The nightmare season is finally over for the Eagles. A 1-4 start proved too much to overcome, even though the disappointing Birds ended the year with four straight wins. The strong finish, although admittedly against weak competition, has ensured another season with Andy Reid at the helm.
For others, Juan Castillo ahem, the future is not so certain. The oft-criticized defensive coordinator has definitely improved throughout the season, though. Yes, it was against a number of below-average quarterbacks. But this is the same defense that lost to John Skelton in Week 10. Giving up an average of under 12 points over a four-week span is impressive regardless of who you are playing. Good defenses shut down bad offenses. In my humble opinion, there are two options for the Eagles and Reid to make following such a substandard 2011.
Keep Castillo
The first choice the Eagles can make is to retain Juan Castillo as coordinator. The former offensive line coach has received the brunt of the blame for the mediocre season. Despite a very bad start, this star-studded side of the ball entered Week 17 ranked eight in the NFL. How many coordinators with a top-10 defense will be on the hot seat this offseason? My guess is that Castillo will be the only one.
It also must be said what bringing in a new coordinator, with a new system, does to a defense. Even though a coach (who we will get to in a minute) will likely become available and is familiar with the Eagles’ system and personnel, most of the candidates would bring a new philosophy to Philadelphia. This can set back certain players who are comfortable playing in specific formations and situations, as we saw this year with Nnamdi Asomugha. He came to town confident and highly touted. Under a system that uses zone defense the majority of the time, this same player looked lost and unconfident. This is certainly something to think about if you are in the “Fire Castillo” camp.
Hire Steve Spagnuolo
In an option that seems to becoming more and more likely, the Eagles could hire Rams Head Coach Steve Spagnuolo if he is fired. Spagnuolo coached for the Eagles and was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants team that defeated the undefeated Patriots in the Super Bowl. Since he has familiarity with the organization, bringing in the more experienced Spagnuolo would not be as much of an overhaul as it would be with other coaches.
It also must be said that, although unorthodox, Castillo could still be kept on board even if Spagnuolo is hired. He could be moved to a position coach or another job on Reid’s staff. Castillo seems to have won over the respect of the defense, which has put together two dominating performances over the past two weeks even with nothing to play for.
Personally, I’d like to see Castillo stay. I have seen a marked improvement week after week and love the fire he brings to the job. It would keep the familiarity with the defense in tact and they can easily build on the success of their late season run. Just a few moves here and there and this defense can become one of the league’s best. If they were ranked eighth in a bad season, imagine what they can do after a year together.
I agree Mark and would keep Castillo on for 2012, Give him an entire Off-Season with OTA’s,CAmps, etc,etc.. Remember there were about 5-6 New Starters on this Defense at times this Season(Babin,Jenkins,Rolle,Matthews,Asmo,DCR, the Safety position)
With a Strong Finish by the Team and the Eagles Defense (Albeit, not against the strongest of Offenses or QB’s) you have to agree that the Defense played much better, tackled much better and were much more confident in their assignments. To go backwards and bring in someone new just doesn’t make sense to me at this time, bringing in 2-3 Veteran Free-Agencts doesn’t make sense to me either since we saw how that worked this season.. Bring in an expereiced MLB, Draft SS Mark Barron with the 1st PIck and then Draft a DT,LB for Depth.. Go ahead and move CB A Samuel and employ a Man-to-man scheme for Asmo/DCR and build from their.. This Eagle Defense the final half of the Season was playing pretty good, but needs to create more Turnovers..
Draft Mark Barron with the 15th pick? Really? That would be a monumental reach. Drafting for positional need over better players is the biggest draft mistake! If you really like Barron, you can get him in round 2 (even if you move up a little).
my concern paul would be you are making a young group ( safeties ) even younger ! any good vets available ?will ried will be running out of time for another rookie learning on the job ?
The 49ers have won this year with an all new staff and the same restrictions the Eagles faced in the off season.
Andy Reid has always been a coach who can coach when there is no pressure or the opponent is weak.
The end of season surge had both weak opponents and no pressure.
Except for the New England game at home. And look what happened.
If the “All in” montra means win a Superbowl then this head coach and his improving defensive coordinator are not the answer.
Too many horrible teams have passed this organization.
Detroit
New Orleans (superbowl winners on Andy’s watch)
Tampa Bay (superbowl winners on Andy’s watch)
This article reminds me of the people who protest when a murderer is about to be excuted. They talk about his rights and being humane, and completely forget he killed somebody. He left a family without a father or mother or a chrished son or daughter.
Don’t forget that Andy Reid began the season with a playoff team. Then added the cream of the crop of free agents. And lost. Because of his bone head leadership and refusal to admit a mistake and correct it in time. Middle linebacker and defensive coordinator to name a few. Let alone not running McCoy in the 4th quarter collapses.
Don’t let “Crystal Ball Andy” fool you again. As Bill Parcels once said…
“You are what your record says you are” period.
Detroit is in the playoffs and the Eagles are not. The sorry Giants are in the play-offs and the Eagles are not.
Mark my word. There will be another excuse next year.
Andy Reid is not a good fit for the city of Philadelphia. He loses home games in the regular season, playoffs and nfc championship games. With his undersized team and speed he would be a great fit for a west coast team or dome team. But not the East Coast.
