Andy Reid told us Tuesday that he fired defensive coordinator Juan Castillo but never specified why.
Reid said he was disappointed by the team?s 3-3 record, upset by Sunday?s late-game collapse and had detected some recent ?trends? from last year?s disappointing defense that resurfaced in their past two losses, but he didn?t pinpoint exactly what Castillo did -- or didn?t do -- to warrant the sudden pink slip.
?Just things I saw,? Reid said, ?and I didn't want to go in that direction."
So why did Castillo get booted? Here are the five major reasons that Big Red wouldn?t discuss:
1. The Eagles weren?t hitting quarterbacks
When people initially questioned whether a longtime offensive line coach had the expertise to be defensive coordinator, Reid argued that nobody could break down another offense?s protection schemes better than an offensive line coach. But Castillo failed to make the right adjustments when teams started max protecting against his pass rush. No stand-up rushers. No overloaded blitzes. No outside-the-box thinking that you see from some of the NFL?s better defensive minds. Outside of a few minor tweaks -- like the occasional D-end lining up inside -- Castillo didn?t prove that he could conjure up something to make his pass rush less predictable.
2. Blown fourth-quarter leads
The Eagles blew fourth-quarter leads six times in 22 games under Castillo. Reid said he looked back at last year?s film and saw disturbing trends that were starting to manifest in this year?s defense.
The inability to close out games is an obvious one.
The Eagles had the lead five times going into the fourth quarter last year -- four at home -- and collapsed in losses. This year, after showing a killer instinct in wins against Cleveland and Baltimore, the defense gave up a game-tying or winning drive in the fourth quarter of their last two games.
3. Reid brought in Todd Bowles for this
Reid denied hiring Bowles as an insurance plan for Castillo, but the former defensive coordinator knew that Bowles? addition signaled a potential change if the defense struggled. Bowles came very highly recommended by some brilliant football minds, including Bill Parcells, and has the several years of professional defensive coaching experience that Castillo lacked.
4. Castillo wasn't Reid's first choice
Another point that Reid would never admit is that he obviously had someone else in mind when he fired Sean McDermott shortly after the 2010 season. He brought in Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen and also interviewed Bears defensive backs coach Jon Hoke. There were several other candidates on the rumor mill -- then-Steelers defensive backs coach Ray Horton and Packers linebackers coach Winston Moss were among them -- but the Packers, Steelers and Bears each made deep postseason runs and time started to tick down for Reid. He was running out of options and gambled on Castillo, who had lobbied for the job for several years.
5. The owner?s ultimatum
Reid has had several 3-3 teams make the playoffs without any major midseason changes but this isn?t any average year. Team chairman Jeffrey Lurie said the Eagles needed to be ?substantially improved? for Reid to keep his job. Reid clearly believed that Castillo couldn?t get this defense to the Super Bowl and couldn?t win the tight games that the Eagles need to win to be considered an elite team. When it came down to it, Reid couldn?t rely on Castillo to save his own job.
E-mail Geoff Mosher at gmosher@comcastsportsnet.com
Tags: nfl, Andy Reid, philadelphia eagles, Jeffrey Lurie, juan castillo, geoff mosher
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