Risk or Stupidity? Eagles name Castillo new Defensive Coordinator

After a three week coaching “search” in which the team kept everyone guessing the Philadelphia Eagles finally revealed their new defensive coordinator on Wednesday evening.

Former offensive line coach Juan Castillo.

What?!?

Let me preface this by stating that Castillo is an outstanding football coach. He is highly revered by his peers and has been regarded as one of the top offensive line coaches in the National Football League over the past decade. His passion for coaching and knowledge of complex zone blitz schemes could translate very well to the defensive side of the ball.

But it is fair to question whether or not Castillo’s success during his tenure with the Eagles is attributed to the quality of his coaching or the talent level of the players on Philadelphia’s roster. Castillo received tremendous praise during the early 2000s as Pro Bowlers Tra Thomas and Jon Runyan combined to form one of the best offensive tackle tandems in the entire NFL. But since appearing in Super Bowl XXXIV, the Eagles offensive line has been on a steady decline. In fact, over the past two seasons the unit has been one of the weakest aspects of a team that continuously states it is among the elite of the NFL. There are very few quarterbacks that could survive behind the quality of the Eagles offensive line and Michael Vick helped mask many of the issues of this suddenly inept unit.

Let’s make no mistake about it. Even if Castillo’s caching ability is as good as the praise he has received around the league, this is an ABSOLUTELY HORRIBLE decision by Andy Reid and the Eagles. Reid has put his reputation on the line with this gamble. If it works he will look brilliant. If it doesn’t, it will likely be the decision that costs the longest tenured head coach in professional football his job.

Some will call it high risk, high reward.

I call it an incredibly stupid bet.

Let’s take a look back at how the Eagles got to this point.  In 1999 Reid hired the great Jim Johnson as his defensive coordinator and turned the entire defensive over to the brilliant football mind. Reid and Johnson assembled one of the best coaching staffs in football, including six members that have gone on to become head coaches in the league. As coaches continued to leave Reid’s staff for promotions, the Eagles head coach continued to promote from within. He has continuously been a big believer in giving young coaches an opportunity to hone their craft within the Eagles system and move up through the ranks.

But what happens when the quality of coaching and football intellect drops off significantly? What happens when John Harbaugh, Steve Spagnuolo, and Ron Rivera turn into Sean McDermott, Bill Shuey, and Rory Segrest?

After Jim Johnson’s tragic passing before the 2009 season due to cancer, McDermott was thrust into the defensive coordinator role. The young coach was probably promoted too soon due to unfortunate circumstances and appeared consistently overmatched during his two seasons on the job.

The 2010 Eagles defense was even worse than the unit McDermott directed during his first year on the job. The squad had the worst red zone defense in franchise history and allowed a whopping 31 touchdowns through the air. However, the day after the Eagles season ended, Reid was adamant that McDermott was not the reason for the team’s defensive struggles and the defensive coordinator would be back for the 2011 season.

Five days later, McDermott was fired. Over the next two weeks Shuey and Segrest were relieved of their duties. Even defensive backs coach Dick Jauron left to become the defensive coordinator of the Cleveland Browns.

Every major defensive coach on the Philadelphia Eagles staff was gone. It was by far the biggest coaching shake-up of Reid’s twelve year tenure.

So how do you replace a young, inexperienced coordinator? By hiring a coordinator with even less experience of course! The last time Castillo, a former USFL linebacker, coached defense was as a Texas High School football assistant and linebacker coach during the 1989 season. He has never coach defense at the professional or collegiate level and has been on the offensive side of the football as a coach for over two decades. Castillo was even a candidate this offseason for the Cleveland Browns OFFENSIVE coordinator position.

An inbred organization has outdone even itself.

This move makes absolutely no sense. Sure the opportunity to hire Howard Mudd as the new offensive line coach helped free up Castillo to move over to the defense. But isn’t the quality of your defensive coordinator slightly more important than the ability of your offensive line coach, a position held by a “highly regarded” member of your staff and considered a strength?

If Castillo was THE GUY, why did the team wait three weeks before ultimately promoting from within? If he is truly ready to make this monumental coaching leap and he has the full confidence of Reid and staff, why wasn’t this move made concurrently with the firing of McDermott? Why did the team go through a half-assed coaching search for three weeks before ultimately settling within the comfort of the exclusive staff at the Novacare Complex?

Because the more things change, the more they stay the same. The Eagles have once again displayed the pompous, arrogant, smug attitude that has been the main reason the team is just one of nine franchises in professional sports that have existed for the last 50 years and failed to win a championship during that time frame.

The team needed a new face to lead their defense. They needed someone with experience and fresh ideas. They needed a coordinator who could look at this struggling unit with an outsiders perspective and instill confidence in his new players.

The Eagles failed on every single count.

When informed of Castillo’s hiring, Pro Bowl Cornerback Asante Samuel said, “The offensive line coach?”

Center Mike McGlynn added, “Really? That’s crazy.”

“I didn’t know Juan knew defense,” admitted linebacker Omar Gaither.

Well… that’s comforting.

It has been reported that Castillo has sat in on defensive meetings in the past and has given input throughout his tenure as offensive line coach. But if Castillo was involved with the quality of the Eagles defense over the past several seasons, why is he receiving a promotion when every other defensive coach has been canned?

“I’ve always considered myself a defensive guy stuck on the offensive side,” Castillo said. “We have good players here and we will be the best defense in the NFL.”

I’ll believe it when I see it.

“What seems very strange is a confident move that will take the defense to another level,” head coach Andy Reid said. “Juan’s heart and desire has always been on the defensive side. This is a game of risk.”

There is a big difference between taking a calculated risk and being reckless in making a decision. This move unfortunately screams of the second. Andy Reid is gambling on a coach with absolutely no experience to lead his defense on a team with Super Bowl aspirations. I hope that I am wrong about this move but I fear that I am right.

The Gold Standard has struck again.