Vick cannot be expected to carry the load by himself.


When Andy Reid starts to really trust his quarterback, things get worse, not better, for the Philadelphia Eagles.

We saw it with Donovan McNabb for 11 years. The entire offense was put on his back. If he didn't have a good game, there was almost no chance the team was going to win. He had no running game to support him and nothing but predictable play-calling coming from the sidelines.

But when he went down, the play-calling became much more balanced and less predictable. Key examples would be 2002 and 2006. With Koy Detmer and A.J. Feeley running the show in '02, Duce Staley, Dorsey Levens, and Brian Westbrook saw an increase in carries.

Reid didn't trust Detmer and Feeley as much as he trusted McNabb, so he looked to other players to step up and help carry the offense.

In 2006, Reid didn't trust Jeff Garcia as much as he did McNabb, so the running game got a huge boost simply by feeding it more touches.

The result in both of those instances was a division title and playoff berth.

But, once McNabb was back under center, Reid went right back to his old ways. The team went back to passing 70 percent of the time and relying solely on McNabb to make plays.

Slowly but surely, we're seeing that now with Michael Vick.

In games Kevin Kolb has started versus games Vick has started (not including the Packers or Redskins game in which both quarterbacks played), Reid is calling on average 2-3 more running plays per game. It doesn't sound like a lot, but it's two or three times that Vick is not in harm's way.

It also shows that Reid really does have confidence in Kolb since he's not running enough with him in the game either, but it shows he likes Vick even more.

Reid has become enamored with Vick the way he fell in love with McNabb, and he feels like he can pass all game long and they'll be just fine.

In that sense, he's probably right. McNabb did just fine without a ton of support from the play-calling, and Vick likely will too, but a balanced attack to supplement great quarterbacks is what wins Super Bowls.

Which is precisely why Reid and McNabb were never able to do it.

The play-calling was decent all season long up until the Giants game. Reid and Mornhinweg didn't even pretend to do anything but pass. Most of the time Vick was in the shotgun either in an empty set or with McCoy a good yard ahead of him.

It's not difficult to pick up that when McCoy is ahead of Vick, he's pass blocking or releasing.

This allowed the Giants to pin their ears back and come after Vick. That's why even after the best performance of the year from the offensive line, Vick was still sacked three times. The Giants didn't fear the run game and always knew exactly when it was coming (especially since Reid and Marty called four play-action passes in a row before establishing any running game).

Reid finally has a kid in McCoy who is everything Brian Westbrook was and more. He has much better field vision, has much better balance, is a better runner in the open field, and has the makings of someone who could be the best running back the Eagles franchise has ever seen.

Not to mention Jerome Harrison who nearly broke Adrian Peterson's single-game rushing mark at the end of last season and went over 100 yards on only 11 carries against the Redskins this year.

But still, Reid refuses to use either back as much as he should and will continue to put the burden on Vick's shoulders. It could very well result in a division title and a trip to the playoffs, but play-calling like we saw against the Giants will never win this team a Super Bowl.
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Was Brian Westbrook rushed back onto the field?


I don't think Marty Mornhinweg did his best Tonya Harding impression and had someone take out Brian Westbrook's knees and ankles, but with the revelation from DeSean Jackson that Mornhinweg feels comfortable questioning a guy's toughness, is it possible Mornhinweg had a hand in getting Westbrook on the field sooner than he should have been?

We saw it at least a couple times a year since Westbrook became the man in the backfield. He would tweak his knee or ankle and instead of sitting out the week or two it would take for the injury to heal, he would try to play through it.

Then, when he tried to play through it, it led to an injury that had him carried off the field, hobbling like House without his cane or Vicodin.

So is it possible that Mornhinweg got to him the way he tried to get to Jackson? It's certainly not far-fetched to believe that if Mornhinweg would question a guy with a concussion that he'd question a guy who just nicked up his knee or ankle.

In fact, I seem to remember Westbrook going down with a concussion, rushing back, and then getting another one that could very well have ended his career -- or at least ended any sort of productive career.

Quite honestly, I'm not sure what to think about this. It strikes me as a real possibility, but it doesn't make sense that Westbrook, especially in his post-release media rounds, wouldn't have brought this up in his rants.

