People wanted Herm out too after 5 years that included 3 playoff trips. We got 3 years with 1 playoff trip after that one. You need to have some stability at the head coach position. That's what lets a team build a winning persona. It's what lets the notion of "Play like a Jet" become reality. That was Bill Cowher's role in Pittsburgh. the Steelers became a completely different team under him and finally shed the ghosts of the 70's who had loomed over the team for a decade before Cowher came to town. I think that if Herm had been retained after 2005 and other changes had been made the Jets would likely have won a Super Bowl by now. The defense under Herm was exactly what is needed in the wide open passing game we have now. Cover 2 with a pass rush to back it up. Firing Herm because of an unprecedented injury wave, including the starting QB in the first quarter of the season, set the Jets back by years. Edit: And yeah I get that there were interpersonal issues going on between Herm and the FO by the end of the season. I just don't think Herm was the guy to let go. Pittsburgh fired the GM when he and Cowher could not agree and the Steelers had a 4 year lull in the process.
I've admitted my man crush on Rex many times before so I'm not going to "score" Rex since its an unfair eval from my own opinion. I still believe we are closer to a SB with him rather than without. Is he perfect? No. Has he improved? Yes. Does he still have things he needs to learn as an HC? Yes. Does he have a better staff around him - GM included - than in years past? Yes. Is there a better option out there to replace him? No. Did Cowher win a SB with the Steelers in year 6? No. (It was year 13 just so you know). Idzik seems to be the better talent guy than in years past so we shall see. We need average to better than average QB play and the Jets will be a serious playoff contender. All the greatest coaches has a good to great QB. You already know what you got with the D so I would play this out.
Love Rex and wouldn't want any other coach coaching the Jets... The only problem with him I have is he does not enforce any discipline.. When our Offensive Line is out there throwing punches, Rex is sitting there looking down at his call sheet. Cowher, Bellicheck, Parcells, (insert any other great coach), would be all in their players faces for the shit our players pull and get away with.. That is my only problem I have with him.
We all have to admit that Brad can certainly come up with the controversial position from time to time. Perhaps he felt we needed some shaking up here. One big problem, and there are several, is that Herm was not fired by the Jets. He WAS fired by the Chiefs, though, and since then has not had a real NFL job, now for five years running. So much for the general perception of his talent. But back to the Jets - Herm was viewed by KC as someone they wanted to replace the retiring Dick Vermeil following 2005, and KC went so far as to tamper with the relationship with Edwards, still under contract for two years. Showing disloyalty to the Jets, Edwards tried to leverage the Jets, using the KC interest, to get better contract terms, and the Jets reacted by in effect trading him to KC for a draft pick that turned out to be Leon Washington. He was not fired. As for his tenure with the Jets, while I agree especially in his last year the team really got hit with injuries, the record speaks for itself - 4-12. Yikes. Meanwhile the Jets under Herm had chronic clock management problems, and imo were notable for lack of player development and hanging on to vets after their expiration dates. Also what began as a somewhat inspiring relationship between Herm and Pennington devolved into a travesty of failing to respond to Chad's deteriorating physical condition by doing anything of note (getting the equally injury prone Fiedler to back him up was a decision that killed that 05 season when Fiedler went down in the same game Chad did). No thanks on the Herm nostalgia, Brad.
I love Rex, I really do. I think he's perfect for the Jets and I think it would be a mistake to fire him if we miss the playoffs this year. I'd want to play for him.
Herm knew nothing about the Xs and Os. His greatest asset was his ability to motivate players. I think Rex is the better coach, but far more stubborn and is a liability on the offensive side of the ball.
This is correct. However everybody knew that Herm was on the outs and would likely be gone at the end of the 2005 season. How it happened isn't really relevant, it was a choice by the Jets to get rid of Herm and keep the FO that had led directly to his failures. The acquisition of Herm by the Chiefs was a disaster after a season because they tried to replace one of the all-time nice guy player's coaches with another nice-guy player's coach. That rarely works in terms of maintaining a team's success. The players aren't motivated enough by nor scared enough for their jobs to maintain high levels of play across the board during the transition. They're just really comfortable at that point because papa teddy has been replaced by junior teddy and there aren't going to be any big shakeups in the process. They also got old in a hurry as the team that Vermeil assembled began to fall apart. The 2005 Chiefs had 8 starters on offense that turned 30 or older in 2006. They had 6 starters on defense that went over the 30 mark in 2006. The QB was 35 and ready to retire. The 8 time Pro Bowl 3 time All-Pro LT was 35 and ready to retire. The 12 time Pro Bowl and 2 time All-Pro RG was 34 and ready to retire. Herm did one thing that was disastrous and that was to give Larry Johnson 416 carries after he had 336 in 2005. That killed his career and along with all the retirements at key positions on offense it helped sink the Chiefs. It was just a bad hire by them. They should have traded with the Bucs for Jon Gruden instead if they really wanted an established coach. The Jets developed a few good players under Herm. Some of those guys just wound up leaving town because the Jets let them get on the free market and other teams wanted them. Other guys got hurt too much. Then guys got old. It was a classic case of a team being unable to assemble enough talent at any point to get over the top. Every year that Chad Pennington was healthy Herm got them to the playoffs. Just think about that for a moment. I didn't think that letting Herm go was such a bad idea at the time that it happened. Watching the Jets go on a roller-coaster after that point until 2009 changed my mind.
Brad, I am kind of busy here today, and whether for that reason or some other I don't really feel like relitigating the Herm Era question, but it remains the case that the NFL as a whole does not have the confidence in Edwards that you have.
We have been relevant in the cartoon section the last few years,no one has taken us serious in a long time
....because you really want to keep a head coach around that misses the playoffs 4 years in a row. Happy with mediocrity much?
Name me one HC we've had in the last 40 years who is as or more competent. Do even remember the fucking disasters at the coaching position that this team has endured? Kotite? Al fuckin Groh? You wanna go back to a carousel of shit for another 20 or 30 years? I don't care if it takes Rex another ten years to win us a SB, at least we'll have won one and we'll at least be a competitive team every year as long as the GM can keep himself from fucking us into an NCAA talent level like the last two years. Really sick of all the Rex bashing, the dude is not perfect but nobody is and one thing for sure is he's the best damn coach we've had in decades. Now shut the hell up and go eat a snack.
