Now that the Juan Castillo experiment has blown up in Andy Reid’s face and been canned, the Eagles will turn the defensive reins over to secondary coach Todd Bowles.
Unlike Castillo, Bowles brings a wealth of experience and success coaching defense in the NFL. He played in the NFL as a defensive back for eight seasons with the Washington Redskins, and while he was there he played for some great defensive minds, including defensive coordinators Richie Pettibone and Larry Peccatiello.
After his playing career he came back to the NFL in 2000 as a secondary coach with the New York Jets. He’s also spent time with the Cleveland Browns, Dallas Cowboys, and Miami Dolphins in the same role, giving him over a decade of defensive NFL coaching experience, as compared to the complete lack of experience that Castillo brought to the table when he was hired a year and a half ago.
Bowles is considered an up and coming defensive coach. When Bill Parcells left the Dallas Cowboys and joined the Miami Dolphins’ front office, one of the first guys he brought over when he was assembling his new coaching staff was Bowles.
In 2011, after Miami head coach Tony Sparano was fired, Bowles took over as the interim head coach. He coached the final three games of the season, and finished with a 2-1 record. He also interviewed for the job after the season, but the Dolphins wanted to go in a different direction. Many people around the league believe that Bowles is destined for a head coaching position someday.
I think there’s a lot of reason to be optimistic about what Bowles can do for this team as its defensive coordinator. Unlike Castillo, Bowles has true defensive instincts, and has a good feel for the game. He’ll know when to be aggressive, and he’ll won’t be completely overmatched by opposing offensive coordinators like Juan was.
The Eagles defensive players never completely trusted Castillo as defensive coordinator. They had trouble buying into his scheme, and some veterans (most recently Nnamdi Asomugha) openly questioned the defensive schemes. Bowles is a guy that these players can rally behind and have confidence in. If the defensive players can trust the calls being made by their coach on the sideline, they’ll execute with much more confidence, which could lead to some much more successful results on the field.
This Eagles defense has a lot of talent, but Castillo was never going to be the guy that could get the most out of them. Bowles has a chance to to get the most of this unit, and get them into top form.
We’ve already gotten a taste of what Bowles can do as a defensive coach this year. We’ve seen improvements from a number of players in the secondary this year. Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie looked lost in his first year with the team, but he’s been greatly improved in 2012. The Eagles made a mistake of trying to get him to play the slot in 2011, and the fact that he’s playing on the outside again helps him greatly, but we shouldn’t dismiss the impact that Bowles has had on him. He’s been the Eagles best cornerback this year, and he’s constantly in position to make plays.
Safeties Nate Allen and Kurt Coleman were a weakness a year ago, but both have shown good improvements under Bowles. Both of them are playing with much more confidence, and while they haven’t been perfect (there’s been several blown coverages and missed assignments from each of them) neither player has looked like a liability.
Now Bowles will have a chance to impact the rest of the defense like he has the safeties. He’ll work much more closely with DeMeco Ryans and Mychal Kendricks, and he’ll find ways to get the most of an underachieving defensive line.
This is a good Eagles defense, but all along they’ve been missing a capable defensive coordinator that can put all of the pieces together and make this a defense that shuts the door on offenses in the fourth quarter instead of coughing up a lead. I think Bowles could very well be that guy, and I’m excited to see how the unit performs under his leadership.
Denny Basens is the editor of GCobb.com. Email him at dbasens@ycp.edu, or follow him on Twitter.
OK the defense should improve. Now how about getting RGIII over here to teach Vick how to protect the football. Or hears an idea, lets look at how the Redskins play calling protects their QB’s weaknessess. Maybe the 14 year head coach we have could stop watching reruns of “Masterchef” long enough to get game plans that take into account that you have a weak offensive line.
More strait ahead running.
1. It wears out the defensesive line and slows the pass rush.
2. It sets up play action.
3. It keeps your WRs fresh.
4. Keeps your 3rd downs managible.
More Screens.
1. Slows down the pass rush
2. gives the QB an easy completion
3. almost interception proof
Take more time to Set up plays. If you threw 2 square outs to the opposite side of the field, then a corner would bite of a square out pump fake and up.