Of course, most of his ranting was about money and not much else, so it's possible he's choosing to remain mum on the subject.

But now that Jackson, justifiably so or otherwise, has let the cat out of the bag, so to speak, every interaction Mornhinweg has had with a player is open to scrutinized; Especially with star players whom he wanted to see on the field quicker than others.

I'm an old school type of guy who believes the NFL, and football in general, is a game that must be played by tough guys. Players must be willing to play through the nicks and bruises that come with playing such a violent sport, but there's also a difference between being tough and working off out-dated assumptions on how injuries work.

We know today that, rather than simply playing through it, some injuries simply heal better when the player is allowed to rest and that, in the long run, it will work out better for all parties involved.

Mornhinweg seems to be part of that class of old school thinking, but he's also got to back it up with the new age knowledge of how these injuries work rather than trying to get into a guy's head in an effort to get him back on the field.

Again, there's no evidence to support this and I'm more or less thinking out loud, but it makes too much sense to ignore anymore. Someone seemed to be pushing Westbrook to play, and now it makes sense that the man doing it was Mornhinweg.

I'm just saying, "Connect the Dots" isn't that difficult of a game to play.
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Mornhinweg's reaction to this should be interesting.


Something tells me Sporting News might want to interview DeSean Jackson a couple more times this week if at all possible. One interview has led to a mini back-and-forth between Jackson and Donovan McNabb, and now that same interview will likely create tension with offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

According to Jackson, Mornhinweg got on his case about possibly missing a second game after his concussion. Jackson had missed a game against the Atlanta Falcons and was now likely to miss the Giants game -- a game the Eagles needed to have.

"I can remember we went up to New York (Week 14) - that was a huge game for us," Jackson told Sporting News. "The week before, (the Giants had) beaten Dallas and I didn't play (at Atlanta) because I had a concussion. It was iffy if I'd come back and play. Our offensive coordinator, Marty Mornhinweg, said some things, trying to question my toughness.

"I was like, 'Coach, I just got a concussion. This (is) my brain. If it's anything else, my shoulder, whatever, I'm going to play.'"

Jackson never says exactly what Mornhinweg said to him, but saying anything at all is absolutely out of line for Mornhinweg or anyone else. Concussions are very serious and need to be treated as such. Like Jackson says, something like a shoulder injury or the like is something he could play through, but not a concussion.

But with that said, Jackson needs to learn when the keep things in-house. I certainly would understand his frustration over the situation, but telling Sporting News in an interview is the wrong way to go about it.

If he really wanted something to be done, all he'd have to do is get in touch with the league office and tell them they're attempting to force him back before he's ready and it's likely there would be some sort of repercussions. Telling everyone about the incident in an interview solves nothing and in fact only creates more problems.

Hopefully some good will come out of this and Jackson will realize he needs to stay away from the media. And maybe teach Marty to stay out of something he knows nothing about.
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Jauron could be running the defense in a few years.


Back in 2003, Andy Reid brought in his old friend Marty Mornhinweg after he was fired as the head coach of the Detroit Lions. Since Brad Childress was already named the offensive coordinator, Mornhinweg was given the title of "Senior Assistant."

Mornhinweg floated around the Eagles' coaching staff until after the 2005 season when Childress was hired by the Minnesota Vikings to be their head coach. Mornhinweg immediately was hired as the offensive coordinator and has retained that post ever since.

And now with another young coordinator aspiring to one day become a head coach in Sean McDermott, Reid has once again brought in and old friend from his days in Green Bay and hired former Buffalo Bills head coach Dick Jauron to be the team's secondary coach.

The drop from head coach to secondary coach might seem like a huge fall, but something tells me behind the scenes Jauron was told he'd eventually take over as defensive coordinator.

Hiring young coordinators, regardless of their level of success, has become the trend in the NFL today, and with all the turnover we see at head coach it's likely McDermott could get his shot sooner rather than later.

So, if and when that day comes, Reid is going to be ready. Rather than going through interviews and the whole process of trying to find a new defensive coordinator, he'll simply promote Jauron and move on from there.

He did the same thing with Childress and Mornhinweg, so having a plan in place for when McDermott moves on makes sense.

