http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...offensive_coordinator_brian_schottenheim.html Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer leads race to lead Jets BY RICH CIMINI DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Saturday, January 10th 2009, 10:40 PM Weissman for News/Weissman, Lee, S. Even though Jets haven't finished first round of interviews, Brian Schottenheimer is believed to be leading candidate to replace Eric Mangini. The Jets' two-week coaching search has produced compelling subplots such as owner Woody Johnson's curiously timed vacation and the brief, ill-fated flirtation with Bill Cowher. Another story line, one that still has legs, is the emergence of Brian Schottenheimer as a serious contender for Eric Mangini's old job. Schottenheimer's popularity among fans isn't too high these days, not after the Jets' late-season collapse, but the offensive coordinator's candidacy is gaining momentum, according to multiple league sources. Some believe he's the front-runner, although the Jets haven't completed the first round of interviews. They will meet today with Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, who would be the eighth known candidate to interview for the vacancy. The Jets secretly met Thursday with Stanford coach Jim Harbaugh, a league source confirmed Sunday. Team officials interviewed the former Colts quarterback, presumably in the Bay Area, after huddling in Phoenix with Cards assistant head coach Russ Grimm, another candidate high on the Jets' list. Harbaugh is considered a longshot. This could be a make-or-break decision for GM Mike Tannenbaum, which is why some league sources believe he'll opt for the person he knows best - Schottenheimer, who ran Mangini's offense for three years. Other teams apparently think highly of him, as he was a head-coaching candidate for the Dolphins (2007) and Ravens (2008). "We felt like he was a qualified candidate and he represented himself well in the interview," Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome said in a phone interview, declining to elaborate because of the sensitive nature of discussing another team's coach. Because of Mangini's restrictive media policy, Schottenheimer, 35, never got a chance to do many on-camera interviews, but he's charismatic and energetic. That he's an offensive coach also might be intriguing to Tannenbaum, considering the Jets haven't had a head coach from that side of the ball since Rich Kotite in 1996. Leaguewide, there's no particular trend in the offense-defense debate. Of the 12 head coaches who made the postseason, six have a background on offense, five on defense and one on special teams. Grimm is an offensive coach - the former "Hog" is a well-respected line coach - and some belief his smashmouth philosophy would be a nice match with the Jets' strength, the running game. Ryan and Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, both considered serious candidates, are highly regarded on their side of the ball, but Spagnuolo's preference for the 4-3 system would mean an overhaul from the current 3-4 personnel. "The Jets spent a lot of money trying to get those (3-4) guys in place," said former Titans GM Floyd Reese, an ESPN analyst. "Every time you switch, you throw your franchise back a year or two. It slows the whole process down." Tannenbaum is big on continuity, and that's one of the reasons why he's high on Schottenheimer. Some league sources believe Tannenbaum favors Schottenheimer because he's reluctant to hire an older, more established coach who might threaten his authority. (See former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan.) In three seasons under Schottenheimer, the Jets finished 25th, 26th and 16th in total offense, hardly rankings that make him a must-hire. They did score 405 points this season, their most in a decade, but the improvement was overshadowed by the December fall - a stretch in which Schottenheimer failed to get the ball to the Jets' most explosive players, running back Leon Washington and tight end Dustin Keller. Schottenheimer supporters say he was handcuffed by an interception machine (Brett Favre) and was forced to modify his offense the last two years to incorporate new elements introduced by two Mangini hires - Brian Daboll (a former Patriots assistant) and Bill Callahan (a West Coast proponent).
sounds more like there are few takers for the HC position and they"re going to settle for whatever they can get(yes man).
I still believe if they wanted Schotty that bad they would have hired him. Not to say he won't be our head coach, but it appears that one of the playoff coordinators seem to be a leading candidate also,
To me this pretty much sums it up. We've had talent, our offense just hasn't performed well and the playcalling has often been suspect. If they're looking for a guy with a solid resume, I don't think he qualifies. If he was hired, would he possibly want to keep Sutton as DC??? That would be a nightmare...
