The Philadelphia Eagles announced Wednesday the tendering of restricted free agent Stewart Bradley and three others. The move to keep Bradley especially was expected, but what wasn't expected was the level at which he was tendered.

Last offseason, the Eagles slapped cornerback Ellis Hobbs with a first-round tender, but decided to only go to the second round with Bradley. Giving him a lower tender could be a message to the rest of the league that they'd like to keep Bradley, but might be open to moving him for the right price.

That price could come in the form of the second-round pick to sign him away, but that's likely too steep a price tag. The more likely option would be to include Bradley in a package for something else -- perhaps with backup quarterback Kevin Kolb to move up in the first round or even gain an additional first-round pick.

That is, of course, assuming there's a CBA in place by the time of draft -- an assumption that might be more wishful thinking than anything else.


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When the 2011 season kicks off, Brodrick Bunkley will be the starting defensive tackle next to Mike Patterson, and Antonio Dixon will be on the bench.

And the reason is simple: Bunkley better fits the new scheme.

New defensive coordinator Juan Castillo has already made it very clear that defensive line coach Jim Washburn will be able to do whatever he wants with the guys up front. It will be Washburn's scheme, and Castillo, along with Mike Caldwell, Mike Zordich, and Johnnie Lynn will have to work accordingly.

In Washburn's scheme, the defensive ends go after the quarterback. That's been talked about to death, so we all know that, but something that's not being talked about is the fact that his defensive tackles also play a one-gap responsibility rather than two.

Under Sean McDermott (and, to a degree, Jim Johnson as well), the defensive ends were taught to look inside and play run before attacking the quarterback. That half-second on every snap was the difference between a sack or a touchdown pass on several occasions.


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First and foremost, the addition of Jim Washburn to the coaching staff excites me. No more will we have to watch Trent Cole dropping into pass coverage or see the defensive ends pause to read run before going after the quarterback.

This is going to allow Cole to do what he does best -- rush the quarterback. And it will allow whomever is playing the left side to do the same.

Not only that, but it doesn't appear as though the defensive tackles will be asked to play a two-gap technique under Washburn. Granted, I only saw a limited amount of Titans games, but it looked like the guys in the middle were able to shoot a gap and, like the ends, get after the quarterback and create havoc behind the line of scrimmage.

But the positives to that could also expose a glaring weakness -- at least for the time being -- on this defense and come with a whole new set of negatives.


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Current Green Bay Packers safeties coach Darren Perry is not going to be the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator in 2011. That title now belongs to Juan Castillo.

Perry could, however, still become a member of the Eagles coaching staff if they're lucky enough and play their cards right.

They would first have to hope that the teams still without a defensive coordinator don't scoop him up right after the Super Bowl is over. If they are lucky enough for that to happen, Andy Reid would have to put on his salesman hat and really give a good pitch to Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.

Reid would have to sell McCarthy on the notion that becoming the Eagles secondary coach -- rather than staying as the Packers safeties coach -- is enough of a promotion for McCarthy to allow Perry to leave Green Bay.


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Now that Juan Castillo is officially on board as the Eagles defensive coordinator and Jim Washburn has been hired as the defensive line coach, it's time to turn the attention toward the linebackers and secondary coach.

Usually these hires aren't too terribly important, but with a first-time defensive coordinator they become decisions with potentially the entire season riding on them.

The guys hired must have a lot of experience and have shown an ability in the past to be successful coaches. There is no more room for inexperience.

While I don't believe the transition will be as hard for Castillo as others think, I'm also not naive to think he'll be a defensive mastermind by the team the season starts. It's simply not realistic. So in order to help the process go much smoother, he will need guys around him who he can trust to give him input.

Washburn already being on board definitely helps that, but it's only a start. The key issues that need to be addressed on this team are the linebacking corps and the secondary, so the coaches hired will need experience anyway if they're going to get the most out of the guys currently on the roster.


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I'm not going to pretend like I wasn't floored when the Eagles announced that offensive line coach Juan Castillo was going to be taking over the defense. In fact, my first reaction was "What in the hell is Andy doing?!"