Reid is anticipating that McDermott will create a buzz around the league and someone will take a shot on him. Even after only one season, his time with the Eagles and as a defensive coordinator could be coming to an end.

Childress was only the offensive coordinator for three years, and Jon Harbaugh was only a defensive coach for one season before being snagged by the Ravens.

Harbaugh was the special teams coordinator for nine seasons, but very rarely are special teams coordinators hired as head coaches. The move to secondary coach made him appealing to other teams immediately, and the Ravens jumped on him (after being turned down by their first choice, Jason Garrett).

Even Steve Spagnuolo, who will mostly be remembered as the Giants' defensive coordinator, was only a positional coach for three years before moving on and eventually becoming the St. Louis Rams head coach.

The pattern is clear: Reid's understudies don't stick around for the very long -- Jim Johnson is the only exception to that, but that was by his own choice and certainly not a lack of interest -- so he has a plan in place by bringing Jauron on board.

It's possible Jauron gets an offer from another team and isn't willing to wait for McDermott to vacate the spot, but the possibility is only slight given his recent shortcomings in Buffalo. Usually, coaches don't receive a real offer for a couple years after failing so miserably.

Jauron belongs as a defensive coordinator and, in the next few years or so, he'll take over that post for the Eagles.
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Will Jackson be as effective in a west coast offense?


All of the talk surrounding the Eagles this offseason has been the departure of Donovan McNabb and the beginning of the Kevin Kolb era. The change at quarterback is supposed to be accompanied with a change in philosophy that will more closely reflect a traditional west coast offense.

Call it what you want, but the Eagles have not run a west coast offense over the past couple of seasons ever since Brian Westbrook began to break down and DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin came onto the scene.

Jackson and Maclin allowed McNabb to take advantage of his big arm and incredibly accurate deep ball and score some quick points with a vertical offense, rather than dink-and-dunking the ball down the field.

But now, with that dink-and-dunk style becoming the focus-point as Andy Reid and Marty Mornhinweg look to take advantage of Kolb's accuracy in the short game, how will that work for DeSean Jackson, who is clearly more of a deep-ball, quick-strike type of player?

Typically, the west coast offense is going to require receivers who are bigger and can go over the middle without being broken in half. Jackson doesn't seem to have a fear of going over the middle, but one of the few times he was asked to led to a concussion after he got clocked.

Right now, I'm skeptical that Jackson will be able to handle the patterns the Eagles will be asking him to run in this new offense. They will ask him to run a lot slants, drags, hitches, curls, and quick outs rather than posts, corner patterns, or just flat-out outrunning the guy across from him as he loves to do.

And from what the Eagles have done at receiver, it's clear they're looking for bigger receivers as well.

Riley Cooper, a fifth-round pick, is 6'3, 225 pounds. Blue Cooper, an undrafted free agent, is 6'2, 185 pounds. Dodson Collins, a practice-squad guy from last season, is 6'2, 180 pounds. Kevin Jurovich, an undrafted free agent, is 6'0, 190 pounds. They brought back Hank Baskett who is 6'4, 220 pounds, and Pat Simonds, an undrafted free agent, is 6'5, 230 pounds.

Chad Hall (5'8, 180) is the only exception to that, and even he is getting looks more as a punt and kick returner rather than a pure receiver.

I'm not saying Jackson is going to get traded or that the Eagles value him any less in this change, but it does raise some questions as to how effective he'll be. He gave a glimpse of what he can do last season when he took that slant against the chiefs the distance, but I'm just not sure he can withstand the pummeling that receivers take in the west coast offense.

But, that change is certainly coming, so we'll see one way or the other soon enough.
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Kolb won't be doing this much; Unless it's play-action.

Throughout Donovan McNabb's career in Philadelphia, he was always relied upon to move the offense flawlessly through the air. If he didn't, it was nearly impossible for the offense to have any success in Andy Reid's scheme.

But now with Kevin Kolb taking over the offense, Reid and offensive coordinator Marty Morhinweg must alter the way they approach each game.

Kolb will most likely not be able to handle the heavy burden that was handed to McNabb, at least not yet, so Reid and Mornhinweg must do all they can to help the transition. The best way to do that will be to lean on LeSean McCoy and the newly-acquired Mike Bell by running the ball more than they ever have.

