According to a report by Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune, the Philadelphia Eagles will hire current St. Louis Rams head coach Steve Spagnuolo as their defensive coordinator following the conclusion of the 2011 season.
Spagnuolo, 52, is a virtual lock to be fired by the Rams after leading the Rams to a total of just 10 victories in three seasons as head coach.
He was a member of the Eagles’ coaching staff from 1999 to 2004, where he served as the defensive assistant, defensive backs coach, and linebackers coach. He joined the New York Giants after the 2006 season as their defensive coordinator, where he helped put together an impressive game plan that saw the underdog Giants take down the undefeated New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.
The Eagles made the extremely controversial (and extremely stupid) decision of naming veteran offensive line coach Juan Castillo their defensive coordinator, despite the fact that Castillo has never coached a defense at any level in the last 20+ years.
The Eagles struggled, as expected, blowing three fourth quarter leads in their first five games, and five throughout the season. Although they rank eighth in the NFL in total yards allowed and 14th in points allowed, their defense has clearly been a weakness throughout the season, especially against high-powered teams like the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons.
A late-season turnaround in which the defense shut down the offenses of the Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys helped take Castillo off the hot seat but apparently (and thankfully) it wasn’t enough for the Eagles to let him stay as the coordinator for next season.
In my opinion, the Philadelphia Eagles will absolutely be a contender again next season, and it’s going to start on the defensive side of the ball, which will (hopefully) be much improved.
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