Here, Juan Castillo is pictured with two people. All three men are equally qualified to be the Eagles defensive coordinator.
The Eagles have to be the strangest team in the land. They are more puzzling off the field than they ever are on it, and yesterday was probably the most unsettling and confusing example this front office has ever offered us.
The team has hired their offensive line coach, Juan Castillo, to be the new defensive coordinator…
…yes, their OFFENSIVE line coach is their new DEFENSIVE coordinator.
But apparently it’s okay because Castillo was a linebacker in college. And his son currently plays in Iowa’s secondary. Given that knowledge, this should now make perfect sense to you.
Except for that it doesn’t. This search over the past three weeks makes almost no sense to anyone on the outside because until last night’s press conference, the Eagles haven’t said a freakin’ word.
It’s irresponsible how this team handles the media and now Andy Reid and the people above him look completely irrational by making this move. Over the past 23 days, fans and the media have been subjected to rumor after rumor, assumption after assumption, and we have been told nothing.
So we talk, we hear things, we believe sources. Dick Jauron, Jim Mora, Bill Davis, Dennis Allen, Jeff Fisher, Darren Perry, Jon Hoke, Joe Woods, Mike Trgovak, Winston Moss, and it ends with Juan Castillo. This carousel of names, this vat of confusion that Eagles fans have been drowning in should have ended with a name that would make them feel better about the length of this search, something that would create a sense of justification.
We all are left with the opposite feeling, stuck in that vat that this team won’t let us climb out of. What is more apparent is that I am now completely certain that this team didn’t have a game plan after they scapegoated Sean McDermott. I wasn’t a fan of our defensive coordinator for the past two years, but if I knew that Juan Castillo was going to be his replacement, I would have gladly swallowed my words and my logic to give McDermott another year.
There isn’t a lot of support for this move, but I’ve listened to callers on WIP radio this morning and some of them went on about how Castillo has done really well with most of our offensive linemen in the 13 years he’s served as their coach. What those people are forgetting is those facts do NOT translate to the defensive side of the ball, and after more than a decade with this team working with the offense, the fact that he was a linebacker in college means absolute shit. This team is plugging another guy into a position without changing any fundamentals that have plagued us in recent years.
It is the Eagles way, plain and simple.
Reid Tells Us We Know Nothing… Again
Impromptu poll: Who is the bigger prick at press conferences?
Want to become more infuriated? Alright, let’s do it. Here’s the most disturbing thing Andy Reid said yesterday.
“What might seem a little strange is just a very confident move, and one that will take our defense to another level.”
Oh? So you must know something that we don’t. You always do, don’t you?
But isn’t this what the front office thinks about the media and fans all the time? We get that you have a job to do, man. So do we, and so does everybody, but the bullshit logic provided in yesterday’s press conference was vague and mostly dishonest. And so our “job” doesn’t allow us to explain to our readers why these moves our made, we’re left only to bitch about you, Mr. Reid, and the lack of material you give us. And when we do get information from you, you’re never really telling the truth, are you?
I mean, this wasn’t Juan Castillo’s job to lose, but Reid insinuated that it was yesterday. Another blatant lie. Also, remember we also never signed Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb is this team’s quarterback, Kevin Kolb is our starter, and Sean McDermott’s job is safe.
These press conferences are bullshit, and one of two things are happening when we’re fed this verbal diarrhea. Either Andy Reid will say anything (or nothing, for that matter), or Andy Reid doesn’t have the final say on personnel matters, which is what we’ve been led to believe all along.
Either way, I’m sick of it, and so are you. The smug sighs, the fact that the time isn’t really “ours”, the number of times we’ve been told to “listen”, and the fact that this team and this coach won’t make in-game adaptations to offenses or defenses…
…I”m at my threshold.
Les Bowen said it best in the Daily News this morning when he wrote, “last night’s message was that the Eagles won’t change anything but the faces.”
And if the Eagles don’t get deep into the postseason, if there even is one next year, then Reid’s face may be the next change we see.
