This list is based on time with the NYJ 1. Weeb Ewbank 2. Bill Parcells 3. Rex Ryan 4. Walt Michaels 5. Herman Edwards 6. Joe Walton 7. Bruce Coslet 8. Eric Mangini 9. Al Groh 10. Todd Bowles 11. Charley Winner 12. Pete Carroll 13. Lou Holtz 14. Ken Shipp 15. Mike Holovak 16. Rich Kotitie 17. Bill Belichick
I can't speak on behalf of all but for me it's Bill Parcells. A leader amomgst men. He saved this Franchise back in 1997 after a 1-15 finish. He coached a previous 1-15 team to a record of 9-7 the following season during his 1st year as head coach. An instant culture change. His 2nd year here he led a force that finished 12-4 and just so happened to lose a hard faught AFC Championship Game vs. Elway & those Broncos. I'll never forget the ways Parcells changed our Franchise. #28 Curtis Martin was a Jet because of this man. He's #1 to me. Too bad we couldn't of had the big tuna during his younger more prime coaching days. It would have been epic. And I'll always appreciate Rex Ryan. It was his time to go as head coach of our team but I'm a defensive minded fan. I'll always believe in my go to motto of Defense Wins Championships. That man coached his heart out during 2009 & 2010. Those Defenses were so fun to watch under Ryan. Even with a raw rookie QB under Center and still an unexperienced second year kid in Mark Sanchez; we found ourselves on Hard Knocks along with two AFC Championship Games during his 1st two back-to-back seasons as Jets head coach. Playoff road victories against Carson Palmer and the Bengals. Philip Rivers and the Chargers. Peyton Manning and the Colts and Tom Brady, Belichick & the Patriots in Foxboro etc. Bart Scott and his can't wait never gets old after eliminating N.E. #24 Revis became an NFL All-Time great CB under Rex. Etc. The man loved this team. Put a Jets tattoo of his QB's jersey number on his leg. I can't dislike a man like that. Ground & pound with a mean defense is what i like to remember about Rex. Maybe a little out-dated for today's game but nonetheless a true old-school type of throwback coach. I liked Herm as well. No. He wasn't the best X's & O's coach out there and at times i remember he'd struggle with clock management and our offense always played not to lose but i gotta say, i really liked Edwards. He was the ultimate players coach. A locker room guy. A former player himself. Would have emotional meltdowns through the N.Y media. "You play to win the game" was a classic. Herm was all heart. His players responded too. At one point had an overall Jets coaching record of 34-26. But then went on to lose 15 of his final 20 games (5-15). And like Rex Ryan; it was time to move on. Our beloved Chad Pennington was birthed under Herm Edwards. Too bad injuries stole Chad's true potential. Had fan base nicknames such as "noodle arm". It's a shame. I always wondered how the Herm era would've ended if Pennington remained healthy as his Quarterback. Those are my top 3 head coaches of my era thus far. Kottie was a nightmate for a kid (he was no Pat Riley of NY) and I don't know why but i literally could not stand Al Groh. Eric Mangini gave me little hope and I'll never forget Bill Belichick quitting on our franchise & fan base before even coaching a single game. I hate to say it but Parcells would have left us with an All-Time great. Hopeful that Todd Bowles can right this ship as Parcells & Rex once did. One winning season. One losing season. Lets see how year #3 goes under coach Bowles and/or if he's able to find us a real QB. Because i do believe in his defensive coaching ability. He just needs his types of players along with a great secondary. And he will compete.
First impression The jets coaching history is a disgrace Second impression Bowles and Kotite need to be last Third impression Rex Ryan 3? Gtfo pathetic joke trolling
I always felt the Jets won some games in spite of Rex Ryan - and not because of him. One of the most overrated head coaches in NFL history IMO. A player's buddy, never feared, never quite respected in the ways you want a coach to hold sway over a locker room. A creation of the NY media through and through. In short - a bad head football coach. I should also add that my feelings about Rex Ryan remained consistent throughout his tenure with the Jets -- even as they went to AFC championship game in back-to-back season's.
I as a young timer am looking for lists last three posts are disappointing keep it to 1 2 3 ..etc thread actually intrigues me because the most recent success was sadly R.Ryan
The man went to back to back AFC championship games with Mark Sanchez at QB. Tell me what other coach has accomplished that feat with a QB half as bad as Sanchez? Also Rex was the HC of the best Jets win since the Namath super bowl in New England. He had a tremendous game plan that really confused Brady. Im not saying he was the greatest coach, but who are you taking ahead of him? Walton?
