Report: Washburn was roadblock to Spagnuolo
Over the weekend, I linked to a National Football Post report that said Steve Spagnuolo's decision came down to the Eagles and the Saints.
Report: Washburn was roadblock to Spagnuolo
Sheil Kapadia, Philly.com
Over the weekend, I linked to a National Football Post report that said Steve Spagnuolo's decision came down to the Eagles and the Saints.
And he chose New Orleans in large part because Drew Brees provided a better chance than Michael Vick and the Birds to win the Super Bowl.
But there were other factors involved as well.
SI.com's Peter King says one of them was Jim Washburn:
Someone Who Knows told me a major roadblock to Steve Spagnuolo taking the defensive coordinator job in Philadelphia was the presence of very strong personality Jim Washburn on the defensive line.
King's note is interesting because he mentions Washburn's personality, not his system.
Last offseason, Andy Reid hired Washburn to coach the defensive line before appointing a defensive coordinator. By all accounts, the Eagles' pass rush was among the best in the NFL under Washburn. The Birds finished with 50 sacks (tied for a league-high), and 46 of them came from defensive linemen. If you look at which defensive players met or exceeded expectations, almost all played on the defensive line. (Jason Babin, Trent Cole, Cullen Jenkins, Mike Patterson).
During the past several weeks, there's been a lot of talk about whether the wide-9 could co-exist with a system that relied on blitzing and dropping linemen back into coverage. Paul Domowitch of the Daily News wrote a good piece for SportsWeek saying yes, the two aspects could co-exist.
But apparently, Spagnuolo's reluctance had more to do with Washburn's strong personality than his system. During the Eagles' loss to the Patriots last season, Washburn and Marty Mornhinweg had to be separated after a heated exchange on the sideline.
King also reports that Sean Payton emphasized three things during his pursuit of Spagnuolo: winning, Brees and total autonomy. Obviously, his recruiting pitch worked.
As for the Eagles, Les Bowen of the Daily News and Jeff McLane of the Inquirer are reporting from the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., where Juan Castillo isn't saying much.
It seems clear now that the Eagles were interested in Spagnuolo, but no one knows for sure in what capacity. Plan B could either be to fall back on Castillo or pursue another coach.
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If so, Spagnuolo's a punk. Waahhh, the DL coach who produced the best DL in the NFL has a strong personality. Wahhhh. What the hell. Spagnuolo had 3 whole years to produce any kind of a competent defense in STL and failed. The Saints defensive personnel is horrible. Good luck, ya big baby.— Phila Phans- "Hunglikeeaton"--you must have been asleep over the last decade of Eagles football. Jim Johnson had total autonomy over the Eagles defense, even input on what players they selected on the D side of the ball. And if Spagnoulo didn't want to coach the Eagles because of Washburn's personality, I really wouldn't want him to come back to Philly anyway. If he'd had a problem with Washburn, he could just have Reid fire him.— bobbyuk
- We're not even hearing any reports of the Eagles interviewing people, or even rumors about possible replacements for Castillo. Castillo will be back as DC. You can't handle the truth!— p-diddy
- Spags was a figment of the media. Jeffery and Joe had no intention of spending more money on a coach.....and they were happy that the media, talk shows, and fans became obsessed with the idea.....Nothing is going to change and when they eventually show thier faces, they will lie and spin that they had conversations with him but that he had another direction he wished to go in.....making us all think that they tried....Stop already....they don't care.....as long as the money is rolling in....everything else is "completely unacceptable" to discuss in thier prescence.....— nuggett
- Marty's a wimp and Wash told him so....Bring in Del Rio, see ya Juan.— SkipinWV
- Does Jim Washburn have any aspirations to be a DC? I'd be more comfortable with him than Castillo. Just playing devils advocate here: Is Castillo really that bad, or would he have had better year if Andy Reid gave the guy some linebackers? The only way fans will stomach another year of Castillo is if there is a least one MAJOR addition to the LB corp. I'm hoping last year was Reid's "Ah Ha!" moment as far as LBs, just like the Carolina NFC Championship game was for WRs.— JayOfDaJungle
- So basically Spags is a p*s*y and wants to avoid confrontation.— beerflow
- The sky is just TOO blue today and that bright yellow thing is hurting my eyes.— tommy_the_k
- bobbyuk, how long has Jim Johnson been gone (God rest his soul)? You're living in the past bobbyuk, keep looking back and you're going to miss your future. Nickel's worth of free advice from the Tonner to you. Take it or leave it, it's of no consequence to the Tonner.
- Washburn had run-ins with a couple Eagles coaches during camp and during the season. So much as walking in front of him on the sideline during a game could result in a loud string of profane threats from him. At one point he even got cocky with Andy Reid, who had to eventually sit him down for a private talk/warning. He is the kind of coach that isn't happy unless all four of his defensive lineman on the field equally share the the same sack or tackle for a loss every single down. He's one of those guys who you can visualize getting arrested for a road-rage incident. He has no control over his anger.— mikegdj
its not about Washburns personality people, its about THE SYSTEM HE RUNS. and the PERSSONEL OR LACK THEREOF. Spags doesnt care if Washburn yells. He cares if he is forced to run an alighnment he doesnt want to run, that doesnt fit the players they have. If you have the smallest crappiest linebackers you need to protect them by being strong up the middle against the run, not spreading out and inviting it in. Either get better linebackers, or dont run the wide-9. Wash is a great coach, they have the players at D-line to fit the scheme, but NO WHERE ELSE ON THE D. the safeties cant cover and the linebackers cant stop the run. so why would you runa Wide-9, except to get some sacks and try to get people excited and trick guillable people into believing the defense is actually good. its not. average at best, and in some areas much worse. running a Wide-9 is not a good way to win Superbowls, and probably has never been run by a SB winning team, ever. Running a 3-4...good idea...the Wide-9...is not what SB winning teams run. more dysfunctional stupidity from Novacare...collect your $acks while the rest of the defense is a mess...GOLD STANDARD 2012.- #1. Who cares what King has to say? 9 times out of 10 he makes up stuff so that his articles are more interesting than they normally would be. #2 Juan will be back because who else does Andy Bleed have to do the job? This defense can be the best it will be in September but will that be enough to get us to the Super Bowl? NO! Will a healthy Mike Vick Experience get us to a Super Bowl? NO! Will good LBs and safety get us to a Super Bowl? NO! Our Super Bowl hopes and dreams are gone like a sink emptying out water. I'm now in the mode of just watching the game and enjoying it since I know MY HOME TEAM will never do ALL it takes to win us a Super Bowl. Much like the Sixers, the Eagles are only going to go so far......then....POOF!— Panthro2011
- I can easily see where Washburn would be a deal breaker for some coordinators. I predicted the Eagles would go 8-8, due to holes on the team (too young at safety, linebacker, and O-line) and so many new people. They did. Therefore, I think Castillo should get at least one more year, maybe two. As much as I like Spags, I'm not convinced he would do any better, especially after the season the Rams just had.— armchairGM
- Slow down there, armchairGM - this is an Eagles fan comment forum. I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to show that kind of patience and rational thinking.— JLB
- Lets face it, JUAN IS BACK, so devote your energies henchforth with DUMPING WHEELS.— NewMick314
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