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Philadelphia Eagles Further Alienate the Fanbase By Promoting Juan Castillo to Defensive Coordinator


The Philadelphia Eagles have shocked Eagles nation and the rest of the world once again. This time, they have gone boldly where...well very few NFL teams have ever gone.  This afternoon, they promoted offensive line coach Juan Castillo to Juan Castillo- the Eag;es new defensive coordinator?  Photo: BusinessInsider.comdefensive coordinator.

When I first heard this news I was stunned and appalled. But with Andy Reid still at the helm after 12 years, nothing surprises me anymore. As the Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing to win their seventh Super Bowl, your Philadelphia Eagles have yet to celebrate one.

And, with their latest "major move," it appears unlikely they ever will with Andy Reid as the Dictator-in-Chief.

The Eagles organization has further distanced themselves from the fanbase with this move (not that they care to be connected with the fans or media for that matter). Case in point, they were conveniently absent from the Philadelphia Sports Driters Dinner the other night, which further solidifes their status as a diva franchise in Philly.

On a side note, the Eagles hired former Colts offensive line coach Howard Mudd to replace Castillo, who was a very successful coach with Indy. But, it still doesn't address the fact that they are handing the reigns of the defense over to a coach who has zero NFL defensive coaching experience.

Andy Reid is the Hosni Mubarak of Philadelphia sports to many. Many fans want him gone, but he refuses to leave. Instead, he continues to do the same things over and over again with the same result - no championships. And, with the exceptions of Dick Jauron and Marty Morninwheg, he has yet to hire a significant coach from outside the organization.

Eagles fans aren't taking this news lightly. Look no further than the popular Eagles message board Igglephans.com and you'll see the majority of fans are livid with the  bizarre decision to promote Castillo.

I have nothing personal against Castillo. His success as an offensive line coach is well-documented. Over the years he has coached up numerous offensive linemen and dealt with constant turnover. When dependable stalwarts like John Welbourn, Jermaine Mayberry, and Hank Fraley left, in came Todd Herremans, Shawn Andrews, and Jamaal Jackson. When we thought Winston Justice would never recover from the shell shock and embarrassment of seven sacks surrendered to Osi Umenyiora, Castillo was able to resurrect his career. Castillo is among one of the best in the business at his craft and an extremely hard worker.

However, there's one key element here - Castillo has never coached defense in the NFL or college. In fact, he hasn't coached defense since he was a high school coach in the 1980's!  For the Philadelphia Eagles to make another "we-know-more-than-you" move like this is a slap in the face to the fans.

Andy Reid reportedly brought in over 10 candidates for interviews and most of them were clandestine. Why he chose to make this interview process so secretive is as mysterious as the reasons behind his refusal to run the ball in losing playoff efforts.

Remember a long time ago when Philadelphia Phillies fans openly rooted against the organization so Ed Wade could be fired? And, look what happened just three years after he was fired - they won it all under the direction of Pat Gillick.

After 12 years of playoff disappointment after playoff disappointment, many are at this point with the Eagles. I'm sure I'll get the hate mails and ignorant comments about how stupid I sound by acting like the Eagles haven't had any success. Sure, they have been a successful franchise, to a certain extent. They have won playoff games and have made a lot of money over the years. Jeffrey Lurie will see a massive return on his original investment when he eventually (hopefully) sells this team and goes back to Boston with Joe Banner.

However, I measure true success in the number of championships a franchise wins. The Eagles measure success by how much money they make and by remaining competitive enough to have a lot of fans believing they can win it. For the Eagles, a major announcment is when they tell the public they have a deal with 610 WIP to broadcast their games on Sundays, which puts more money in their pockets. Really, who cares when they were already broadcasted on FM radio? For the Phillies it's a "major announcement" when they go out and get Roy Halladay, Roy Oswalt, or Cliff Lee.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are the real gold standard in the NFL. The Philadelphia Eagles on the other hand are the Fool's Gold Standard. And, mark my words - they will never win the big one under Andy Reid. He is set in his ways and will never change his philosophy for as long as he's the coach and (real) GM of this team. If you're counting on the accountant Howie Roseman to affect any change within this organization, then you might as well sit in your backyard and wait for Halley's Comet to come around again. Just sit back and watch this team draft more undersized defensive lineman. Watch them bring in another linebacker with an injury history or one who is a castoff from a bad franchise.

The Eagles organization could care less about making the right move by going outside the organization. They would rather do it their way and tell us they know more than we do.

In 2002, they failed to get a replacement for Jeremiah Trotter, and we knew they were wrong by replacing him with an over-the-hill Levon Kirkland. In 2004, Reid told us their receivers were good enough after getting embarrassed in the NFC Championship by Ricky Manning Jr., but we knew better. Only then did Reid come to his senses and bring in Terrell Owens. Here we are seven years later and they still trot out the same mediocre defensive linemen and linebackers, but lie to us and tell us they're good enough.

 In 2007 they went into the season without any return specialist. And, let's not forget the Josh Parry experiment at fullback. When they allowed Brian Dawkins to walk and tried to sell us on the salary cap space excuse (despite being $30 million under), we knew it was a mistake to replace him with Macho Harris. And, last year they went after Marlin Jackson in free agency (who was going to be their answer at safety) and we knew he was an injury-riddled player who would never contribute.

Finally, when Andy Reid chooses to abandon the run in their playoff losses we know we're right.

Juan Castillo looks like another square peg being jammed into a round hole. We know this won't work out, but they'll insist it will.

The Eagles think they know more than us, but we know they are living in a pipe dream. And, that's why the Eagles are not Philadelphia's team. That title rightfully belongs to the Philadelphia Phillies.

Contact Dennis Bakay at dbakay@philly2philly.com

Photo: www.businessinsider.com