The Eagles finalized their defensive staff today by naming Mike Caldwell linebackers coach and Mike Zordich secondary/safeties coach. Caldwell spent last season as assistant LBs coach, while Zordich was a defensive quality control coach. Both men are very much “in the family” hires having both played for the Eagles and coached for them as well.
It’s worth noting that Zordich is specifically secondary/safties coach, so the team could still look to hire a coach specifically for the cornerbacks.
Andy Reid hinted that these two would be elevated when asked about the open secondary/LB positions at his press conference introducing Juan Castillo, but as we’ve learned recently what Andy Reid says at a press conference is almost worthless.
If you were hoping for more experienced assistants to help the inexperienced Juan Castillo… you obviously haven’t gotten that. If you were hoping for new voices to lead two under-performing units from last season, you haven’t gotten that either. By all accounts both are smart guys, they’ve worked their way up as coaches the right way and both had long NFL careers. As position coaches go, they’re not any more or less qualified than anyone else out there, so I can’t say I dislike the move, but their elevation certainly isn’t going to excite anyone.
For a team that literally gutted its entire defensive staff after the season, there’s a surprising lack of new faces.