Comments on: Eagles look to simplify their defense

By: sweded775

sweded775 — Tue, 31 May 2011 21:31:43 +0000

We went to a superbly behind jjs D bad a$$ playcaller even with fredex playing wr not to mention thrash and pinkston

By: CKL

CKL — Sun, 15 May 2011 14:39:00 +0000

thekingdp says:
May 14, 2011 2:06 PM
BTW, McDermott wasn’t JJ’s protege as much as Spagnuolo was.. For every single one of you f**king morons that think Jeffery Lurie & Andy Reid are clueless morons, look at how many Andy Reid assistants are NFL head coaches: Steve Spagnuolo, John Harbaugh, Pat Shurmur, Leslie Frazier, Ron Rivera, and even frigging Brad Childress all got NFL head coaching jobs because the Jeffery Lurie\Andy Reid model of running an NFL franchise WORKS.
___________________________________
Good points. A big part of how I judge HCs is by their assistants-the handpicked and educated ones. It’s hard to argue that Reid hasn’t done a good job there.

Also as a Pats fan I can say that I like the way BB cross educates his assistants on all sides of the ball. I think it’s valuable experience and allows coaches to see other aspects of playcalling, scheming and philosophies that they wouldn’t see otherwise. Granted BB doesn’t do that with the long tenured guys like Scar or Weis or Crennel whose tenure on one side of the ball is comparable to Castillo’s, only the younger guys just starting out. So in that aspect, the Castillo move is a bit surprising.

Also, that guy who said who cares about D when the O scores 50 can’t possibly be an Eagles fan or they would recall that JJ’s D was the biggest reason the Eagles were in so many NFCCs & playoff games to begin with.

By: wydok

wydok — Sun, 15 May 2011 12:29:45 +0000

This is old news. Various Philadelphia media were talking about simplifying the defense because McDermott over complicated things BEFORE Castillo was hired.

By: hendeeze

hendeeze — Sun, 15 May 2011 03:03:06 +0000

I would have though eagle fans would have put 2 and 2 together, but apparently not.

When you hire a guy on the otherside of the ball to run your D. Dumbing down will occur. Not for the players sake, but for the Coach. ouch…..

By: primetimemagik

primetimemagik — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:46:45 +0000

PFT seems like they’re not big football fans… just uneducated, ignorrant, never been football playing, media guys!

By: melonnhead

melonnhead — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:37:09 +0000

Time will tell and as a Eagles fan if he sucks trust me the Eagles fans will let him know.

————————————————

Yup. Just as soon as he leaves and is working somewhere else.

By: readingrugby7

readingrugby7 — Sat, 14 May 2011 23:03:37 +0000

i think it was a smart move i questioned it at first like most,but castillo is one of the most respected coaches not only in the eagles organization but in the nfl as well. as a defensive cordinater you must have the respect of your players and thats what jj had! everyone one of his players would go to war for him and i think they will take to castillo the same way.

By: nfl25

nfl25 — Sat, 14 May 2011 20:00:54 +0000

PFT seems like they arent big eagles fans

By: mimitaroo

mimitaroo — Sat, 14 May 2011 19:29:02 +0000

“Still, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Eagles fans to wonder whether Castillo, a converted offensive line coach, is the one having trouble understanding Jim Johnson’s blitzes.”

Well I now know of one person who wont be speaking to PFT Live come media day on superbowl week…

By: thekingdp

thekingdp — Sat, 14 May 2011 18:06:51 +0000

BTW, McDermott wasn’t JJ’s protege as much as Spagnuolo was.. For every single one of you f**king morons that think Jeffery Lurie & Andy Reid are clueless morons, look at how many Andy Reid assistants are NFL head coaches: Steve Spagnuolo, John Harbaugh, Pat Shurmur, Leslie Frazier, Ron Rivera, and even frigging Brad Childress all got NFL head coaching jobs because the Jeffery Lurie\Andy Reid model of running an NFL franchise WORKS. He wouldn’t have SIX MOTHERF**KING ASSISTANT COACHES as NFL head coaches if they didn’t know what they were doing. I trust their judgments on who’s a good coach and who isn’t over PFT’s cracked writer’s team.

By: primetimemagik

primetimemagik — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:28:02 +0000

First off, anyone on here saying that O-Line Coach and D Coord. are two completely different positions are ignorrant to the game of football and to Juan Castillo. Castillo is a former linebacker and was a D coach for the start of his career in college. He moved to offense later in his collegiate coaching career then joined the Eagles as an offensive assistant under Ray Rhodes. To be a coach in the NFL you HAVE to know BOTH sides of the ball… plain and simple. Let’s not forget that Harbaugh was only a Special Teams coach before becoming a Head Coach! Other notable coaches switching sides of the ball… Bill Walsh, coached secondary before becoming legendary offensive genius, in fact the Eagles own JJ was a tight end and quarterback before becoming a superior defensive coordinator! Coordinators have to know how to get the most of out of their personnel more than the X’s and O’s… in the NFL, coaches are a dime a dozen that can call good plays. The thing that separates the great coaches from the average ones are those that can MOTIVATE and get the best from their players day in and day out. So everybody out there worrying about this move months later… RELAX!!

By: dant10

dant10 — Sat, 14 May 2011 17:01:21 +0000

Yeah Mike that was definitely a low blow. No one can say that he will do a great job since we haven’t seen them in action yet. Personally I liked the move and think eagles D is gonna be solid, until the season starts who knows though. But Mike you basically called Castillo dumb, that’s just rude. The guys been a NFL coach for years, he’s obviously doing something right. And not understanding blitzes!? C’mon…

By: pacificamjr

pacificamjr — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:54:11 +0000

i was watching To Catch a Predator online last night and the first two dudes who showed up to rape a little kid had an eagles hat and a yankees jacket! typical for the fans of both those squads

By: starshipseven

starshipseven — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:48:22 +0000

Who need defense when the Vick/Jackson combo’s throwing up 50 a game!