1. Weeb Ewbank 2. Bill Parcells 3. Rex Ryan 4. Walt Michaels 5. Joe Walton 6. Herman Edwards 7. Bruce Coslet 8. Pete Carroll 9. Todd Bowles 10. Al Groh 11. Eric Mangini 12. Charley Winner 13. Ken Shipp 14. Mike Holovak 15. Lou Holtz 16. Bill Belichick 17. Rich Kotitie My ranking is pretty close to yours. Pretty sad list.
IMO, here's how the list should read. 1. Weeb Ewbank 2. Bill Parcells 3. Walt Michaels 4. Herm Edwards 5. Joe Walton 6. Eric Mangini 7. Rex Ryan 8. Bruce Coslet 9. Al Groh 10. Pete Carroll 11. Todd Bowles 12. Charley Winner 13. Lou Holtz 14. Rich Kotite Bill Belichick shouldn't even be on the list as he never coached a game or season for the Jets. He was HC for what an hour, a day? Neither should Ken Shipp as he coached 5 games after winner was fired in '75 or Holovak as he only coached one game (the last game of the '75 season). Weeb Ewbank is the unquestioned #1. He got us our SB win, one of the biggest upsets of all time that totally changed professional football. He was great with the Colts before coming to the Jets. I believe that he also was the GM/ran the draft and he added a lot of great players to the team. Parcells should be #2 because of the way he changed the Jets culture and had us on the brink of getting to a SB. The thing that could have caused him to drop precipitously (if we had any other HCs who were worth a darn and were here more than one season) was that in typical Parcells' fashion, it was all about him and his ego. He ran Hugh Douglas out of town. He quit before the job was done and stuck us with Terry Bradway, Tanny and Al Groh. Michaels should be #3. Perhaps his drinking might have gotten in the way, but I think the Jets would have won a SB or two under his leadership if he hadn't been fired. Herm Edwards was a doofus in many ways and a cliche machine, but he was more of a complete HC than Rex Ryan could ever dream about. He led the team to one of its greatest playoff wins ever, a 44-0 stomping of Peyton Manning and the Colts. Joe Walton was a solid coach. He had the team very competitive and in 1986 they might have made it to and won the SB if not for all the injuries. Mangini was a solid HC as well. He was too restrictive, micro-managing, and paranoid, but the team played smart, disciplined football. He also helped improve the talent level of the team. Ryan should probably be lower on the list due to his inability to learn or grow and his stupidity regarding offense. He refused to hold players accountable and he made the Jets a circus and the laughingstock of the NFL. He also helped strip the team of the chemistry and great veteran leadership that was in place in 2009. I think that Rex gets too much credit for the way the team played in 2009 and 2010. He had great veteran leaders on that team and they were basically disciplined from playing for Mangini. Players coaches also always enjoy a huge bump in their first couple of years when they follow a strict disciplinarian. The only reason he isn't lower is because all those lower on the list were absolutely awful and had no success. I really wanted to love him, had high hopes when he became HC and he absolutely crushed those hopes. I despise him. If I ever hear his name or see his face again, it will be too soon. Coslet, Groh and Carroll were meh. Carroll had the most potential of the group as he had been a great DC and was the youngest. He was too immature, however, and just wanted to be one of the "guys." He wasn't the boss or a leader. I don't know that much about Charley Winner or the Jets in that period. I was in college in a small town and got no news of the Jets at all. I only occasionally got to see them on TV, but it's hard to imagine that a team with Namath, Riggins, Boozer, Barkum, Knight, Caster, and Pat Leahy only won 8 games in 1 1/2 seasons. Holtz was a HUGE disappointment. He had great success at NC State, and again later at Arkansas, Notre Dame, and South Carolina, but couldn't adjust to the NFL. He might have had more success with a smaller market NFL team, but it's doubtful. His "year" with the Jets was a joke. If Kotite hadn't been so absolutely slack and clueless, Holtz would have been the worst. Kotite and the Jets coasted, but Holtz at least tried and the team still sucked. He didn't even have the decency to finish the season, but quit.
Ryan should be second on the list, maybe first..any coach who can get to two straight AFCC games with fuckin Sanchez as his QB should be sainted.
I'll give a bit of love to Coslet. The NYJ drafts of the mid to late eighties (end of the Walton era) make Idzik look like Einstein. We remained mildly competitive while all the time stockpiling sub-Gholston trash in spades.
WEEB Parcells Michaels then comes Mangini , Rex , Groh and all the rest which is pretty pathetic. Walt Michaels got a raw deal and I still want to know what happened on that plane ride home from the mud bowl !!!
