Few would blame Juan Castillo if he decided to take some parting shots on his way out the door in Philadelphia. But that’s not his style, as evidenced by his glowing praise for Eagles head coach Andy Reid in the wake of being fired.
Castillo was fired as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator on Tuesday, which was somewhat surprising given the team’s other — seemingly more obvious — issues. Still, despite the common notion that Castillo was simply a scapegoat in Reid’s attempt to save his own job, the former defensive coordinator took the high road in an interview with CSNPhilly.com.
“I love Coach,” Castillo said, referring to Reid. “I said it before, I’d take a bullet for Coach. Coach gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, man. And I didn’t get it done. And that’s hard. But as my players know, keep working hard and if you outwork people, maybe somebody will give me a second chance. And then I can get it done.”
Castillo took over the defensive coordinator gig with minimal experience on the defensive side of the ball. He hadn’t coached in a defensive capacity since 1989, and he served as Philly’s offensive line coach prior to taking over his most recent position, which had some wondering what exactly the Eagles were thinking.
Experience or not, though, Castillo knows that he left much to be desired, and he therefore doesn’t blame Reid for making the difficult decision to fire him.
“Last year, Coach hired me to do a job. The job was to help him win a championship. And I didn’t get that accomplished,” Castillo said. “I know the guys are looking out there, we always talk about being a warrior. A warrior means that you get the job done no matter what. And the bottom line is we should be 5-1. The hard part for me was that I let down Coach Reid, I let down the organization and I let down the city.”
What Castillo failed to mention is the other members of the Eagles organization who have also let down the city. (Yes, I’m looking at you, Michael Vick and Andy Reid.)
Check out the rest of Castillo’s interview below, courtesy of CSNPhilly.com.