But upon further review, this move could actually work.

First off, there isn't a harder-working coach on the Eagles' staff than Castillo. The guy lives and breathes football and after getting to watch him up-close at Training Camp and practice a couple times you really get the feel for how intense he truly is.

His work ethic makes me believe learning how to run a defense won't be an issue for him -- especially since he played on that side of the ball in the USFL and coached on that side for a while -- and his intense personality has me optimistic that he'll run a more attacking style of defense that Philly is used to seeing.

And apparently, Castillo has always wanted to coach the defense, saying in his introductory press conference that he "always told defensive guys (he) was stuck on the wrong side."


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This isn't the same Winston Justice Osi saw in '07.


Maybe not next year -- because the Pro Bowl voting is ridiculous -- but Winston Justice will eventually be a Pro Bowl right tackle in this league.

I say right tackle specifically because that is now his spot to lose. He won't be switching to left tackle or moving to guard or anything like that. He earned that spot with the way he played in '09 and based on what we saw, I look for him to take it to the next level in a year or two and get serious consideration for the Pro Bowl.

Leading up to 2009, I said that I believed Justice could be the starter, and a very good one at that.

The Eagles' offensive line, as a unit, was shaky throughout the '09 campaign. But through it all, Justice was constantly the most consistent guy on the line. He had some mental breakdowns as the season went on, but that's to be expected of a first-time starter.

The biggest thing for me is that I didn't see a whole lot of physical short-comings that would make me believe that he will him limitations on his career. He seemed able to do it all -- run or pass and even pulling for the screen, he looked like a guy with all the physical tools to get it done.

That's a good start because from there everything is mental. If he will put in the extra hours of game film and work with offensive line coach Juan Castillo, he can be a very good right tackle for this team -- and very quickly at that.

My official guess is that he'll end up in the Pro Bowl in two years. That should be plenty of time to get his mind right and, with very few elite right tackles in the league, there's no much competition there, either.
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Over the past decade, no coach has been as successful in the NFC than Andy Reid and his Philadelphia Eagles.

Throughout the years, Reid has put together a staff of tremendous assistants, three of whom have gone on to become NFL head coaches.Another has become one of the NFL's elite defensive coordinators.

But what of the staff of today? Reid's coaching staff is regarded throughout the NFL as one of the best.

We begin at the top.

Andy Reid: Head Coach (1999-Present)

Who?!?

That was the reaction that reverberated around the city of Philadelphia when the news broke that the Eagles had hired little known assistant coach Andy Reid to be the new leader of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Reid's road to Philadelphia began at his alma mater, Bringham Young University. Reid was hired as a graduate assistant to LaVell Edwards. He then spent the 1983-85 seasons at San Francisco State as the team's offensive line coach and helped them lead the nation in passing each year.

Following his successful stint at SFSU, Reid floated around as the offensive line coach for: Northern Arizona (1986), University of Texas El-Paso (1987-88) and Missouri (1989-91).

In 1992, Reid was hired by a former colleague from BYU and then head coach of the Green Bay Packers, Mike Holmgren. Holmgren hired Reid as the teams tight end/offensive line assistant.
Thanks to some urging from Holmgren early on, Reid became more familiar with the Packers offense, "It was his curiosity, the questions he asked, his note taking," said Holmgren, "He was just a sponge."

In 1997, Reid began a two-year stint as the Packers quarterbacks coach. In that first year, the Packers won their second consecutive Conference Championship, and Brett Favre had been crowned as the league's Most Valuable Player for the third consecutive season.

Following an early exit from the 1998-99 playoffs, Reid was contacted by a team in turmoil. A team in a seemingly endless downward spiral towards futility, the Philadelphia Eagles.

Andy holds the Eagles highest winning percentage among coaches (.607) and is the club leader in wins with 107. He has won NFL Coach of the Year twice (2000 and 2002).

Reid has also led the Eagles to five NFC East division titles (2001-04 and 2006) and five appearances in the NFC Championship(2002-2005 and 2009).

