I look at this as great news. If we're already doing due diligence on other coaches that can only mean 1 thing....Gase is gone. We can put to bed all those tin-foil conspiracy theories that the Jets have any intention of bringing him back next season. We'll be looking for a new HC this offseason folks.
The next HC needs to be someone who can motivate players, make sure they're put in a position to succeed, make proper in game decisions, can bring in a competent staff, and is capable of managing all 3 facets of the game. Can Fitzgerald be that guy? IDK, but that's why I'm not making the decision.
How would you guys take it if Gase was demoted to OC? To keep the same style offense? Hire a new coach. I know it's crazy, but something tells me they might keep this guy as a headcoach
I’m not a big fan of taking from the college ranks. Most of these guys win by recruiting and only need to sell their pitch for 3-4 years with more control over the players. Pros are different, they have more say, money talks and you don’t have the turnover like college. That said, this guy is clearly not winning because of talent so he interests me but I’d rather get Bieniemy
I am not saying this is the guy or we cannot find a better guy, but you cannot really judge him on NCAA rankings when he is never going to get the cream of the crop guys like the SEC, at least 7 other teams in the Big 10, or the PAC 12 (power 5 with awesome weather). Then throw in Clemson and a few ACC teams and some Big 12. You have to also consider there are teams in no power 5 conferences that tear it up against weaker competition and put up better stats, that does not necessarily mean they are really a better team in whatever category you are comparing.
I actually think this is the way the NFL is moving. The league has adapted to the college style of play more in the past decade than it ever has. When you factor in jet sweeps, running quarterbacks, option plays, etc. The art of run blocking gets worse every year as colleges require lineman to block for less and less time and design plays to get the ball out quicker recognizing that deficiency. Not to mention the drastic change in player personality due to the generations turning over, it'll require a coach to be able to manage personalities on the college level before the pro level. Yeah man. Rankings are tough. The leading rusher and passer are group of 5 guys that struggle to make the league a lot of the time. Garrett Wolfe, Donald Brown and Kevin Smith all lead the nation in rushing. Two were marginal players in the NFL and one never got run in the big leagues.
The encouraging thing is not Fitzgerald but the fact that they are looking to replace Gase. Personally I don't believe JD would let the cat out of the bag about his looking to replace Gase. It's too early to let the press know of a move like this.
I believe the next coach is coming from either the Ravens, Philadelphia, Chicago, Chiefs, 3 of the teams Joe Douglas worked for and have good coaching pedigrees.
End of the day it really doesn't matter who your HC is until you have a QB, oline, and your GM has landed some weapons. Until then, HCs are just riding a carrousel.
The problem with letting the OC coach the offense is that if the OC is good, you'll lose him to another team. Then you end up like the Falcons who lost Shanahan or the Eagles who lost Reich.
If they are moving on from Gase it's better to hire a NFL coach. The college game is completely different and Northwestern can't recruit the best athletes so he may want to move on. Does he have the contacts to build a staff. I do like it when a HC runs the game but does not coach either side, however. First new coach rumor?
Actually I think getting an experienced, successful, coach from college who ahs proven to turn programs around is a better option than hiring yet another coordinator who has no experience handling all the responsibilities of a HC. We've done enough OJT to prove that this is a crapshoot, especially with weak/ignorant owners. Hiring Harbaugh would seem to be the "best of both worlds", and he might be, but I don't know if his personality would mesh well with Douglas and the NY media. I'm not opposed to him, but a guy like Fitzgerald is appealing. That said, I do have some qualms as expressed by Kurt about hiring a guy who seems to be more about defense than offense. But if he really is a CEO type and can hire a great OC that would address that concern.
To early to confirm if this is true. But if it is true the best part is that they ARE actually looking to replace Gase.
I wouldn't lol. There is talk Gase might survive the season. Gase has shown he is not qualified to be a HC. I wanted to see what everyone thought if the Jets get cute and kept Gase as OC
