league although that unit has struggled in the last two seasons.
He does have some experience as a defensive coach. He was the defensive line/linebackers coach at Texas A&M-University Kingsville in the early 1980s and then the defensive coordinator at Kingsville High School in the late 1980s. In between, he was a linebacker in the USFL.
Poll: Good move by Eagles?
Apples don't understand Oranges...go figure...— Cedrick- congratulations to juan. he's been around a long time and probably should be the head of something with his experience. Seriously folks the Eagles do not want to put a poor product out on the field. I have to believe they might know a little bit more about these things than the typical fan. Do you not think they would know they would be second guessed for this and that if the D does not improve they will have egg on their face? I will wait and see before I say the quality of this choice but I like Castillo as a football guy.— notch44
Now our defense will be as great as our offensive line is. Uh oh.— ej610- Andy Reid is a genuius and obviously knows more than the rest of us. Fire Andy Reid. There are so many good candidates. This feels like a punch to my gut. What a horrible hire.— 76er
- Castillo is your likely replacement for Reid if or when he goes. This organization loves Castillo. He has done a very good job with the Offensive line over the years. How many of you know his real resume'. He knows what they want from their defense. He has been there long enough to see how Jim Johnson ran a defense. How can you judge whether he knows anything about defense there have been a number of coaches who have coached on both sides of the ball over the years. A good coach is a good coach period, the guy is a lifer and knows his business, at least let him prove he doesn't know what he's doing. Other teams have been approaching the eagles about Castillo for years. They have a top d- line coach if they get a top secondary coach they will be fine. What they need is defensive playmakers that makes every defensive coach a lot smarter.
— rhcjr2 - This move is so outside the box, I am willing to give it a shot.— Armyofthe15Monkies
- Everybody relax - this is one of those crazy Groundhog Day jokes!!! Oh man, the Eagles got us good with that prank. Now, seriously, who's going to coach the defence?— Tacklebury
WOW! Oh boy, they are something this group. I thought they only converted players from their natural positions because they are smarter than everyone else. I like Juan as a coach but this smells like a Joe "Wooden Nickles" Banner move. Phillies report in how many days?— delcodanno- Wow— Grazman
- Castillo is an excellent coach but definitely risky to name as the def coordinator as he has little experience coaching D. With that being said, I'll put my faith in andy on this one as I am sure he has a better grasp on the situation than you nitwits who comment on here. seriously, andy is a smart guy who has a great track record of hiring good coaches underneath him. have a little faith.— tboneee
- I thought that if we hired some DC from PITT or GB
he would have some influence in drafting or signing bigger players but with this guy as our DC seems like we are gonna keep our mighty might DEF after all.— cesar20 - Do they think they have any chance of getting Asomugha now? Doubt it.— ej610
- That High School Resume of Juan's must have been very impressive! This, I'm afraid, is a sad day in Eagles History! Everyone was so pumped to know what great coach we would get from a SB Team. And then the Fans get this kick to the groin! Now I know why Andy was on that Afganistan tour, stockpiling drugs to use back home. What a Joke!— younged
- OK Castillo is a solid offensive line coach, but does he know how to run a defense? This means the Iggles brain trust really never had a plan in place all along. Go Phillies.— Gigs1777
- c'mon yall lets see how it works out. i know andy can b a a-hole at times but do yall really think the eagles would have been so succsessful (minus the superbowl) without him. proli woulnt have vick mcnabb would have never been an eagles d jackson would proli be 3rd or 4th string because of his size but andy believe in these players and made them sum pretty damn good players.— ronell48