Now we move on to the men behind the scenes, the assistants.

Jim Johnson: Defensive Coordinator (1999-Present)

Jim Johnson was hired as the Eagles defensive coordinator on January 22, 1999. Since then, he has built a defense that is routinely among the league's elite.

Johnson's coaching time line began at Missouri Southern, where he was head coach from 1967-68. From there, Johnson bounced around the college scene as a defensive coach. He was the defensive coordinator at Drake University from 1969-72.

He then spent the 1973-76 seasons as the linebackers coach at Indiana University before moving on to Notre Dame as the team's defensive coordinator from 1977-83.

Johnson then spent 1984-85 as a defensive coordinator for Jacksonville and Oklahoma from the since defunct USFL.

From 1986-93, Johnson coached the defensive line and defensive backs for the St.Louis/Arizona Cardinals. Johnson really excelled as their secondary coach. He helped future Hall of Famer, Aeneas Williams become the first rookie cornerback to lead the league in interceptions since 1981.

From 1994-97, Johnson spent two years with the Colts as the linebackers coach and two as the team's defensive coordinator.

Following his brief stint in Indianapolis, he coached the linebackers for the Seattle Seahawks. There, he helped the Seahawks register ten defensive scores, eight coming on interceptions before coming to Philadelphia in '99.

Almost from the outset, Johnson built this once maligned unit into one of the leagues most feared. In 1999, the Eagles led the NFL in forced turnovers with 46, including five interceptions returned for touchdowns.

In 2001, Johnson's unit became the fourth in league history to go all 16 regular season games without giving up more than 21 points.JJ's philosophy of: attack, attack, attack has made game planning for Sunday a nightmare for coaches throughout the league.

While in the City of Brotherly Love, Johnson's system has produced 26 Pro Bowl selections: Brian Dawkins (7), Troy Vincent (5), Jeremiah Trotter (4), Hugh Douglas (3), Lito Sheppard (2), Trent Cole (1), Asante Samuel (1), Michael Lewis (1), Corey Simon (1), and Bobby Taylor (1).

In January, Johnson was diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer, and has left the team for an indefinite period of time for a second round of Chemotherapy. He has been temporarily replaced by our next coach.

Sean McDermott: Secondary/Interim DC (2000-Present)

Following a successful playing career at William and Mary from 1994-97, Sean spent the 1998 season as a graduate assistant. Also in 1998, the Eagles came calling, offering a job as a scouting administrative coordinator.

In 1999, McDermott was promoted to assistant to the head coach. Following his one-year stint as an assistant to Reid, McDermott was given the role of defensive assistant/quality control coach, where he handled the linebackers.

McDermott would receive another promotion in 2003 where he was given the job as assistant secondary coach, a job he held for a single season before being given complete control of the secondary and the safeties in 2004.

In 2004, both of McDermotts starting safeties (Brian Dawkins and Michael Lewis) garnered Pro Bowl honors for the first time in club history. Dawkins went on to earn two more Pro Bowl selections under McDermott in 2005 and 2006.

Not only did Dawkins flourish under McDermott, the Eagles credit McDermott with the development of starting strong safety, Quinten Mikell, who has become a Pro Bowl contender. McDermott would hold the secondary/safeties coach position until 2007, when he was moved to the linebackers coach.

Under McDermott's tutelage, two stars emerged at linebacker in 2007. Omar Gaither led the team with 170 tackles and 14 quarterback hurries. And strong side linebacker Chris Gocong emerged from the practice squad in 2006 to register 92 tackles and seven for loss in 2007.

McDermott moved back to the secondary in 2008, where he engineered one of the NFL's top units. Two of his players made the Pro Bowl (Dawkins and Asante Samuel).

As I said, this guy is highly regarded by his peers, "I don't think there are a lot of secondary coaches that are as good as Sean McDermott," Eagles head coach Andy Reid said. "He was a phenomenal linebackers coach and, really, his versatility I just think is second to none."

If the hype on McDermott proves right, he could very well be the next disciple of the Andy Reid era to earn a job as a head coach in the NFL.

