NFL Rumors: Philadelphia Eagles Must Hire Steve Spagnuolo as DC

It may not be fair to can Juan Castillo after only one season as the Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator—he was trying to install a new system in a short offseason with a lot of new players, after all—but that is exactly what Eagles fans want.

What's more, it sounds like the man who will replace him is Steve Spagnuolo, the former assistant of the Eagles, defensive coordinator of the Giants and (let's be honest) failed head coach of the Rams.

It's the perfect move for Philadelphia—if it happens that way, of course.

From Jason La Canfora of NFL.com:

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Spagnuolo, let go by the St. Louis Rams last week, is expected to be back in Philadelphia by the end of the week. The Eagles released a secondary coach over the weekend, so they have flexibility to move around the staff and bring Spagnuolo back as an assistant head coach, if not defensive coordinator. If Andy Reid wants to retain embattled defensive coordinator Juan Castillo in some other capacity, that's a possibility as well, according to league sources.

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The wise move for the Eagles would be to move Castillo to secondary coach and allow Spagnuolo to take over as defensive coordinator. That is, if Castillo would be willing to take the demotion.

Remember, it was Spaguolo who was the mastermind of the Giants defense in Super Bowl XLII that shut down the previously unbeaten Patriots and Tom Brady.

Tom Brady threw for 50 touchdowns that year, Randy Moss caught 23 and Wes Welker had 112 receptions. The Giants held them to 14 points.

Meanwhile, Juan Castillo had a hard time figuring out that Nnamdi Asomugha was an elite corner when playing press-man coverage and wasn't very effective playing in zone.

Who would you rather have orchestrating your defense?

The move wouldn't be without some issues, namely whether Spagnuolo would want to work with defensive line coach Jim Washburn and the wide nine scheme that saw Jason Babin accumulate 18 sacks this season.

Spaguolo, a prodigy of the late Jim Johnson—who was a master of the blitz—may want to ditch the wide nine alignment. In turn, this would mean the end of Washburn and could mean an unhappy Babin, after he followed Washburn to Philadelphia.

Then again, perhaps they can coexist. It seems unlikely, but who knows?

One way or another, Washburn, the wide nine and Castillo's defense this past year simply weren't good enough.

Bringing on a talented defensive coordinator like Spagnuolo—who could also be looked at as an eventual replacement for Andy Reid—is the surest way to get the Eagles defense at a level they need to be to compete for a Super Bowl next season.

If that doesn't happen, Juan Castillo won't be the only coach getting demoted in Philadelphia.

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