My guess is mangini thought schotty was a genius for that game plan. Rex was historically bad after the bye (1-6)even after schotty left. Don't recall how mangini was. I will look though, curious to see how he did Edit. Mangini was a perfect 3-0 after the bye
I read that article, threw up, and went back to my coffee. It was pretty spot-on. Don't care if the glass is half full or empty, just pass the bottle....
My only response to this is there's a difference between "playing hard" and talent. I'm sure all the Jets will be playing hard, but when I look at the offense, I just don't see much talent there. Playing hard can get you by on defense, but to score points in this league you need talent. I don't foresee many players currently on the Jet offensive roster staying around for very long assuming the FO drafts to the needs of the team.
That's a good point, but a pretty fair number of lesser-talented players not only make it and last in the NFL they thrive, because of their "heart" or desire, or effort and their intelligence. Since Mac intentionally tried to get younger players with high motors and good character, hopefully, they'll keep trying hard as a matter of pride and to not let their teammates down, since there seems to be some chemistry and an "us against the world" mentality on the team. Still, if the QBs all wind up sucking and/or if Bowles doesn't get the team prepared to play each week or put them in a position to succeed, even the players with the strongest minds could break towards the end of the season if the player leaders don't do their jobs and keep the team together and fighting.
Playing hard, desire, work ethic, effort or whatever you want to call it can be instilled in players, but talent is either there or it isn't. I would rather Mac bring in players by judging if they have talent above all, and the other stuff second. Maybe that's been the problem with the Jets, too many "heart" players and not enough talented ones.
I think the problem has been twofold. The Jets have been lacking in player leaders since Thomas Jones, and the other leaders from the 2009-2010 teams were released. They have had talented players who quit on the team, didn't care that much about football or winning, were distracted by other interests. They also have been lacking talent at the most important positions like QB, #1 WR (with the exception of B. Marshall), TE and RB. I don't think work ethic or desire can be taught or instilled in players by the time they get to the NFL. It's either there or it isn't. I think some are born with that character, but that probably most learn it or it is instilled at an early age.
Someone posted an article about Austin Seferian-Jenkins and how he was totally unfocused before, abusing alcohol, and now he's turned over a new leaf supposedly, and is now focused on putting in the work and is also enjoying it. So there's at least one guy who can be instilled with a work ethic after getting to the NFL. Of course, it remains to be seen whether it will stick and do any good.
I've those articles and may have been the one who posted the one you're talking about. He was not unfocused before. ASJ already had that focus and work ethic. In high school he played in the US Army All-American Bowl, and he was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school. He was recruited by Alabama, Miami, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Southern Cal (USC) and Texas. He started as a freshman in college and also played basketball. Following his sophomore season he finished 3rd in voting for the John Mackey award and had broken all the TE records at the Univ. of Washington. He entered the draft following that season and was drafted in the 2nd round with the 38th overall pick. He never would have accomplished all of that if he hadn't been focused and had that ethic. At some point in the NFL he started drinking to cope with some issues, thought he had arrived, stopped working hard and eating healthy, and temporarily lost his way.