The rest was history but what Rex was able to do during his 1st two seasons was truly special. The way he coached us to two AFC Championship games were remarkable. #24 Revis became a legend under that man and the likes of Ferguson, Mangold & Harris went further than they've ever gone under coach Ryan. With a raw rookie & still inexperienced 2nd year QB in Sanchez he still coached us to... • Postseason road victory over Carson Palmer, Chad Johnson & the Bengals @ Cincy. • Postseason road victory over Philip Rivers, L.T, Antonio Gates and the 12-4 Chargers @ SD. • Postseason road victory over Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison & the Colts @ INDY. • Postseason road victory over Tom Brady, Aaron Hernandez, Gronk, Belichick & the 14-2 N.E Patriots @ Foxboro. I'm sorry but I'm clueless on how some fans could rank the likes of Herm & Mangini ahead of Rex Ryan. Fans such as NCJetsFan talk about the importance of playoff upsets but fail to understand that @ S.D, @ Indy & @ N.E were 3 of the biggest playoff upsets in which we've ever seen. It was sad to see Ryan lose the team as time went on but his first two seasons were magical. Old school. Throwback and Smash Mouth football behind a run game & fierce defense is what coach Ryan was forced to coach with due to NY not having a Franchise QB dating back to Joe Namath.
Agree 100% with taking the guys mentioned above off the list for the reasons stated. The next two paragraphs are so intertwined they must be considered together. While Weeb brought the only championship, he was old for his age and faded fast and hung around too long but the worst move he ever made was the nepotistic handing of the reins to Charley Winner. Some of the younger guys here may not even realize that Winner (a championship misnomer) was the son-in-law of Ewbank. This is the only reason he got the job and would be a big enough reason to knock Weeb out of the number one slot if there were any other Superbowl appearances by the Jets. Winner deserves the anchor position more than Kotite. The 70's were a time when people were permitted to take signs into stadiums but I was never inspired to do so myself until Charley Winner tore the guts out of Jets fans; I've always hoped that one and only sign I made had a tiny part in getting him fired. 1974 had him taking the team into the doldrums but the team finished with four or five wins to end up at 7-7. The following year though they were at 2-5 or 2-6 to start the season, losing ugly and getting absolutely crushed in every loss. I found a piece of green fabric and some markers and used a line from Starkist tuna commercials "sorry, Charlie." It showed a fish hook and the words "Sorry, Charley, You Get the Hook," and was displayed in the closed end zone behind the field level boxes (actually bleachers in that area.) At halftime a couple of guys walked it around the stadium to big cheers and I was told it showed up on the back page of the NY Post (or maybe the NY Mirror) the next day. Two road games followed, both bad losses, and a couple of days later he was gone - on my birthday!
That. Is a great post Ralebird. You had me damn near cracking up while reading the parts about shitty teams, getting destroyed and creating signs with markers because of their shitty coach. Then him getting the hook. I'm dead. Pretty funny story and a story i imagine you've told a bunch of times. Making the newspapers. Then he gets the AX on your born day. That right there. That's the stuff legendary N.Y sports fans are made up of right there.
It's because there clueless....They hated Rex from day 1 because he was overweight and didn't look like the average coach.They wanted a guy they could fantasize about who looked the part.
It's easy. Perspective is everything. So is not being blinded with personality and looking at all aspects of the situation. A lot of Rex's fans were/are blinded by his personality. They loved his personality, his comments to the media, his brash persona, the fact that his dad was DC here, Rex grew up around the team and that this was his "dream" job. I understand that up to the point where they ignore the absolutely crappy job he did as HC and how he turned the Jets into a circus. Herm and Mangini were both more complete HCs. They were more than just DCs masquerading as a HC. In 2009 the Jets would not have made the playoffs if Indy didn't rest Manning and go with Curtis Painter at QB. Rex rode to the playoffs on the coattails of the roster, discipline and leaders that Mangini built. In 2010 the Jets put together a great season under Rex, but his D decided to take the first half off in the AFC Championship Game, and it was all downhill after that. During that offseason, Rex got rid of the rest of the veteran leaders and some other players that were imo largely responsible for that "magic." During the next 4 seasons we got to see the "real" Rex Ryan and the team he helped shape/create. Rex basically only got motivated for a handful of games each season where he'd put together a great game plan. The rest were often crap. If Rex was even half the HC that you claim he was, his last 4 seasons with the Jets wouldn't have been so abysmal, and he would probably still be the Jets' HC.
