Two months ago, the smartest men in the NFL lived in Philadelphia. But since then, Andy Reid and his coaching decisions have made the impr...
Two months ago, the smartest men in the NFL lived in Philadelphia.But since then, Andy Reid and his coaching decisions have made the impressive free-agent acquisitions and salary-cap manipulations of general manager Howie Roseman and team president Joe Banner look like bad decisions.
And they weren’t. Many NFL executives were awestruck by what the Eagles accomplished during the lockout-shortened free-agency period. Admittedly, Reid also played a major part in those personnel decisions.
But I’m not sure the Eagles can recover this season from Reid’s fateful choices to elevate offensive line coach Juan Castillo to the important job of defensive coordinator — then to convince Howard Mudd, 69, one of the best offensive line coaches ever, to leave the comforts of retirement and replace Castillo.
Those two moves are the biggest reasons the Eagles are 1-4 and looking at maybe going 1-5 Sunday against the Washington Redskins.
Remember, Reid dumped an aggressive and youthful Sean McDermott, who now works in Carolina, to promote Castillo, who once played linebacker in college and the USFL, to the defensive side, a totally foreign position on his NFL resume.
I agree with NFL on FOX analyst Jimmy Johnson’s contention that offensive line coaches are the most out-of-touch assistants in the NFL. They live in their own world and care only about the eight or nine players they customarily coach on a daily basis. For the sake of a better term, Johnson says offensive line coaches tend to “live in a bunker. They rarely, if ever, know what’s going on with the rest of the game plan.”
Now, offensive line coaches aren’t dumb. But they are constantly talking about the use of hands, proper leverage and how blockers need to improve their feet.
Reid, who loved Castillo’s persistence and determination, believed that his former offensive line coach could handle the defense because he was such pals with the late Jim Johnson, one of the game’s best defensive coordinators in the past decade. Johnson often talked with Castillo about how to blitz or pass-rush certain offensive lines. Johnson also asked Castillo how a certain offensive line coach would react to a specific blitz and how would he compensate for it.
Yes, Castillo and Johnson talked a lot of football together. They were good friends and burned the midnight oil. But those conversations and that relationship doesn’t compute to Castillo being an excellent defensive coordinator.
When I started covering pro football, one of my best teachers was the late Fritz Shurmur. He was a great defensive line coach. Then he became the defensive coordinator with the Rams. When things went south with the Rams, Shurmur was fired by John Robinson, who hired Jeff Fisher. Ron Wolf was another friend. And when he became GM of the Packers, Mike Holmgren wanted to hire Shurmur as his defensive coordinator. Wolf was skeptical at the time about the hiring. He didn’t believe Shurmur, or many other D-line coaches, fully understood how to properly align the secondary in conjunction with the defensive front.
This is Football 101.
A lot of defensive line coaches, like offensive line coaches, don’t really understand what’s going on behind them. And many of them don’t care. But it’s essential to be able to meld the two areas — secondary coverage with the defensive front — if you are ever going to be a successful defensive coordinator.
Shurmur eventually proved to be the exception to the rule, helping the Packers win a Super Bowl. And once he passed, Holmgren wasn’t the same head coach in Seattle because he couldn’t find the right defensive coordinator to blend with his coaching staff.
This little history lesson explains what Castillo is struggling with right now. He has Nnamdi Asomugha, one of the NFL's best cover cornerbacks in the past six years, playing too much zone coverage. He has played musical chairs with his linebacking corps. Last week, in the loss to Buffalo, his defensive alignment didn’t have any defenders — no linebackers or safeties — positioned between the two offensive guards.
Guess what? Harvard-educated Billsquarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick simply ran straight ahead for 5 yards. There was no reason to hand it off.
And the Eagles' penchant to play the wide-nine technique, because that’s what defensive line coach Jim Washburn loves to do with his defensive ends, is not helping Philadelphia’s young and small linebackers. There are too many gaps to fill. This is why teams are running wild on the Eagles.
Mudd’s previous coaching job was with the Indianapolis Colts. He was there from 1999 to 2009. You might remember watching him on the sideline talking with Peyton Manning. Mudd loves quick, athletic offensive linemen because that’s what worked in Indianapolis. But in Manning, he also had a quarterback who wasn’t fond of holding the ball and getting hit. Manning dropped back and got rid of it. And the Colts weren’t a power running team, either. They struggled pounding the ball in short-yardage situations.
Anybody who has watched Peyton Manning and Michael Vick would never confuse the two. Manning can’t run a lick, and Vick can run rings around him. However, Vick has a horrible habit of taking seven-step drops and holding on to the ball way too long. He also doesn’t have a quick release once he’s set.
Consequently, the huge and strong offensive linemen like Philadelphia center Jamaal Jacksondon’t fit in Mudd’s scheme. It wasn’t that long ago that Jackson was considered one of the best centers in football.
There are simply too many contrasting styles right now in Philadelphia. Maybe Reid and his coaches, specifically Castillo and Mudd, can correct what’s happening to a very talented football team. But my guess is that this trio will need a complete training camp to make all the necessary fixes.
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