I cannot believe that there is even a 1% chance that Shotty becomes HC and to write an article about it is stupid and Ciminiesque. Exactly who is it "believed" by in the first sentence? Who thinks the Jets FO is that stupid to hire a guy who puts up 3 pts against Seattle in the most meaningful regular season game in the last two years? Now, that said, I will eat crow if he becomes HC but I'm willing to bet against it heavily at even odds.
Tanny is the one who hired and backed Mangini and he should have been fired with win too. He is a glorified accountant. He is afraid to hire a successful guy or someone who will overshadow him. Rex is so much like his father and in the Parcells mold, Tanny will be afraid to hire him. Tanny is the one to blame for the last three years. If Schott is hired both him and Tanny will be gone in three years. Rex's family has ties with the history of the Jets and it's brightest year. Bring him home!!!
As soon as i saw "Cimini" as the author of this article....i stopped reading. I'm surprised he hasn't named Elvis, Bigfoot and Liberace as the top 3 candidates yet.....i'm sure that article is in the works though.
C'mon! Even Cimini knows Liberace would make them too soft! What with the new 'tuxedo' uniforms... Seriously though...if Schottenheimer gets the HC job, we'll continue to be a joke for another few years. The guy hasn't done enough here to warrant the promotion. 3 points in Seattle when we needed it most says it all. 3 points.
Yeah, Leon getting 7 carries total against Denver, SF, Buffalo and Seattle is pretty damning too. The worst line was against Buffalo: 1 carry, 47 yds and a TD.
Conversation goes like this; Tanny:"hey Brian, your my guy, but i gotta make it look like i'm leving no stone unturned. Just chill, and let me go through "the process". "Just don't ever forget what i'm doing for you, buddy". Schotty: "yesum boss. You'll never have to worry about me. I'll never betray you" Tanny: "good, now that we got that settled, go pick up my dry cleaning"
Are they really going to hire this guy cause he's an amazing interviewer? That's how Mangini fell into the trap when he hired him to be OC. Wake up guys. Judge him by his record, not his tongue.
It looks like Woody is become dumber and dumber as time goes along. Why in the world would we hire a coach, which was a part of team collapse last this year, when you just fired a coach as soon as the season ended for that exact reason? Why would Shot get hired inspite of Favre screwing up when Mangini gets fired because of that? And Shot didn't have to deal with Farve last two years, yet defense was ranked among the worst in the entire NFL each time. It is simply idiotic to hire Shot now, not after Woody spent no time thinking when he fired Mangini on the the first day of the season. Unbelievable stupidity again and again by the owner. I guess we'd better get used to it.
That's exactly why I hated Pete Carroll getting the head coaching job after the firing of Bruce Coslet. Sure, Pete Carroll was alright as the defensive coordinator in 1993, but he was part of the collapse, too. Final 6 games in 1993 11/28- Jets 6, Patriots 0 12/5- Colts 9, Jets 6 12/11- Jets 3, Redskins 0 12/18- Cowboys 28, Jets 7 12/26- Bills 16, Jets 14 1/2- Oilers 24, Jets 0 Okay, so the Jets had that bizarre three-game stretch where they outscored their opposition 15-9 and then they played the two would-be Super Bowl participants. The problem was that with a playoff spot on the line, Carroll's defense spit the bit in the House of Pain in the season finale. The Oilers had 25 first downs in the game. They ran the ball well and passed it well. I was thrilled the following year when Carroll was canned after one season at the helm. We do not need to see a repeat. Therefore, please no Brian Schottenheimer. He's part of the stench of the 2008 Jets. You can only get rid of so many players, but the three main coaches in these collapsing situations should be shown the door unless they have big time resumes. Last time I checked Brian Schottenheimer does not have a big time resume.
Tanny didn't hire Mangini, Terry Bradway did along with Woody. A few days later Bradway was replaced by Tanny.
If you read between the PR at the time, it was fairly obvious Tanny and Mangini were comin in together as a sort of package. I do not buy in a million years that Tanny and Mangini were coincidental, and that Tanny had no say in Manginis hiring. Remember, Tanny was on staff that whole time prior. Bradway was on his way out, and he made some statements to kinda take the heat off the new regime at the time.
