Thank god that 2020 trainwreck is behind us. I wanted to start a thread to have a broader debate over the idea of hiring an offensive vs defensive minded head coach. I actually take the position that it doesn't matter, and shouldn't be the primary filter for a head coaching search. Over the years, not just the Jets, we've seen many teams take this route, by hiring recent hot coordinators, who then proceed to exclusively focus on the side of the ball from which they came. They basically become glorified coordinators, who just delegate the other side of the ball to others. Take Adam Gase as our most recent example. Todd Bowles before that, Rex before that. Meanwhile, you have coaches like Sean McDermott and McVay. McDermott comes from a defensive background, and McVay from an offensive background. McDermott has a top NFL offense, and McVay the top defense in the NFL. So what gives? What gives is these guys are leaders and run their team in totality. My point here, is it doesn't matter whether the coach comes from an offensive or defensive background. What matters is that they hire a guy who can lead the entire team from all aspects. So dare I say the "CEO" mantra the Jets have put out, is actually for once, the right train of thought. If we hire Daboll, or Saleh I do not care what their background is. We are looking to hire someone who can lead the team. The head coaches role goes far beyond play calling. There is far more that comes with the job that we never see but what defines success. Give me that guy. Whether their background is offense, defense or special teams.
I think JD agrees with you he has said that they are not focusing on either an offensive or defensive guy, but rather a leader, a strong communicator, and a guy with a clear vision of what he wants the team to be. Ido think this is the right way to go about a hiring process....let the strong GM lead the search and pick his guy. If nothing else, it ensures that they are aligned and of the same mind on how to build the team, what kind of players to target, what systems to run, etc. Las opposed to the fucked up processes the Johnsons have run in the last, asking first Koran Ferry then a committee of washed up old timers choose the guys for them to marry together. Clearly that hasn’t worked. no more arranged marriages... let JD get his guy then if nothing else, if it fails, you have one neck to grab and no finger pointing about whose fault it was....
McVay can oversee both sides and have influence on the side he’s most known for. If a Saleh comes here I’d hope he’d be the same. Don’t do what Gase did. Overseas the whole ops...but still empower the staff around you. Saleh moreso id want him to have more influence on the defensive side but say he hires Mike LaFleur, he should be in on the workings of that side as well.
I get what you're saying and partially agree. With that being said, I think offense is inherently more important than defense. I just think you see more consistently good teams with good offenses and bad defenses than the reverse. The best young coaching hires of the last few years were probably Kyle Shanahan and Sean McVay - both offense-first guys. Matt LaFleur would probably be the third best, another offense-first guy. It would be typical Jets to learn the wrong lesson from the Gase debacle. The lesson there was not to avoid a specialist, it was to avoid a guy with horrendous people and communication skills.
I don't think anyone can argue that the next HC has to be able to oversee ALL facets of the team without getting bogged down in his area of expertise. The problem is that I think a majority of coordinators who find it very difficult, if not impossible, to pull that off. We've seen three of our most recent HCs fail to do that, and if we wanted to look around the whole league, this is by far the norm, not the exception. So, Saleh may be one of the few who can pull it off, but hiring another coordinator carries a big risk. I trust Douglas to know what he's looking for and to be able to get the answer right.
I agree that it shouldn't matter, and doesn't have to matter, but sadly, much of the time, it does wind up mattering. There are always exceptions to everything. If we hire Saleh or another DC, hopefully, he will be smart enough to realize that he's not gonna win anything with Sam Darnold at QB and the OL and offensive skill position players we have. If he does any research at all into our draft history, he will see that most of our top draft picks have gone to the D side of the ball for the last 10-20 years. He will see that most of the offensive players that were taken were busts, and how desperately we need a major offensive upgrade. We have defensive needs too, and hopefully he will be willing to wait until next year to address those, because this isn't really the draft to try to fix the Edge and CB positions, especially with all of our needs on offense.
Decided not to read the stupidity of the thread.. We want a true HC- leader of men and smart game manager a dude who will grab his DC if they are getting shredded a dude who will grab his OC if they are not moving the ball a dude who can manage the clock and game decisions Stop making this complicated Sweet Jesus why are you tool bags obsessed with offense v defense? maybe because we hired idiots before Just let Saleh run the show
I agreed with you until I saw a piece on profootballtalk about how you don't want to hire a defensive guy as HC because if the offense does well, the OC will be gone, hired by another team as HC, and your need to find another OC. Like it or not, it's an offense driven league. If you can hire an offense guy as HC who calls the plays, that's a long term solution right there. Payton, Reid, Shanahan, etc. There are counter arguments, such as Belichik and Carroll, but I see his point. Still. I do like Saleh and if he ends up being the guy I'll be on board. Just get ready for either mediocre OC, or a good one that we'll have to replace in 2 years haha.
ok let’s just hire Saleh so we don’t have to read your posts you will be gone per you dear lord that’s a dream we all adore
I know where you're going with this, but for the reasons you stated, I think the overall hiring has been slanted (possibly too far) towards offensive coaches. Of the NFL head coaches hired since Jan. 2017, 13 were offensive coaches and 7 defensive coaches, with Matt Ruhle having experience on both sides. It makes me wonder if because of that offensive trend, some really quality defensive assistants have been overlooked for head coaching jobs.
Maybe they have, but I'm not going to shed any tears for them. I want a strong D, but offense is the name of the game. With the importance of the QB position, I want to do everything possible to ensure that the QB thrives. While that can happen with a quality HC who has a D background, imo it's more likely to happen with a HC with an offensive background.
I am fine with a defensive coordinator if their vision for the offense isn’t some ground and pound strategy from the 1950s. Also having these obsessions with interior defensive linemen when the team has major needs on offense as well.
I'd be more worried if Saleh had a defensive background when he played in college, but he was a TE. That he happens to have coached the defensive side seems purely because that's where his first assistant position was.
Hopefully, that will indeed help. It's certainly better than if he had played LB or some other defensive position. Still, it's been a while since he was in college, and he could have "sold out" completely to the D. If he's the pick, and he does want to just focus on the D and pretty much ignore the offense, we'll just have to hope that JD will overrule him and do what he knows best for the team.
Some of folks on board are talking as if any these guys that become HC knows jacksquat about offense or defense just because they specialize on one side of the ball. They are a NFL HC for a reason. Whether they are successful or not depends on a lot of factors, right philosophy for the right team, right players, right chemistry, and right coaching staff . I will just trust JD to pick he wants at the right person for the job and hope it’s successful.
