By Josh Katzowitz

All along, it’s been pretty obvious that, whether Eagles coach Andy Reid kept his job (and it was always pretty clear he was going to do so), Juan Castillo would be out as defensive coordinator. After all, Philadelphia struggled for much of the season with its wide-nine scheme*, and there were rumblings that in order to keep his job, Reid would have to fire Castillo.

Reid denied it at the time, and it looks like he was telling the truth, because according to the Philadelphia Inquirer, Castillo will remain as defensive coordinator.

The team also announced that former Dolphins interim coach Todd Bowles -- who was a head coaching candidate for the Raiders after leading Miami to a 2-1 record after the Tony Sparano firing -- will take over as the Eagles secondary coach.

*This is what happens when you hire an offensive line coach to be your defensive coordinator.

Clearly, this wasn't all Castillo's fault. The wide-nine scheme was Reid’s idea -- in fact, there was speculation that Reid hired Castillo for the defensive coordinator job because he couldn’t find a suitable DC who actually felt comfortable running that scheme -- and it took a while for Philadelphia’s personnel to make it work.

Add that with a flurry of offseason acquisitions -- including Jason Babin, Nnamdi Asomugha and Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie -- and you can begin to see that not all the defensive inefficiencies could be blamed on Castillo.

"We've just got to continue to work with it," Reid said in October after the Eagles started 1-4. “Listen, anything new you've got to work with and work out the wrinkles and get it right."

"Players, they have to learn it, coaches have to learn it, particularly the new coaches. So it's a joint effort there."

And actually, the Eagles played better defense than you think. According to Football Outsiders, they were the 12th-most efficient defensive unit in the league, and in yards and points allowed, they were a top-10 squad. In the final four games of the year -- all Philadelphia wins -- the Eagles allowed an average of 11.5 points per game.

So, obviously the defense did improve. Based on that, maybe it’s not surprising Castillo was retained in the first place.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Dennis Allen, the former defensive coordinator of the Broncos, has been hired to be the next Raiders head coach, CBSSports.com's Mike Freeman has confirmed (the news was originally reported by Fox’s Jay Glazer).

Reports out of Oakland suggested Allen had done well in his two interviews with the Oakland front office and that early favorite Winston Moss, the Packers assistant head coach, had not.

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In his only season as the head of Denver’s defense, he helped lead a unit that propped up quarterback Tim Tebow for the last half of the season and allowed the Broncos to win the AFC West and beat the Steelers in the first round of the postseason.

Glazer writes that the two sides still have to negotiate a deal, but with Allen, the Raiders will get a coach whose defense finished in the bottom half of the league standings but who was lauded for the improvements his unit made in the final half of the season.

Although Moss -- who knows new Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie quite well from their days together in Green Bay, leading to the speculation that he had a good chance of landing the job -- seemingly fell out of favor during the interviewing process, Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg reportedly had a good shot at landing the job.

The Raiders also interviewed Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice and former Dolphins defensive coordinator Todd Bowles, while Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy declined his chance to interview.

Considering former owner Al Davis was such a big proponent of hiring offensive-minded coaches (see: Hue Jackson, Tom Cable, Lane Kiffin, Art Shell, Norv Turner, Bill Callahan, Jon Gruden, etc.), seeing a defensive-minded coach hired is an interesting concept.

It shows that Mark Davis, Al Davis’ son who is now in charge, will take a different tact than this father. Only time will tell whether this new path is the beginning of a Raiders resurgence or if Al Davis had the right idea the whole time.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Todd Bowles has been linked to the head coaching openings in Oakland and, considering he was the Dolphins interim after the organization fired Tony Sparano, in Miami. Instead, Dolphins owner Stephen Ross hired Joe Philbin as the head coach, and now, it appears Bowles is out of a job completely.

That’s the word from the South Florida Sun Sentinel, which writes that Philbin won’t return Bowles to his previous position as defensive coordinator and won’t consider him for a secondary coach job.

Since he was hired last week, Philbin has met with Sparano’s holdover assistant coaches, but he apparently is interested in hiring Bengals secondary coach Kevin Coyle as Miami’s new defensive coordinator.

Bowles -- who went 2-1 after replacing Sparano -- was in charge of the Miami defense for the past four seasons, and this year, the Dolphins ranked sixth-best in the league in points allowed. 

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By Josh Katzowitz

When Reggie McKenzie was hired as the Raiders general manager, the league consensus was that Packers assistant head coach Winston Moss was an early favorite, particularly since McKenzie was coming to Oakland from the Green Bay player personnel director position.

But since then, we hadn’t heard much about moss, though we know the Packers have interviewed Todd Bowles and Marty Mornhinweg and have shown interest in Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice, Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy (who declined an interview) and Saints offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael. Plus, as CBS Sports’ Charley Casserly reported Sunday, the Raiders also want to speak with Packers defensive coordinator* Dom Capers.

Turns out, though, that Moss already has interviewed for the job, all the way back on Jan. 14, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. The day before the Packers lost to the Giants, Moss interviewed for four hours with the Raiders.

*Jeez, it seems like the only Packers assistant coach who the Raiders didn’t interview was the guy who ended up getting the Dolphins head coaching job.

But if you’re forecasting a favorite besides Moss, the paper has a thought on the matter.

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Writes Vittorio Tafur, “There are those who think Mornhinweg might be the new favorite for the Raiders' job. He worked with McKenzie in Green Bay and was the Packers' quarterbacks coach when Green Bay won the Super Bowl with Brett Favre. Al Davis always liked to hire offensive coaches, and maybe his son, Mark, and McKenzie follow suit.”