Take what the defense gives you. Quit forcing plays. Be patience.
Don’t tolorate turnovers. If Vick can’t protect the ball then bench him until he does. He’ll come around fast. His ego could not except being a backup.
And if he does not? Start grooming the rookie. 5 other rookie starters are doing pretty well this season. I personally hope RGIII lights it up against the Eagles and embarrasses Vick. He like Andy Reid, have been around too long for turnovers to be an issue at this point in his career.
Should have been done in the Off-Season when they hired Bowles to begin with and move Castillo to LB’s Position Coach, which he probably would have had no issue with since he’s loves ANdy and would do whatever was asked of him…
My Attention will be on the Relationship between Bowles and Washburn
for I really beleive Bowles will be to get Washburn’s to tone down his “Wide-9 or the HIghway Approach” which should help the back end of the Defense and especialyl make some plays availalbe for the LB’s as opposed to them playing back and cautiously as they have been worrying about all the Space they have to cover for the Wide-9 large gaps…
Washburn has always been known for not as easy Coach to work with so it will be interested to see if Bowles demands and implements some of his strategies whether it be more LB BLitzing or CB/Safey Blitizes, moving DE’s around, Standing them up and rooving around the FOrmations like some the Dolphins Defense Did while Bowles and Mikle Nolan Coached there..Or is he going to give in to Washburn (like Castillo Did) and sit his LB back 5-6 Yards and have the DL in practically the same allingment snap after snap and hope the Eagles DL outworks the their Opposing OL.. SO far it hasn’t worked..
You need surprises, stunts, all out blitzes, delay blaitzes, Blits from Secondary personnel,etc,etc to mix things up and especialyl against experienced QB’s who see the Eagles doing the same Rush Packages//Formations for 2 YEars now and other Teams QB’s and OC’s have adjusted like I stated they would back from the SUmmer, Max Protect, Keep a TE or FB in to help with COle or Babin and the Resule is wha twe have seen, and that’s little PRessure, Sacks, Negative Plays from the Eagles DL and we all said from the get go this Season, that the Eagles DL was going to carry this Eagles Defense and so far, they have failed miserbly and I put this blame squarely on DL Coach Washburn more than Juan Castillo…
Still think this was a little strange. Must have come from Lurie. Don’t know.
Was it Castillo who kept running onto the field and knocking the ball out of Vick’s hands?
from football outsiders:
Holy scapegoat, Batman. This would have been a really smart-looking move, say, one year ago. But over the second half of last season and the first half of this season, the Eagles defense has dramatically improved while their offense has declined. In the new DVOA ratings, they are ninth in defense and 26th on offense. Was Castillo really the problem? I wonder if there’s more to this than just frustration over a 3-3 record. Secondary coach Todd Bowles will take over.
Defense improving……offence declining….blame the defence!
Coach AR is in Bunker Mode and had to do something, Firing Castillo was the easy way out for him to appear that he’s in Control when in fact, I believe AR is little, by little losing this Team,the Locker Room and confidence from the Front Office.. and of course, the irony of it all, is that it’s been his own poor decisions which have led himself and this Team to this Point
#1) Hiring a Def/LIne Coach in Jim Washburn before hiring a D/C to see if the new C is even Compataible with the Wide-9 Scheme as far as Startegy/game plans
#2) Then compounded error #1 in Hiring inexpereinced Castillo as the DC
#3) Deciding and Selling that QB M VIck is a “Franchise QB” when his Career Statisitcs and Production has proven that he simply is Average..
#4) Going with a WR Corps and PAssing Attack that only does 1 Type of Game Well and that’s the Deep ROutes which requires a Good OL to Pass PRotect and a Smart QB who can make the PRoper Reads and Actually get rid of the Ball on Time
#5) Completely disregarding the Offense’s Best and most consisten weapon which is RB L McCoy
#6) Then compounds this lack of committment of a Running Game by Decideing to Keep 5 RB’s on it’s 53 Man Roster (McCoy,Lewis,Brown,Polk and FB Havilli) even though they don’t run the ball more than 35% of the time and when the OL/LB & Safety Positions are very thin and lack in Quality Depth
Assanine Decisions across the Board and Poor ROster Management..