By: nodecafplz1

nodecafplz1 — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:45:09 +0000

Current questions marks are at starting corner and injured middle linebacker, not Juan Castillo. He played linebacker in college, so he was defensive-minded first. Jim Washburn will coach the D-line.

By: burgado86

burgado86 — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:30:21 +0000

LMAO wasnt juan castillo an O line coach before he took the defensive coordinator position??………Have fun with that one sheagles!

By: drbob117

drbob117 — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:17:22 +0000

Some of the people on here are just absurd. Castillo wouldn’t be dumbing the defense down for himself, after all he’s been a coach forever, been with the Eagles almost 15 years, and JJ came to him many times when he was O line coach to ask HIM if he thought a particular blitz would work. Because JJ respected other good coaches, and he knew Castillo was a good coach. He is widely respected throughout the NFL. The only place he isn’t respected is by Philly’s media, who couldn’t look any deeper than” how can an O line coach be a defensive coordinator?” I’m sure he’ll do just fine if that unit has any talent on it at all.I know when he came to Philly, the O Line went from one of the worst in the league to one of the best in a fairly short time. Give the guy a chance, they gave up a ton of points last year, so the only way to go is up.

By: mrklutch

mrklutch — Sat, 14 May 2011 16:15:09 +0000

I really miss JJ. They respected him and learned the scheme. Won’t find another like him.

By: tombrookshire

tombrookshire — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:57:29 +0000

The Eagles FO and HC will tell you they are the smartest guys in football. If they did it at all, that means it was the right decision. Yet, you will see last season repeated this season. Undersized defense, manhandled at the point of attack, uneven play in the defensive backfield, injured and unsteady offensive line. Same, same. Doing the same things, expecting different results is the surest sign of insanity. When will Lurie figure out that his team will go nowhere with this bunch running his team?

By: stanklepoot

stanklepoot — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:53:41 +0000

The problem isn’t understanding Jim Johnson’s blitz packages. The problem is knowing which one to use and when. While Johnson’s offense is highly aggressive, it’s also very precise. You have to be able to see the way the game is developing and predict what packages can disrupt what the offense will do next. That is what McDermott never really picked up on. As for Castillo, maybe he’ll succeed and maybe he won’t. He’s not coming into this with a blank slate, however. He coached LBs in college, and he was constantly consulting with defensive coaches and sitting in on defensive meetings while the O-line coach. Hopefully he learned enough to successfully make the switch. If not, someone else will end up with the job eventually. I’m at least willing to wait and see what kind of job he does before I question his skills or his intelligence.

By: oldbyrd

oldbyrd — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:49:18 +0000

As a die hard Eagles fan I hope I’m wrong but, Juan as def. cord. was a horrible move.

By: whathappenedtovox

whathappenedtovox — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:45:59 +0000

Lol, Juan Castillo doesn’t understand blitz schemes?

He’s only been a football coach for 30 years. Stick to analysis of the law, Mike, and leave the actual football to someone else there.

By: macjacmccoy

macjacmccoy — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:38:34 +0000

Nah I dont think that. Maybe he might have trouble understanding the alignments or coverages but not the blitzs. He was an offensive line coach understanding blitzs and how to defeat them was his main job for the last decade.

By: intherelikeswimwear

intherelikeswimwear — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:31:33 +0000

Andy Reid took a big gamble promoting Juan. Look for some big moves in FA to give Juan the tools he needs to make this D work so Reid won’t look like an idiot.

By: quirtevans

quirtevans — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:21:09 +0000

“Still, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Eagles fans to wonder whether Castillo, a converted offensive line coach, is the one having trouble understanding Jim Johnson’s blitzes.”

That does seem like a pretty cheap shot, Mike.

By: eaglesfan290

eaglesfan290 — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:18:52 +0000

Well it’s unfair to kill the guy before you see how good he is with the D.

Time will tell and as a Eagles fan if he sucks trust me the Eagles fans will let him know. I would say the lockout works to his advantage, all he does everyday is plan, if it is a simple plan it will be simple to install. He can work on making it more complicated and adding wrinkles when he has OTA’s and time to work with players next year.

By: nmeagle33

nmeagle33 — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:14:41 +0000

I wish you the best Juan. Hopefully there will be a season.

By: dafixisin

dafixisin — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:14:36 +0000

The Eagles don’t have enough talent overall to get away with playing a vanilla scheme. These aren’t the Brown-White-Simmons-Joyner-Allen glory days under Bud Carson. Who knows though; add an Asomugha here, reunite Fat Albert with his old D-Line coach after the Skins are basically forced to cut him, and you might have something here. All big ifs though.

Drafting Danny Watkins was a great start, but they can’t stop there. Jammal Brown is gonna be one of the few above average OTs available if/when FA gets underway.

By: Burritto

Burritto — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:03:42 +0000

Sorry, Evan Silva told me to avoid everything Juan Castillo-related because he doesn’t speak English well enough; therefore I have to skip this post.

By: eagles83

eagles83 — Sat, 14 May 2011 15:02:10 +0000

As an Eagles fan I was shocked as hell by this move and was a bit peeved. However, after hearing some highly respected coaches and players in the league say “If anyone can make the switch, it’s this guy,” I felt better.

He may be terrible, but to say he could be dumbing down the blitzes for himself is stupid. O line coaches understand blitzes just as well as D-Cords, they have to protect against it.