In other Raiders head coach news, ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that Allen has been lined up for a second interview with the Oakland brass. That interview is scheduled to occur during this week's Senior Bowl activities in Mobile. 

Which might mean that Allen -- and not necessarily Moss or Mornhinweg -- is the favorite at this point.

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By Josh Katzowitz

Suddenly, Eagles coach Marty Mornhinweg has become a legitimate head coaching candidate again, and this time, it has nothing to do with the Colts and their new general manager, Ryan Grigson, who worked with Mornhinweg in Philadelphia.

As the Philadelphia Inquirer reports, Mornhinweg interviewed for the Raiders head coaching job on Friday. While Mornhinweg has been mentioned as a candidate to replace Jim Caldwell in Indianapolis, the newspaper writes that the Eagles haven’t been contacted for permission (and considering Colts owner Jim Irsay tweeted today that he plans to hire a coach next week, it seems like Mornhinweg doesn't have a shot at that job).

While Mornhinweg failed at his only other head coaching job, going 5-27 in two seasons in Detroit in 2001-02, he’s been a solid hire in Philadelphia.

This year, via Football Outsiders, the Eagles had the eighth-best offense in the league. Since he was hired as the Eagles offensive coordinator in 2006, Philadelphia consistently has ranked in the NFL’s top-10 points scored and yards gained.

Mornhinweg left Oakland on Friday without the job, but that’s probably because new general manager Reggie McKenzie has a long list of candidates, including Todd Bowles (who’s already interviewed), Packers assistant head coach Winston Moss, new Bears offensive coordinator Mike Tice, and Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen.

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By Josh Katzowitz

[UPDATE 1:22 p.m. ET; Jan. 19]: The Vikings have announced Alan Williams will be the new Vikings defensive coordinator.

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After the Vikings fired defensive coordinator Alan Pagac last week, coaches such as former Buccaneers head coach Raheem Morris, Dolphins interim coach Todd Bowles and former Jaguars interim coach Mel Tucker had their names linked to Minnesota as the replacement for Leslie Frazier’s team.

Instead, somebody employed last season by Indianapolis finally got some good news.

That’s because the St. Paul Pioneer Press is reporting that former Colts defensive backs coach Alan Williams has been offered the Vikings job and is expected to accept.

Though the Colts were a mediocre 15th in pass defense this year, Williams and Frazier worked together in Indianapolis from 2005-06 before Frazier won the Minnesota defensive coordinator job. Williams had been in Indianapolis the past 10 years and, before this season, had much success.

Hopefully for the Vikings, he can help ease Jared Allen’s worried mind.

"I hate to see Pagac go," Allen said a few days ago. "People know how I felt about him and the job he did with what he had to work with. Between here and Kansas City, he's been with me pretty much my entire career. But that's the business. Now, I have to trust that we'll do the right thing and hopefully they'll keep me in mind as they weigh their decisions on who to bring in."

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By Josh Katzowitz

While Winston Moss seems to be the favorite to win the Raiders head coaching job because of the Packers assistant head coach’s connection with new Oakland general manager Reggie McKenzie, the organization is interviewing at least four other candidates for the job.

As the Chicago Tribune reports, the Raiders have asked permission from the Bears to interview new offensive coordinator Mike Tice, and although Chicago just promoted Tice to replace Mike Martz, the team can’t stand in Tice’s way*.

Along with Tice, the Raiders will interview Eagles offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg, according to Delawareonline.com. Also, the Raiders will take a look at Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Denver defensive coordinator Bruce Allen (hey, if you’re going to fly to Denver anyway, you might as well get two interviews with one stone).

“I think it’s very complimentary to this organization that they’re having that opportunity and to their work,’’ Broncos coach John Fox told the Associated Press. “I think any assistant coach’s aspiration is to be a head coach. It speaks for what this organization has accomplished this season. Time will tell.’’

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*This became an issue earlier this week when the Bears refused the Vikings request to interview Chicago secondary coach Jon Hoke for for the Minnesota defensive coordinator job.

Already, the Raiders have interviewed Miami interim coach Todd Bowles.

Moss most likely will receive a call as well. He played for the Raiders in the 1990s, and McKenzie, formerly an executive in Green Bay, and Moss know each other quite well.

“There’s always opportunities to put yourself in the same position as a head coach would and see how you would do things or what you would change or what you would add or what you would take away,’’ Moss said. “So with that being said, I’ve done that, I feel good about the vision, the goals, the beliefs that can be instilled within an organization that would give me the opportunity to be a head coach.’’

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By Josh Katzowitz

It sounds like the Dolphins are getting closer to hiring a new coach. At the same time, they’re not getting very close at all.

After failing to land Jeff Fisher, who spurned the organization for St. Louis, ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting that Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy will get his second interview with Miami owner Stephen Ross when Ross travels to New York to meet with him. But … just because you’ve received a second interview doesn’t necessarily put you in elite company.

That’s because Todd Bowles, who replaced Tony Sparano for the final three games of the season (and went 2-1 in the process), will get a second interview as well. As will Packers offensive coordinator Joe Philbin (before you count out Philbin, whose 21-year-old son died earlier this month, the Miami Herald reports that Philbin wants the Dolphins job and is eager to relocate his family to Miami).

In fact, it seems the only coaches who didn’t make the second interview cut were Bengals defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer -- who, once again, probably won’t get the head coaching job he deserves -- and Bears special teams coach Dave Toub, who signed a two-year contract extension with Chicago on Tuesday.

So, the Dolphins are making progress, down from five candidates to three. But it seems like it’ll be a couple more days before Miami fans find out who will be next to lead the team.

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