The last 5 Players on this Roster add or contibute very little to the Team on a weekly bases adn you have to utilize for full roster over a course of a season and games whether it be for Special Teams, Injury Replacement or SPot Starting or even push for Starter’s Time …
To Vinnie,
I highly Doubt that Lurie or GM Roseman has anything to do with the Firing of Castillo, It’s AR all the way having another Scapegoat to lie in front of his Bosses after the Season to try to save his Job.. Owner Lurie even stated such that he let’s His Coach make all the Staffing Decisions and then useshow productive or not those Decisions were as part of his year-end evaluation of AR… Lurie has been oon Record that he entrusts Coach AR or any HC to be the person making those decisions .. I think Many of us thought Sean McDermott was thrown into the fire too soon before he was ready and the same with Castillo who had a much steeper learning curve to make .. CoachAR has not handled any Staffing Issues well with the Defense since JJ first got sick.. a succesion plan should have been in place back wehn that occured in late 2008 when JJ was diagnosed with serious health issues…
I need some answers here.
for all the so called fans who claimed Andy was an expert and we should trust the professionals on these decisions with the hiring of Castillo….Did Andy know more than the fans?
If he would have hired a more experienced Defensive coordinator, would last season along with this mediocre season be better?
Another question.
Did we draft Riley Cooper to for special teams as a high round pick or was he touted the cheaper red zone threat opposed to signing Plaxico?
I would like the losers who have supported Reid to answer
Riley Cooper was a late 5th Round Pick (159th Overall Selection) and certainly was not looked at as #3 or even #4 WR in the NFL, by most Scouts.. He is the token White WR that the Eagles have every year like Kevin Curtis,Jeremy Bloom & Chad Hall before him, Riley Cooper wouldn’t make 3/4 of the NFL’s Roster’s and to top it off, he’s not really excelled in Special Teams either, I recall very few plays he’s ever made while playing Special Teams.. Look at the 3 Players the Eagles Selecting in the 4th Round Before Riley Cooper (Trevard LIndley, Keenan Clayton & Mike Kafka)
and their 1st Selection in the 5th Rd (Ricky Sapp) before Selecting Riley Cooper.. See a common theme here… Yes all 4 Players Drafated by the Eagles before Cooper never made an impact in the NFL during their breif Careers… The 2010 Draft has to be one of the worst in All-Time Eagle History when you think about it.. What 12-13 Selections made and busts all over the place…. Only Graham and Nate Allen, Jamar Cheney and Kurt Coleman still remain and some could argue that all 4 of these Players would struggle to start for any other NFL Team…. Horrible Draft
your close on Reid, biggest mistake GIVING ANDY FULL CONTROL AFTER YR 3. modrak was forced out after andy was given full control . andy fooled laurie by quick sucess going from 5-11 strait to 11-5 and upward. andy went from being a freaking qb coach to 3 yrs later preparing for an NFC championship gm ( loss to Rams ) AND THEN HAVING THE COMPLETE AUTHORITY OVER THE FRANCHISE. Too much power too soon. this man in his early fourties has never tasted sucess at any level where he was in the fore front. Something that andy’s never experienced before. as I stand here today I read something that made a lot of sense.
ANDY REID, 14 YRS AN AVERAGE COACH WITH LIMITED SUCESS
a Man who truly leaves his mark is not on a football field , BUT THRU HIS CHILDREN , was it really worth it for andy ??
.
GIVING ANDY FULL CONTROL OVER ALL FOOTBALL DECISIONS WAS A MISTAKE. For anyone who can list a good andy draft pick, I CAN NAME 3 POOR ONE’S
Wow I’m agreeing with paulman on this one. Geez that is a terrible draft class. Clayton should still be here and I think Riley is more then just the token white receiver he has produced somewhat when given the chance.
@Paulman agreed about Cooper being a token. Hos biggest catch in his career with the Eagles wasnt even a pass. It was an onsides kick recovery in Miracle at new meadowlands.
