Haley: Jets had eyes for Plax in 2000 http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/jets/post/_/id/9414/haley-jets-had-eyes-for-plax-in-2000 December, 7, 2011 Dec 71:34PM ETEmailPrintComments3 By Rich Cimini Imagine how history would've been different if the Jets had drafted Plaxico Burress in 2000. They wanted to take him, Chiefs coach Todd Haley revealed Wednesday. Haley, the Jets' wide receivers coach at the time, said they had Burress "earmarked" as a potential replacement for Keyshawn Johnson, whom they had traded to the Bucs a month before the 2000 draft. "We had lost Keyshawn, we had traded him to Tampa, and we were looking for a guy that could fill those shoes," Haley told the New York media on a conference call. "(Burress) obviously had the size and ability and has kind of proven on his own, made a name for himself on his own, obviously. But when you do a lot of work on guys like that ... Everything happens for a reason, but I know as a receivers coach sitting there in the draft room, I was disappointed when the Steelers took him." The Steelers picked Burress with the eighth overall choice. The Jets had the 12th, 13th, 18th and 27th picks that year. They were criticized for not using any of those picks on a receiver, but they did okay for themselves, selecting Laveranues Coles in the third round. Burress found his way to the Jets, after spending time with the Steelers, Giants and in an upstate prison on gun charges. On Sunday, Haley will see what he could've had, because the Chiefs visit MetLife Stadium. It's a homecoming for Haley, who cut his teeth in the business as an assistant on Bill Parcells' coaching staff. Before that, he spent a couple of years working in the Jets' personnel and scouting departments. "The Jets will always hold a dear, close spot in my heart," Haley said. "Went through, survived some changes there, and moved over into coaching when Coach Parcells came. Going back, Mr. (Leon) Hess just showed me so much about how a great owner operates, learned so much just from afar. Then Mr. (Woody) Johnson coming in, a different style, but I was glad I got to experience some time with him also. There are a lot of people still there that I spent a lot of time with in the trenches and think a lot of. When we're not playing them, I always root for the Jets a little bit."
I wanted Plax badly in 2000 after we got rid of Key. I recall Pitt loved Chad and a Plax for Chad swap was discussed before(moving up to take Plax and Pitt would take Chad) and after the draft but obviously didn't pan out.
Yeah, same here. I remember sending Chris Mortensen (as he was doing a live chat the morning of the draft) a question of how likely the Jets would be to get Plax. He didn't respond to my question, but I tried.
I remember watching Plaxico in his last bowl game for Michigan State (1/1/00 I believe) and thinking he could be great but we don't need him because we have Keyshawn. Dammit.
I would definitely take Todd Haley as an OC over Schotty, Haley can get cute once in a while, but he knows when to run the ball and when to go for the pass, I've seen some of the Chiefs this season and there offense packages aren't that bad, from the formations to the personnel he uses on the field. Would the Chiefs actually fire Haley is the question ... dude has a hell of an anger problem though
The only success Haley has had as an OC has been w/ Kurt Warner at QB who will make any OC look good and I promise you if we brought Haley here we'd see the same whining. Fans always whine about their OC when things go wrong.
Becht was a solid player for us but he definitely wasn't worth a first round pick. He was our Hartsock but a better blocker and with worse hands. Imagine if we were able to land Plax and Coles in that draft?
I remember at the time it was basically Bubba Franks and Becht as the top two TE's. We really wanted Franks but GB took him early in the first round. Becht wasn't a bad late 1st round pick, but he was definitely limited in his receiving skills.
I liked Becht, GREAT blocker. He was the fans whipping boy at the time(like Eric Smith is now) but he was much better than given credit for.
When the Chiefs won the Division last season, they were pretty much a middle of the pack offense, but I think Haley is much better directing an offense compared to Schotty at this stage. I however absolutely hate his attitude, and I don't think Rex and Haley would be a good combination on the sidelines. Schotty still isn't the answer though, we need a new direction, but that's another topic for another day
Yup, Haley is basically Brian Schottenheimer with an anger management problem. His scheme is overly complicated, he's totally unwilling or unable to coach to his team's strengths (see: Thomas Jones getting more touches than Jamaal Charles last year,) and he's notoriously difficult to work with. Basically the only benefit that I could see to Haley as OC is that he would've punched Matt Mulligan in the face at least twice this season.