Marty Mornhinweg: Assistant Coach/Offensive Coordinator (2003-???)

Marty Mornhinweg's roller coaster ride up and down the coaching ladder began at his alma mater, The University of Montana.

In 1985, Marty managed the wide receivers at the school, before leaving for Texas El-Paso in 1986. He spent two years at UTEP as a graduate assistant before leaving to play quarterback for the Denver Dynamite of the USFL. Following one year in Denver, Mornhinweg began a seven-year journey in college football.

That journey began at Northern Arizona in 1988, where he coached the running backs for a season before leaving for South East Missouri State to take over the offensive coordinator position along with the quarterbacks coach position.

After a two-year stint at South East Missouri, Marty moved to The University of Missouri in 1991 where he would manage the tight ends and the offensive line for three seasons. In 1994, Mornhinweg made his final collegiate stop as he returned to Northern Arizona as the team's offensive coordinator.

Following that one-year stint in Arizona, the Green Bay Packers tabbed Mornhinweg as their offensive assistant and quality control coach on offense. There, he was reunited with a former collegue, Andy Reid. The two had previously coached together at Missouri and UTEP.

In 1996, Marty took over the quarterbacks coaching position, and helped Brett Favre win his first of three consecutive MVP awards. In addition with Favre's tutelage, Mornhinweg helped the Packers win their third Super Bowl.

Mornhinweg would leave the Packers in 1997 to join Steve Marriucci's staff in San Francisco as the team's offensive coordinator for four years. There, he sent another quarterback to the Pro Bowl: Jeff Garcia. Following the 2000 season, the Detroit Lions came calling, offering a job as the team's head coach.

Mornhinweg's time as head coach in Detroit was certainly forgettable, as his teams won a combined five games in two seasons. Following the 2002 season, Lions GM Matt Millen fired Mornhinweg. Then in 2003 Andy Reid and Mornhinweg were together coaching again, when Reid hired him as the team's Senior Assistant.

In 2004 Mornhinweg was promoted to the Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator position, and has been there since. Under Mornhinweg, the Eagles offense has evolved into one of the leagues more explosive attacks. In 2006, the Eagles led the NFL in plays over 20-yards with 74. To go along with the big plays in '06, the Eagles offense scored 398 points, the second highest total in team history.

One group that has been consistent in Mornhinweg's time, has been the offensive line, which leads us to our next coach.

Juan Castillo: Offensive Line (1995-Present)

Castillo, the longest tenured coach on Andy Reid's staff is highly regarded as one of the league's best offensive line guru's. A former linebacker, Castillo's coaching career began in 1982 at Texas A&M-Kingsville. At TAMK, Juan coached the offensive line for four years before leaving to coach high school football in Texas in 1986.

Castillo returned to TAMK in 1990 to again coach the offensive line. He gained recognition from then Eagles head coach, Ray Rhodes for aiding in the development of five division II All American offensive linemen. Four of those linemen went on to play in the NFL: Jermaine Mayberry, Jorge Diaz, Kevin Dogins, and Earl Dotson.

In his five-year stint at TAMK, he spent three summers as a coaching intern for Tampa Bay, Buffalo and Seattle. In 1995, Rhodes hired Castillo an offensive assistant, a position he held until 1997 when he was assigned to coach the tight ends.

In 1998, Castillo was assigned to coach the Eagles offensive line, and from there, the story goes on.

Under Castillo, four Eagles linemen earned their first trips to the Pro Bowl: William Thomas, Shawn Andrews, Jermane Mayberry, and Jon Runyan. Castillo's units are known for being dominant pass blockers, and yielding very little sacks.

In fact, in 2008 the Eagles offensive line set a club record for fewest sacks per pass attempt (one every 27.3).

Castillo also developed a knack for developing undrafted rookies into starting NFL linemen. That list includes: Jamaal Jackson, Hank Fraley, Artis Hicks, Bubba Miller and Steve Edwards. Castillo will almost certainly return another dominant offensive line thanks to the offseason additions the Eagles made.
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