I guess Juan was the “token ” Hispanic, and if more Hispanics followed th nfl maybe he wouldn’t have been the scapegoat, this just fumes me that Juan got shit canned when the head coach, offensive coordinator and quarterback should have gone first, wake up you sons of bitches, biased mfers
I didn’t know Juan was Hispanic.. I thought he was from South Philly and of “Eye-Talian” descent..
Doesnt matter who the coordinator is on defense….the issue is Andy Reid
My 2013 plan for the Eagles
Fire the entire coaching staff
Release mike vick
Hire Mike Pettine Jr as coach
Pettine will install a tough defense built around a running game and balanced offensive attack…..give McCoy a FB (Havili) to lead the way oower running game…
Give the offense to Foles
Let me guess Jott….your from Bucks County
Good plan jott
One other silver lining is that the Eagles have an open Defensive back coach position and it would be nice if the Eagles could get Dawk in to coach the DBs.
I see the Eagles HIring Tra Thomas and coverted him to Def Secondary Coach
GM Roseman– With Tra’s Tallness and good sight for down the field, we feel he will make an excellent Secondary/Coverage Coach.. We are fortunate to have Tra join the Eagles Family now that he’s playing days are over..
“NEWS FLASH” MUDD Just was moved to team doctor and surgeon!
He gained much knowledge by staying awake during his hip replacement, and word have it that he stayed at an Holiday Inn last night!
Exciting news!!!!!!
Paulman HIred as GM for the Eagles and is ready to announce the Following Changes to the Eafles
Immediate Release of the Following Players
RB Dion Lewis, WR Danarius Johnson, LT Demetress Bell
& LB C Matthews (more Playing Time for RB Chris Polk, WR Mardy Gilyard,
OT Dennis Kelly and LB Ryan Rau and call up some Practice players to fill up the Roster
Trade before the NFL’s Deadline for 2013 Draft Picks
DE Darryl Tapp, CB Asmo,WR J Avant and DE J Babin
After the Season is over, Release Vick and go with Nick Foles with Back-up Edwards for 2013
Focus the Draft OL, DL, CB, WR, Safety, OLB & TE
This message was approved by Paulman
p-man , i just heard reid next year to san diego or cleveland ! first i heard cleveland , would Banner actually hire him back ?
Greenfan-
Berks County
Been following Pettine fir years – great motivator and up and comer…
Perfect for the eagles
Anyone see the article on Winston Justice from pro football focus? He is rated top 10 OT and has only given up 2 QB hurries and is playing great for the colts…..oh and Chris Clemons is a beast for the Seahawks….
Great moves Andy
I think its Reid in Cleveland.
Suprised that Justice is doing well? Not as hard to play OL when the QB throws the ball before 3 seconds.
Oline will magically improve the moment Vick leaves. Guaranteed.
Vick will not be the Birds QB next year. We all know that. So how many games does Foles need this year to get ready?
From Bill Simmons and Mike Lombardi. So fantastically true:
Phil Rivers Being Done (-3.5) over Michael Vick Being Done
If Vick were an NBA player, he’d be 15 months away from signing with a Chinese team. He’s done. And as Mike Lombardi pointed out on my podcast this week, Andy Reid won’t do the right thing by promoting Nick Foles and looking toward the future, because that future probably doesn’t include Andy, so he’s going with the guy who can help him win right now. It’s always fun when a coach or GM’s short-term interests go directly against the long-term interests of the franchise, right?
As for Rivers, he seems like he needs a change of scenery more than anything — new uniforms, new receivers, a new coach, something. He hasn’t looked right for two seasons. And he’s suddenly 30 years old. If this were the NBA, we’d be making up fake trades for him, like “Phil Rivers and a third-round pick for Tony Romo!” and “Phil Rivers to Arizona for Kevin Kolb, two no. 1’s and a personal check of $5 million from Larry Fitzgerald!” But we never have trades in the NFL … right?7
No way Coach AR ends up in Cleveland for 3 Reasons
#1) Coach Ar and Joe Banner did not have a very warm relationship at all and especially over the last 5 Years.. No love lost between those 2
#2) Joe Banner and Jeff Lurie are very close,personal friends over a long period of time and no way would Banner hire away or taCoach
ke Luries
#3) Banner is a very competitive fella and will want to be seen as the Man who turned around the Browns Franchise with his own mark andhires and not want any former Eagles involved.. His Ego is as big as Reids and would not want to share the glory being associated with Reid & Co..
