New York Jets fired HC Ryan and GM Idzik at 8:30am on December 30, 2014.
As the clock showed 0:00 in Miami, another Jets season has come to a close. It has been more than 45 seasons since the Jets held the Lombardy Trophy; in fact, that’s even longer than I have been alive. 4 wins versus 12 losses was just not good enough to save that Rexy bastard’s job. Black Monday has come, both Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik are gone. The time is ripe to start a new chapter of Jets’ history.
Head Coach Rex Ryan manned the helm for the past 6 seasons, accumulating an overall record of 46 up, 50 down and 4 and 2 in the playoffs. For just a second, forget the overall record: A 4-12 record can destroy anyone’s bottom line. Ryan has been the most successful coach in Jets’ history since Weeb Ewbank, but 4 consecutive non-playoff seasons spells one thing – “Imminent Doom” in the NFL.
Idzik was a unmitigated disaster. Idzik’s tenure, in my opinion, will be regarded as timid and unorganized. He was not ready for the responsibility as Jets General Manager. This is the GM that traded Revis for draft picks that brought Sheldon Richardson (great young talent) and Dee Milner (a bust). He sat on $30 million in cap space, while having deficiencies in the secondary, and an overall lack of offensive weapons. Yes, Idzik brought Harvin in the fold, but only after he had another blowout with Seattle.. when the Jets’ season was simply over.
The good news? The team sits with incredible cap flexibility, the 6th pick in the draft and a solid defensive line, anchored by studs Wilkerson and Richardson. The bad news: Quarterback. Lack of offensive weapons. A dreadful secondary. Obviously, a personnel guy is needed.
Looking at the candidates for the Jets, the options are not great. Owner Woody Johnson is recruiting Ron Wolf and Charley Casserly. Wolf and Casserly have impressive track records with the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins, respectively. Hiring these two as consultants might be Woody Johnson’s best decision to date.
As for the GM list, some interesting names are on it. At the top is Eric DeCosta, who currently serves as Assistant General Manager to Ozzie Newsome in Baltimore. DeCosta is known as a “personnel” guy, having played a part in scouting and drafting players like Ed Reed, Terrell Suggs, Bart Scott and Haloti Ngata. As a Jets fan this would be my choice, but it sounds like DeCosta might hold out until Baltimore’s Newsome retires. He is considered the eventual replacement for Newsome.
Next is Scott Pioli, who is currently in the front office of the Atlanta Falcons. Pioli is a disciple of Bill Parcells, as well as his son-in-law. Starting his NFL career in Cleveland with Bill Belichick, Pioli is credited as part of the staff that drafted Jonathan Ogden and Ray Lewis. After a short stint as Director of Pro Personnel with the Jets from 1997 to 2000, Pioli left when Parcells stepped down and Belichick bolted to New England. Pioli left for New England becoming the VP of Player Personnel. His vision is unique. Pioli’s “team vision” rather than individual talent acquisition, modeled the Patriots model. Granted, his time in Kansas City was less than great (finishing his final season with a 4-12 record) but Andy Reid was able to make it to the Playoffs with many of Pioli’s players, once he added Alex Smith.
Mark Dominick. Dominick is the former GM of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He rose in the ranks of the Bucs from assistant to the pro personnel, to pro scout, to coordinator to pro personnel to director, and finally GM. His tenure with Tampa coincided with the debacle of Greg Schiano. In Dominick’s tenure the Bucs were a woeful 28-52. He is currently an analyst for ESPN. I hope the Jets steer clear of him.
George Paton. Currently the assistant to the GM in Minnesota, Paton enters his 7th season assisting Rick Spielman. In my opinion, Paton is the wrong man for the job. There has been a deterioration of talent in Minnesota. While Bridgewater looks like the real deal, but anyone watching him at Louisville knew he was good. With the exception is Adrian Peterson and the aforementioned Bridgewater there is a dearth of talent in Minnesota, and Paton is part of that problem. I believe he is a weak choice for General Manager.
Since it seems like the New York Jets’ newest GM will be hiring the next Head Coach, we will save our list of candidates for later in the week.<.blockquote>