Now before you roll your eyes and laugh at me, don't forget that Reid and Mornhinweg did the same thing for Jeff Garcia when he assumed the starting role in 2006 after McNabb's ACL tear.

In the weeks following McNabb's injury, Brian Westbrook ran the ball nearly 100 times and Correll Buckhalter chipped in with another 30 -- an astonishing number for this duo of pass-happy coaches.

But even though the rushing attempts were still low by most standards, it was enough to take the pressure off Garcia and allow him to go do what he did best: win. Anyone could tell he was relaxed, he trusted the guys around him, and it made him much more effective.

And now Reid and Mornhinweg must do the same thing for Kolb, but they must take it even further and get closer to a 50-50 split of pass-run ratio. Somewhere around 60-40 is probably the best we can hope for, but 55-45 would probably be enough for Kolb to succeed and help the team transition.

It would also help that the running game could be just as good, if not better, than it was back in 2006. Westbrook was still in his prime, but Buckhalter was coming off serious knee injuries and, as usual, the Birds didn't have a reliable fullback.

In 2010, the Eagles will have a young up-and-coming star in McCoy, a very good backup in Bell, and perhaps the best fullback in football in Leonard Weaver. It's a trio of players Reid and Mornhinweg should feel comfortable leaning on, but it's probably all a pipe dream.

What's more likely is that they will come out thinking they don't have to change a thing. They will probably give Kolb the same workload they gave McNabb, even though he's not ready for it as evidenced by a sub-par showing against the New Orleans Saints.

He was forced to throw the ball 51 times and, as a result, threw three interceptions -- something McNabb did only three times in his entire career.

In a perfect world, McCoy would see between 250-300 carries while Bell saw nearly 100 carries of his own. But, of course, there is no way that happens with Reid and Mornhinweg calling the shots.

Hopefully I'm simply underestimating Kolb and he'll be able to handle the heavy workload, because that's exactly what he's going to get whether it's best for the team or not.
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It's time for a complete overhaul in the play-calling.


It won't ever happen because of head coach Andy Reid's relationship with him, but it's time to move on from offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

His pass-happy, highly-predictable offense will always hold back this offense, regardless of who the quarterback is and how many weapons he has. Mornhinweg is often touted as an "offensive genius" who creates powerhouse offenses that set and break records, but his offense is also easily stopped when encountered by a good defense.

He reminds me a lot of Mike Martz in that he gets so pass-happy that he fails to look at other areas of the offense. There is, of course, the lack of a running game, but even worse is the breakdown in pass protection.

There were several times in '09 where, before the ball was even snapped, it was clear that the defense was able to identify the weakspot in the pass protection and attack it.

My discontent became ever greater with Mornhinweg after hearing comments Dallas Cowboys' linebacker Keith Brooking made to ESPN radio in Dallas.

"The way we dominated them... they were very predictable," Brooking said. "We knew exactly what was coming on every play."

The remarks were off-the-cuff for Brooking who was answering a question regarding the Donovan McNabb trade rumors. He, like most everyone who plays or has played in the NFL, said the move is absolutely ridiculous and that the problem was the play-calling, not McNabb.

That falls on Mornhinweg. Reid filters the play calls, but Mornhinweg supposedly is the guy who makes the actual call to McNabb.

And no, this is not an opening to start the "Fire Reid!" chants, or try to accuse me of putting the blame on someone else when it belongs on Reid. I've said several times that Reid needs to stay out of the play-calling entirely, or bring in a guy with a run-first mentality so they can even each other out.

That's exactly what Dick Vermeil and Martz did together. Vermeil always wanted to run, Martz always wanted to pass, so the two of them together created a balance that helped the Rams win the Super Bowl during the '99 season.

But when Martz became the head coach and had no one to keep him in check, the Rams were beaten in 2001 by the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots -- a team that had no business beating the Greatest Show on Turf.

Brookings comments are incredibly telling, and it's something I've been yelling about ever since Brad Childress left to take over the Vikings after the 2004 season.

Mornhinweg's offenses will always have the stats, but if this offense is going to be good enough to win a Super Bowl, the offense will have to do it in spite of Mornhinweg, not because of him.
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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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