I have been a firm believer in the fact that the things that keep happening to the Jets over and over again, the same stuff even with different regimes, is related to the owner. However, how is it that we keep ending up with the same type of coach as well? Excepting Gase, our last three defensive hires all had completely different personalities and styles, but somehow ended up in the same position: no concept of offense, no ability to hire anyone competent to run an offense, no desire or ability to get involved when the offense got overwhelmed, no discipline with the players, no ability to manage the clock, complete lack of any attempt to play to win as opposed to playing not to lose - the list goes on. Saleh, Bowles, Rex - all took varying paths to get there, but all were there at the end. Try as I might, I cannot come up with a way to blame Woody for that, I think it's just a crazy coincidence, but it is there nonetheless. Thoughts? And I don't believe it as simple as just hiring defensive minded guys, plenty of defensive minded guys are aggressive and lead the entire team, not just their side of the ball. What is it about our organization that makes guys not be well-rounded leaders?
Here's a thought: Hire a VP of Football Ops and give that person complete control over the operation. The Jets have never had one but instead, took the cheap route by having the GM and HC report directly to BlockHead or in this latest iteration, hire a 1st time GM to be the defacto VP of Football Ops and let him hire a DC/HC. Maybe one day, BlockHead will hire a true VP of Football Ops and get out of the way..... Nah, won't ever happen.
To be fair he had a decent OC with a style implemented.... that was unfortunately forced to walk the plank from above as a fall guy for the failed #2 overall pick....
Saleh is a guy who I am really rooting for. But to read his body language and to see the results on the field, you have to believe this is a guy who has no answers. He was dealt a bad hand by his GM. Maybe he can succeed elsewhere.
I really liked him for a while too. I still like him as a person. But yes, he looks defeated and beyond that, he doesn't have any answers at all. He's either way over his head or he's giving up and he's going through the motions. Either way, he's not doing his job well.
The success of the Rex years fooled our owner into thinking defense+ground game is the way to win when the opposite is true, you need a good passing game first and foremost. We briefly deviated from this mindset with Gase, but Gase was so bad and off-putting that we immediately went the complete opposite direction again. Realizing that Gase was the right type of coach but the wrong guy within that type would've required nuanced thinking, something Woody is completely incapable of.
It's not coincidence, nor is it that Woody - despite his other failings - hires coaches with these traits, it's because defensive coaches all share these traits. Of course they have personal differences too, but underneath it all is a defensive mindset: risk averse, conservative. And it's not that defensive minded coaches can't succeed, but they had better have a damn good OC working for them. In the case of the Jets, this has been a persistent failure. Again, it goes back to the basic trait of defensive HCs: they don't know much about offense and therefore aren't really qualified to identify a good OC. Of course these are generalities, and there are exceptions, but all you have to do is look at the Jets history to see that this tendency isn't coincidence. As to Woody's part of it, he continues to allow defensive coaches to be hired. He could say no, but he hasn't. If he were smart, and had any humility, he'd find a deeply experienced and successful guy to hire as a VP of FO and let him hire his CS and to oversee the scouting and drafting of players. Short of him selling the team - which will never happen willingly - this is the best solution I can think of.
And regarding the bold - good OCs get HC jobs quickly so you can't even keep them for long anyway. Woody has an extremely simplistic mind when it comes to football strategy.
Doug Pederson was available when we were looking for an OC and as far as I know we never talked with him. Can’t remember now if we talked with Daboll or not but he was who I wanted…an offensive guy who developed QBs. shit…the Giants suck but he has Tommy fucking Devito looking better than our QBs…unbelievable.
I would put on my chips in for Ben Johnson. I like Saleh for a bit too but he just doesn't have the mental acuity for today's passing game.
We did talk to Daboll, and we ignored Pederson. I am ashamed to admit that I was glad about that at the time, man do I regret throwing that juju out into the world.
At this point my unpopular opinion is to keep Saleh. Look, he doesn't deserve to stay, but this time I want to give another chance to someone I like. If he goes 17-0 next year he'll have a legitimate shot at evening his lifetime W/L record, justifying the Adam Gase firing.
It just makes perfect sense that we go out and sign Vic Fangio or Jack Del Rio after firing Saleh for “stability.”
There has to be a coach out there who is crashing and burning that will look attractive to Woody Johnson in the off-season. It might be too early to tell, let's check back in a couple of weeks. Maybe he brings back Saleh simply for the reason that he fits the motif.
You forgot to mention "who also has a fashion sense to assist Woody in choosing the Jersey/ Pants combination each week." Get the Woody priorities in order.
My bad, I figured Woody did that all on his own to show how creative he can be, but you're absolutely right. He does need the help.
Sadly the Jets were far along the interview path when Pederson was fired. He was fired a few days before the Jets hired Saleh over Arthur Smith. Such a bummer because I would've liked to see what he could've done, if anything with Darnold. Maybe he could've convinced JD to keep him or at the least suggested he not draft ZW. Oh well, it is what it is...
Pederson was the Eagles coach when Douglas was in the front office. Probably had Douglas pegged as free rider and wouldn't have wanted anything to do with this job regardless.
