Why the Eagles lost out on Spagnuolo
After news broke last week that Steve Spagnuolo had chosen to become the new defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, a couple key questions surfaced, pertaining to the Eagles:
Why the Eagles lost out on Spagnuolo
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
After news broke last week that Steve Spagnuolo had chosen to become the new defensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints, a couple key questions surfaced, pertaining to the Eagles:
1. How much actual interest did the Eagles really have in Spagnuolo?
2. Would Juan Castillo be back for a second year?
We're still waiting on an answer to the second question, but Dan Pompei of the National Football Post provided some clarity to the first question in his column today.
Per Pompei, Spagnuolo's decision came down to the Eagles and the Saints. And the deciding factor was Drew Brees:
The Saints can thank Drew Brees for Steve Spagnuolo. The Saints’ new defensive coordinator had his choice of a number of jobs. Among the other teams that either were in hot pursuit or had expressed interest were the Eagles, Falcons, Colts, Bucs and Vikings. It came down to choosing between the Eagles and Saints, and Spags picked Brees over Michael Vick. Why? An offense that scores 38.5 points per game can make a defensive coordinator look pretty smart.
I think that point has merit. In fact, I wrote as much last week. If Spagnuolo's goal is to again become a head coach, his best chance to get another shot is to lead a defense that gets to the Super Bowl. The Saints have a better chance to get there than the Eagles, largely because of how Drew Brees and Sean Payton stack up to Michael Vick and Andy Reid.
According to Pompei, Brees was indeed the difference.
The report also confirms what many have assumed: Reid clearly is not 100 percent sold on Castillo returning for his second season as the team's defensive coordinator, although he may still be the fallback plan. We'll find out (at some point) whether Reid is looking at other candidates, or whether he'll bring Castillo back.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the ball, the Eagles could lose Marty Mornhinweg. Mornhinweg interviewed with the Raiders on Friday, according to reports, and Pompei says he looks like a "strong candidate" to land the job, although it's early in the search.
And finally, Jim Washburn will not be headed to St. Louis to reunite with Jeff Fisher and Gregg Williams. Per Jason La Canfora of NFL Network, Mike Waufle will be hired as the Rams' new defensive line coach.
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The Answer is ASU Middle Linebacker
Vontaze Burfict with our first pick.
This kid has everything the Eagles need.
— dmanphilly- What's funny about the media and your average fanatic is when this team is standing on the podium next season holding up the SB trophy, these same people will sing the Eagles and coaches praises as though they've been on board with this team all along.— realtruth
- What team is that? To win the SB, you have to beat team with winning records. The Eagles don't. The only one they beat this year was the Ginats and they were 9-7 and whipped the Birds the first time. Look at Reid's record against winning teams-it's terrible. If the Birds win the SB, the press will be wondering how the rest of the NFL came down with an incurable disease. — mike l
- If he would have come to Philly there is a very good chance he would have been the head coach if things did not get much better next year. Bad choice.— eaglessuperfan
- 5NOT4 - I think you missed Banned's point entirely...If you play a schedule full of weak teams, even a terrible defense like we had this year will look good in comparison. Don't let statistics or ranks fool you - they are meaningless! Wins are all that matter in the end, and a Superbowl win is the only TRUE measure of a team. 13 years of failure (with at least one more coming next year) is Andy Reid's legacy!— gdibig
- Spags should have come here. Then if Reid gets fired he could maybe land the job.— Norm3
- 5NOT4, check red zone defensive standing- one of the worst. 8th in yardage sounds good but the Pats were 26th and look where they ended up. Keeping the other team out of the end zone is what counts.— bmayer1865
- BMAYER - 10th in PPG against speaks for itself, bro'. Especially when you consider how many times the offense turned the ball over on their half of the field. Now, if you want to argue that the Eagles attained that ranking (10th in PPG against), by playing only bad teams, have at it. But that's ridiculous. IMHO, You are choosing to disregard the Birds' fairly impressive defensive statistics and rankings when commenting on one very specific stat. PPG against are PPG against, period. The facts I presented speak for themselves.— 5NOT4
- Thank God loser Spag won't be here. Pray MORNINWEG leaves so we can have a season without 38 turnovers. Let Castillo coach the O and the D. We will be better off. Castillo is a TOP 8 coach in his first year. He is an incredible man.— Dallasrulez
- Gigantic loss by the Eagles. Another nail in next season's coffin.— dogman5
- In addition to the problems the Eagles have with their defense, I do believe they have a problem at the QB position. This is not to diminish the talent of Michael Vick, but he basically missed a quarter of the season each year the last 2 years. Championship teams need their starting QB on the field. Age and injuries will slowly diminish his ability to play at a high level.— watsonmr
- Fail Eagles Fail....— Luriesucks
5NOT4..uhh you kindof missed some facts there, like 24th in passes given up, 30th in redzone defense, 17th in turnovers, 16th against the run, 26th against pass plays of 40+ yards, 24th in run plays of 40+ plus yards..SOME OF THE WORST IN THE ENTIRE LEAGUE IN BIG PLAYS GIVEN UP. THAT IS NOT A TOP 10 DEFENSE. if you balance out the numbers...the good and the bad....AND THE BAD...its at best a mediocre 16th or 17th defense. and thats it. also unless extra-terrestrials land in 2012 and give andy some "help" after recieving his prayers he has been sending into space in Binary Code on the sidelines all these years, HE WILL NOT BE WINNING A SB IN 2012, NOT IN ANY YEAR, NOT ON THIS PLANET. NEVER.- We don't need Spags...we got JC.— greenflyer
- The Saints getting Spags boiled down more than Vick vs. Brees. There were many more suitors such as Minnesota and Atlanta. I guess he didn't like Matt Ryan or Christian Ponder either.— bm2957
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