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Rams' Spagnuolo, ex-Eagles coach, likes Castillo move

DALLAS - While most Eagles fans thought Andy Reid completely lost what was left of his mind this week when he ended the drama over naming his new defensive coordinator by promoting longtime offensive line coach Juan Castillo to the position, at least one guy likes the move: Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Former Eagles' assistant Steve Spagnuolo called Juan Castillo's hiring a "great move" by Andy Reid. (Bill Haber/AP file photo)
Former Eagles' assistant Steve Spagnuolo called Juan Castillo's hiring a "great move" by Andy Reid. (Bill Haber/AP file photo)Read more

DALLAS - While most Eagles fans thought Andy Reid completely lost what was left of his mind this week when he ended the drama over naming his new defensive coordinator by promoting longtime offensive line coach Juan Castillo to the position, at least one guy likes the move: Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo.

Spagnuolo, who spent 8 years on Reid's staff as a defensive assistant under Jim Johnson before leaving to become the Giants' defensive coordinator, applauded the decision.

"I thought it was a great move by Andy," Spagnuolo said. "The thing about Andy, Andy's a football junkie. Juan's a football junkie. Andy recognizes that he's a good football coach.

"Juan knows football. Anytime I was around Juan for the 8 years that I was there, he didn't just talk offensive line football. He was always talking football in general. We had a lot of conversations late into the night that made both of us better. I think he'll do a good job."

Spagnuolo said Castillo's knowledge of protection schemes as an offensive line coach should benefit him as he plots how to attack opposing protection schemes now that he's on the other side of the ball.

"In this league, right now, we all know that there are a lot of passes thrown," he said. "And we all know that if you're going to throw the ball, you've got to protect the quarterback. So if you know how to protect the quarterback, you should have a pretty good idea of how to attack those protections. I'm sure Juan will come at it from that standpoint.

"When you're putting together a [defensive] game plan and want to pressure the quarterback, you find your way into the offensive line coach's office and pick his brain. So Juan will already have that advantage."

Eighteen games or bust?

A day after union chief DeMaurice Smith said that any insistence by the owners on going to an 18-game regular-season schedule would be a deal breaker, NFL commmissioner Roger Goodell left room for the possibility that a new collective bargaining agreement could get done without necessarily going to 18 games.

"There are no deal breakers," he said. "We need to sit down and have a healthy negotiation about how we address the issues that we have. In negotiations, there's give and take, and that's how you get to an agreement that makes the game better. That's our entire focus. How do you make the game better? The status quo is not acceptable. We have to address these issues going forward."

That doesn't mean the owners plan to let the 18-game idea go. There's too much potential revenue in adding two more regular-season games. They are trying to make the idea more appealing to players by proposing fewer offseason camps, shortening training camp and banning full-pad practices during the regular season.

"I feel an obligation to make sure we are doing the best we can to present the best football to our fans," Goodell said. "And I believe we are on the right track to get that done [by shortening the preseason and lengthening the regular season]." *