The Washington Commanders lost arguably their best assistant coach Friday when tight ends coach Pete Hoener announced his retirement. The longtime tight ends coach has developed some of the best tight ends in the NFL over the years and played a large part in Logan Thomas’ breakout 2020 season.
Hoener had been with Washington head coach Ron Rivera since 2011. The 2022 season will be Rivera’s first without Hoener as his tight ends coach.
In proper Rivera form, he went with someone he was familiar with as Hoener’s replacement. Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network first reported Washington was hiring veteran coach Juan Castillo as Hoener’s replacement.
The #Commanders are hiring veteran assistant Juan Castillo as their tight ends coach, replacing the retiring Pete Hoener, source said. Castillo — who worked with Ron Rivera two decades ago in Philadelphia — most recently was Chicago’s OL coach.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) February 18, 2022
Who is Juan Castillo? The 62-year-old Castillo worked with Rivera on Andy Reid’s staff with the Philadelphia Eagles from 1999-2003. Castillo was Philadelphia’s longtime offensive line coach, while Rivera was the team’s linebackers coach.
Many Washington fans will best remember Castillo as the coach who Reid named Philly’s defensive coordinator in 2011 after firing Sean McDermott. The move was strange as Castillo had been a longtime successful offensive line coach for the Eagles and had not coached defense since 1989 at Texas A&M Kingsville. Predictably, the move didn’t work, and Castillo was fired during his second season as the Eagles defensive coordinator.
Since the Eagles dismissed Castillo in Oct. 2012, he has spent time with the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills and the Bears. At all three stops, Castillo coached the offensive line.
In studying Castillo’s history, the only time he coached tight ends at the NFL level was in 1997 with the Eagles — his first season in Philadelphia. Should Washington fans be concerned Castillo has only coached tight ends for one season in an NFL coaching career that has spanned almost 30 years?
Castillo played collegiately at Texas A&M Kingsville, then known as Texas A&I. Does that school sound familiar? It should. One of the greatest players in Washington franchise history, Darrell Green, also played at Texas A&I and was a college teammate of Castillo.
There’s no doubt Castillo is a respected NFL coach. However, it remains to be seen if he will be the right choice to replace Hoener.