Syracuse offensive line coach Juan Castillo isn’t hiding from the number attached to his age. He’s 66, and the question hanging over him this week wasn’t just about football - it was about whether he still belongs in the profession he loves.
That idea clearly hit him hard Tuesday afternoon.
Castillo was asked about reports that New York Giants coach John Harbaugh pursued him this offseason in hopes of bringing him from Syracuse back to the NFL. Instead of dwelling on that, he turned the conversation toward Syracuse head coach Fran Brown and the chance to keep coaching as long as he can.
Castillo and Harbaugh have worked together with both the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, and Harbaugh once called him the “finest teacher in the NFL.”
“The thing that’s nice for me here with coach (Fran Brown) is coach gave me an opportunity to come work,” Castillo said. “Coach is (44 years old), right?
So I’m thinking ‘If I do a hell of a job with Coach, I might be able to work another 10 or 12, 14 or 15 years.’ Until I can’t work anymore.
So that’s my goal. .... I love what I do.”
For Castillo, that outlook traces back to his parents, Mexican immigrants who came to the United States without a substantial education and worked for a better life for their children.
They raised a son who became a successful football coach and a daughter who is an internal medicine doctor. And they left him with a work ethic so strong that even the thought of not being able to coach anymore brought out real emotion.
“As you get older, people think you can’t do it?” Castillo said.
“And the thing about it is you all get older. You’ll see it.
But ain’t nobody going to outwork me. .... I’m very happy he gave me an opportunity to keep working.
Hard. ... Everyone talks about challenges, but the biggest challenge is when you get older.
Because you’re not going to beat that, right?”
Castillo’s path has kept him moving. He was UCLA’s offensive line coach in 2024 and then served as senior assistant offensive line coach at Michigan in 2025. Before that, he spent two-year stints with the Washington Commanders and Chicago Bears.
When asked whether anyone had told him they believed he was getting too old to coach at an elite level, Castillo said the feeling is more subtle than that.
“Maybe you kind of think that,” Castillo said. “I’m not going to tell you my age but you figure I did 28 years in the NFL already. Let’s face it, when people get over 60, you know how it is ... unless you (actually) meet them.”
Anyone who spends time around him, though, seems to come away with a different view.
Syracuse’s offensive linemen have praised Castillo for making himself available whenever they wanted extra work this offseason. On the practice field, his energy is impossible to miss. After nearly every rep, he’s right there, moving toward his players with some kind of feedback.
Offensive line coaches tend to bring plenty of volume, but Castillo’s voice has leaned toward encouragement and useful correction during open practice periods. When the play goes well, he lets his players know. When it doesn’t, the message is still sharp, with technique at the center of it.
That role matters a lot for Syracuse this year. Brown brought Castillo in this offseason to help lift the Orange offensive line, and the staff’s emphasis on development was clear enough that Castillo was not given any road recruiting duties.
“Coach wanted to have depth,” Castillo said. “That’s part of the reason he didn’t have me go out on the road recruiting. He said it’s important that you’re here to train the kids or work with the kids, because it’s important to have 12 kids (that can play).”
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