Most of the time, not all of the time, but most of the time you need a running game and a great defense to win the superbowl. One of the things that made Dick Vermeil great was that he studied success then emulated it. He would quote the stats of superbowl winners all the time.
Andy Reid tries to reinvent the wheel by having no balance to his play calling, trading a pro bowl qb to a division rival, trading a 1st round pick to a division rival, trading out of the 1st round, drafting the oldest player in 1st round history, naming a offensive line coach as your defensive coordinator. The majority of those decisions hurt the Eagles.
Andy Reid does not think like a champion. Dick Vermeil emulated champions.
Andy Reid got the “Fast ball” he wanted in the player he let go the year before. He had the best all-round running back in the league. He had the best cover corner in the NFL. He miss used them and finished 8-8.
Andy Reid is a mirage. A bum. Andy Reid will never win a superbowl in Philadelphia.
hiring Castillo was a mistake, a Herculean task imposed upon him, but you know what, under the circumstances he did an admirable job, at the end the defense played with emotion, swagger, and were physical reminiscent of defenses we loved here, landri appears to be able to play in the rotation, nate Allen playing with a physical presence, look, if Castillo is fired he will be the scapegoat for the poor play of the quarterback, the main reason the eagles are done, give Juan another year, he earned it
The 49ers Staff that Harbaugh has been together for 4-5 years back to his HC Days of San Diego State and Stanford . He brought his entire Staff from Stanford so they were all on the same page with a sytem in place from Day 1 when the 49ers camp started and has all thier processes,schemes down , which means all they had to do was to learn their players and teach
The Eagles had 6 New Coaches who not only had to learn the players, but had to learn themselves and bottom line, it took longer than expected or than it should have… The 49ers Coaching Staff was already a well-oiled machine and just had to teach their systems and schemes to an already talented but under-achieving team from Prior Seasons
I think everyone underestimated including Coach AR,Front Office, Media and yes, Fans on just how long it would take for the New Staff to get their legs under them and to trust each other and to develop schemes that had imput and buy in from each Positon coach. Remember these Eagles new Coaches (Mudd,Washburn,Lynne,Castillo,Caldwell & Zordich) had never worked together as a Staff before.. I am not making excuses, but that’s the reality and it just doesn’t happen overnight or in 1 Summer Camp. The Eagles New Staff had to learn themselves,each other first and then the Players..
the defense finished strong against a pathetic and putrid offensive team….Grossman is awful and Evan Royster, yes, Evan Royster ran for over 100 yards…. Castillo needs to go and they need to overhaul the linebackers and secondary!
bsm,
I understand you don’t like Reid and want him fired but half of your post is just silly.
You talk about Dick Vermiel like he was the greatest thing since sliced toast. You do realize that Vermiel lost in the Superbowl with the Eagles, right? He came back and won one with the Rams, but his winning percentage over a 15 year career is significantly lower than Reid (,524 to .607) and he had more losing seasons with the Eagles in seven years (3) than Reid has had in 13 (2).His winning percentage with the Eagles was .568 – still lower than Reid’s. When you compare playoff records, Vermeil comes out ahead in winning percentage. He won 6 of 11 playoff games over the course of 15 seasons for a winning percentage of .545. Reid has won 10 of 19 in 13 seasons for a winning percentage of .526. I mention playoffs because those are usually tough games with decent competition. Note that Reid has been in 8 more playoff games than Vermeil in two fewer seasons.
Don’t get me wrong, I liked Dick Vermeil. He is a far better comparison than the Buddy Ryan comparison that I see thrown about sometimes. Its just that treating him as a football god while saying Reid sucks is a serious reach.
You also talk about some of the things Reid has done whlie he was “reinventing the wheel” (something Vermeil did as well from what I remember – open tryouts anyone?). Then you proceed to list some “examples”.
No balance to his play calling. I agree. I think sometimes Reid loses that balance – would love to see him run the ball more sometimes. I would point out that they are fourth in total offense and fifth in rushing so it isn’t like they aren’t moving the football. Three of the top five teams in rush yardage per game are, in fact, out of the playoffs (Carolina, Minnesota, and Philly).
Trading a pro bowl quarterback to a division rival. You are kidding, right? I’m assuming you are talking McNabb.
Trading a first round pick to a division rival. You mean the one that gave the Cowboys Anthony Spencer and the Eagles Kevin Kolb (now Cromartie and another 2nd rounder) and a third and fifth?
Trading out of the first round. He did this twice out of 13 drafts – hardly a trend. Not to mention its not a new practice in the NFL. The Redskins did it rather successfully for many years. Not exactly reinventing the wheel.
Drafting the oldest player in 1st round history. You mean our starting right guard at the end of the season?
Naming an offensive line coach as your defensive coordinator. Ok, this was reinventing the wheel. At midseason I would have said it was a mistake as well – now I’m not so sure.
Then you top all of this off with this statement – “. With his undersized team and speed he would be a great fit for a west coast team or dome team. But not the East Coast. ”
Apparently you win football games differently on the West Coast. Maybe going to the playoffs consistantly is more widely accepted as success there.
I don’t begrudge you your opinion, I just strongly disagree with the “facts” you listed to justify it.
They all need to go!