Philadelphia Eagles: Decrypting Andy Reid's Press Conference

Finally, Andy Reid decided to meet the media representatives and speak his mind about the 2011 season. Thirty days after the Eagles’ last game, the head coach spoke about Juan Castillo, Steve Spagnuolo, DeSean Jackson and, of course, the 8-8 record.

In a surprising, acquiescent style, Reid stayed away from maneuvers and some of his famous clichés and sounded more honest than ever before. Despite that, his sayings left some of us not knowing what to believe about some issues.

Overall, Andy did what he had to do. He answered questions with detail, didn’t try to hide behind others and didn’t throw anyone under the bus. As an Eagles fan, I am happy with what I heard, and I feel optimistic about next year. Nevertheless, I can’t oversee some things that appeared awkward to me.

Talking about Juan Castillo, Reid assured everyone in the press room that he never considered firing his defensive coordinator and long-time partner. Reid said that he “just stepped back and kind of evaluated the whole situation.” Well, if Castillo was definitely going to return as the defensive coordinator, then this means that Reid was satisfied with Castillo’s work—why evaluate the situation?

Maybe to see what else he can do to make things work better.

That’s where the name of Steve Spagnuolo appears. Reid said that he liked the idea of Spagnuolo working with Castillo and offered him a spot in Philadelphia. Excuse me, but you must be light-minded to believe that a Super Bowl winning defensive coordinator and a three-year head coach will come to be inferior to Castillo.

“I thought the two of them together would be tremendous. They have a great relationship. It’s the same defense,” said Reid. Well, sometimes it takes more than that to have two people work together.

Other than that, the Eagles’ head coach said that he hired Todd Bowles to help Castillo with his amount of work. Since Spagnuolo opted to go to the Saints, Bowles was offered the same position.

Additionally, Reid underlined how important it is for his team to minimize the number of turnovers next year and that special teams must improve on the return phase. Both the offensive and the special teams’ staff remain intact.

Reid didn’t hesitate to talk about how much the city of Philadelphia wants a championship, that he feels the same pressure no matter what the results are and that this season is as “make-or-break” as any other season he coached.

From where I stand, I see a troubled person in coach Reid. He changed his way of addressing the media. Obviously, the buzz about his “rough” style at the press conferences played a role here. He also looked like he knew things won’t be easy for him next season.

I don’t believe he didn’t consider firing Castillo. Maybe it wasn’t his first option, but such a long evaluating period is pointing in the opposite way. After Spagnuolo denied returning to Philly, Reid understood that his job status wouldn’t allow him to attract a top coordinator.

He could have Castillo replaced by Bowles, no doubt, but I believe he wanted to rely on his own people for the upcoming season—a season that looks to be the most critical of his career.