As far as QB Rivers.. Remember the Chargers lost a lot of weapons on Offense from the llast few yers due to a cheap,hard-ass GM Smith.. They never had replaced RB Tomliinson, lost dangerous Scat-Back Sproles and of course WR Vince Jackson.. Their OL has been poor the last 2 Seasons with a revolving Door at both the OT positions… Depending how the Chargers finish, both HC Turner and GM Smith will be fired, and I can see Rivers being Traded as they sart anew and could Trade Rivers to a Team for a Top Pick to get QB Barkely from USC..
Trade Partners could be the Jaguars,TB Bucs,Buffalo Bills or even the Jets where Sanchez would be involved
Ok…lets bat around the comparisons of the qb again just for fun…..
Vinnie… I agree that this O- line would look much better IF Vick was throwing the ball in under 3 seconds…. BUT….. thats not what this O was designed to do. Let me break it down…
Djax- fast WR, uses speed to get open, needs time to get seperation.
Jmax- fast WR, uses speed to get open, needs time to get there.
Shady- fast RB, shifty. Uses other teams pass rush against them. Deadly against screens and on wheel routes. Not a north/south runner.
Vick earned the job because he was able to make something out of nothing and he has a big arm.
I have said over and over again that Im not crazy about this style because its all about “going big or going home”.. And as we’ve seen the last 2 weeks….. Eagles went home.
Furthermore, this style puts ALL the pressure on the QB. It was too much for Dmac and its too much for Vick… and dont even get me started on noodle arm.
What about the Oline? This style NEEDS amazing Olineman because the WR’s need to get to their spots….. AND…… Vick needs to be able to take off if he doesnt see them getting open.
What many of us fans have called for is a more balanced style… one that can rely on a deadly rushing game as well as in the air. But the birds wont do it because Andy wants to not just win but dominate (remember this week when we were up and he still wouldnt run?)
So….. would switching to Foles help? I think it would because AT THAT POINT Andy would start to play a more balanced game… need proof? Go look at what he did when we had Feeley, K. Detmer, or Garcia. He used a much smarter game plan and understood HOW to help out his QB.
Could we still win with Vick under center? I think so…. heres how….
I would find away to get the RB’s and Vick more involoved in the running game. I would find ways to use the flats….. get the TE’s involved, use a run game a short passing plays to the RB’s in the flats…. options and such. I know it sounds like trick plays but its not (unless Andy has Djax doing 12 yard deep end arounds again).
This is a conflict between short term and long term goals.
We all know Vick is gone at the end of the season. That is a certainty.
So then we examine how to move forward. Short term or long term??
The short term view (that Reid is espousing) is that the team can ‘win now’ with Vick (I do not believe this). This would encompass VIck fixing the problems that have dogged him his entire career (int%, fumbles, defence rec, height, accuracy etc etc). Anyway, keep Vick in and try to run for the playoffs….this of couse is potentially good for the short term, but not for the long term….
Long term, the Eagles must find out if they have a fuure QB knowing that Vick will be a backup on the Raiders next year.Ibelieve this must be the primary goal of the Birds right now because A) Vick will not magically fix his career-long issues over the next 2 games and B) Vick will not be the QB next year.
When should we move from short term potential to long term potential? If not now, then when?
Fortunately, or for some of you unfortunately, I think Vick will force the change sooner rather than later……
Dont care about longterm… this is all on reid… if they dont make thw playoffs and win at least 1 game.. hes gone. Foles may be something but u would not put him in behind this line. This team is good enpugh to win… i agree that if it doesnt work ita all on 1 person but his name is reid… not vick.
Well, they won’t win a playoff game this year. So 2012 will be a waste rolling with Vick.
The other issue with rolling with Vick is that 2013 will also be a waste breaking in a new qb.
This team is going nowhere this year….if we want any chance in 2013 and 2014, we’ve got to give the kid a shot and find out if he’s got what it takes.