Ex-LB brings his wisdom back to Eagles as assistant coach

IF ANYBODY alive knows what the deal is with the Eagles and linebacking, it's Mike Caldwell.

Caldwell played WIL for coordinator Jim Johnson, back when Johnson's defense was at its best, early in the last decade. Caldwell returned to the Eagles as a coach in 2008, got the linebacking corps all to himself last year. Caldwell played alongside Jeremiah Trotter and Carlos Emmons. He has seen a lot of less illustrious groupings come and go since. They don't get much less illustrious than last season's bunch, which came to epitomize how a ballyhooed team didn't have the right pieces in the right places to make the playoffs. When the season was over, Eagles coach Andy Reid allowed that he hadn't understood the importance of take-charge linebacking behind his new wide-nine defensive front.

Caldwell and defensive coordinator Juan Castillo think the team has solved that problem, by trading for middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans and drafting strongside linebacker Mychal Kendricks, the current projected starters alongside the only holdover, 2011 rookie Brian Rolle at WIL. They also say the rest of their returning group will benefit from last season's experience and the chance to learn and grow through a normal offseason this year.

Tuesday, the Eagles let reporters talk to the defensive coaches, not just Castillo but the position coaches such as Caldwell, whose thoughts on last year's struggles went unrecorded at the time, while the Birds struggled to a 4-8 start, then won their final four games, too late. Caldwell was asked what has been so hard about finding linebackers who can get the job done.

"I don't know if there's something that's been hard about it. It just hasn't happened," he said. "We've drafted guys high, we've had free agents, guys come over from different teams. It's just in the system, you have to have a unique skill set. Back when Jim was here, you had to be able to blitz, you had to be able to play fast, you had to secure your gaps. Now it's not blitzing as much - though we might get back to blitzing - there are so many different skill sets and so many things a linebacker can do, you have to be multidimensional. You can't just be a run player. It's hard to find that guy that can do both. You can find a guy who's going to be a run-stopper, you can find a guy who's good in coverage, but to find a guy who's good in both? It's going to be difficult to do. We're still looking to find that. We have some guys right now who fit that bill."

Caldwell didn't offer any gut-wrenching revelations about what it was like being in charge of the position that absorbed most of the public's scorn last season, a group that got better, eventually, but still was not a strength.

"You never want to be the reason why. You always want to be the part of the team that people lean on," Caldwell said. "Do we talk about it? Yeah . . . As hard as the media and the fans are on a player, they're going to be10 times harder on themselves, because they've made plays all their lives. For them to not make those plays or be in position, or make an impact on a game, they're gonna wanna do that."

From Caldwell's perspective, obviously, you're a position coach, you don't pick the players. You didn't tell anybody the Eagles would be just fine with fourth-round rookie Casey Matthews opening last season in the middle. Your job is to do the best you can with what they give you.

"The guys did everything I asked them to do last year," Caldwell said. "We learned, we went through some growing pains. We learned together. I like to say, 'give me your best, do everything I ask you to do, and go out there and play the game you've always played,' and they did that."

It was clear from talking to Castillo and Caldwell Tuesday, if it hadn't been clear already, that Ryans is their ace.

"He has the ability to be a leader like Trotter was," Caldwell said. "A guy that people will look to in those certain situations, like a MIKE linebacker should [be looked to] . . . He leads by example, and guys see that."

Castillo said: " 'Meco' is an experienced leader. Somebody asked me - 'Has he been yelling? Is he loud in the classroom?' No, you know what, he's a professional. The way he carries himself in the classroom. The way he carries himself outside."

Kendricks arrived in the second round from Cal and quickly became the only 2012 rookie who is a projected starter right now. In the early OTA work, he has played in the base defense and the nickel.

"Right now, we're throwing everything we can at him," Caldwell said. "He's asking good questions. He's staying late . . . Before he even got here, he was calling me - 'Coach, what are we going to do the first day of camp?' We were able to go over things. He has the desire to be a good linebacker."

Caldwell added that Kendricks also has "athleticism, speed, explosiveness, and he has the ability to blitz and get off the corner."

Last year ended with no linebacker starting in the same spot he occupied when the season began. Caldwell is hoping for more stability.

"The whole group has to be better, but if we can get three guys that take hold of it, and we can run with three the whole year, that'd be the best-case scenario," he said.