Philadelphia Eagles' Line Coaches Jim Washburn And Howard Mudd Were Apparently Dicks To Everyone

After suffering their eighth straight loss last night, the Philadelphia Eagles tossed defensive line coach Jim Washburn. Washburn was brought in only for his "Wide 9" scheme—hell, they signed the now-crazypants Jason Babin just to help the formation succeed—but since Babin's gone and Andy Reid needs his required scapegoat of the week, Washburn's out.

Now comes the fun part when a coach gets fired: unfavorable stories from unknown team sources! According to this source, Washburn and offensive line coach Howard Mudd were ornery old farts who didn't care about anyone else, especially former defensive coordinator Juan Castillo.

From Reuben Frank of CSN Philly:

Washburn operated apart from Castillo, running his own little defensive line fiefdom and often either ignoring Castillo or derisively calling him "Juanita" in front of his players, the veteran defensive player said. He was condescending and confrontational and embarrassed Castillo frequently in meetings and at practice and also went over the line criticizing his players at times.

The current Eagles assistant coach said both Washburn and Mudd looked down on the other position coaches, held themselves in higher regard than the others and rarely interacted with their colleagues.

"Did you ever see Howard or Wash walk off the field after practice with another position coach or one of the coordinators?" he said. "Nope. They were either by themselves or with each other."

Even after Castillo was fired in October and replaced by Todd Bowles, a respected veteran defensive coach, Washburn continued to be difficult, the defensive player said. And when slumping one-time Pro Bowl defensive end Jason Babin, who he had coached for years in Tennessee and was very close with, was released last week, Washburn became more disruptive than ever.

Washburn's gone now, though, and Mudd has said he'll re-retire at the end of the season. Whatever the Eagles decide to do with their coaching staff next season, they should probably focus on finding guys who are better at their actual jobs than they are at infighting.

[ CSN Philly]