With TC approaching, I'm going to miss seeing Mike Westhoff out there. Any news on his recovery and if (or hopefully when) he might be coming back to the Jets? I had heard that he wasn't exactly "leaving" the Jets and I believe we left the door wide open. The Jets need to stay in close touch with this guy and bring him back into the fold as soon as he's able. Pay him whatever he wants... he's that good.
I can't seem to find anything new but I hope he's ok. The one thing I can tell you is this guys a trooper. "The graft that I have in my left leg keeps fracturing and it is not healing properly and they will replace it with a prosthetic rod," Westhoff said of the surgery that will take place on Feb. 7. "From my hip to my knee, it will be a total replacement. So it is a complex surgery that will take a lot of rehab time." http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/f...31/2007-12-31_farewell_for_mike_westhoff.html 8 surgeries on his leg, bone cancer and now a friggin leg replacement this guy is seriously a lumber-jack, Alaskan crab fisher, and Rambo rolled into one. He says this like he doesn't even give a care. He probably asked them to give him a peg leg and a hook for a hand but they said no.
I said it before and I´ll say it again, your great returngame was 80% Westhoff and 20% Leon/Miller. When they anounced that he´ll have surgery and won´t be the Jets ST-Coordinator for 2008, they said he´ll stay with the team as a Consultant. There were also reports, that Westhoff had a lot to say when they were looking for a new Coordinator, and O´Dea was Westhoff´s yoice, so i guess, he´ll still have a lot to say but just won´t be the guy on the practicefied. At least i hope so. edit, There were Reports that his Surgery went well some months back, haven´t heard anything since.
I'm hoping Mangini finds a way to incorporate Westhoff into the CS this year even though he's not able to get around and be on the practice field. Good examples would be to maybe have him review practice film and then bring guys in to have STs meeting with him going over the do's and don'ts. Something innovative like that. Maybe our new practice facility and team headquarters will have a film room like that in which he could conduct state-of-the-art meetings without even moving from the wheelchair. They say the Jets will be in that facility by September.
I really want Westhoff to maintain a role with the Jets, but I think there needs to be a clear chain of command on the CS when it comes to special teams, and all teaching/direction should come from O'Dea. But whatever role Westhoff can play behind the scenes as a consultant to O'Dea/Mangini should be sought. Also, I think Westhoff was Magnini's "rules and interpretation" guru on the sideline. I wonder who's going to fill that role now, unless Mangini's far enough along in his role as HC to be his own counsel.
I really like the sound of that, and I hope they do something like it. I wonder if it would be too much for him to be up in the booth as a sort of quasi-ST coach. There's no question this team will not be the same without Westhoff. I was actually a vocal proponent of promoting him to the HC position, post-Herm. Any way they can get him into some sort of active role is a positive move for the organization.
Good suggestion. Hell, I'd like to see him up in a booth as an assistant coach. He really has tremendous football knowledge and field vision. He catches things the first time that would take the average viewer two or three re-runs to see. He could be a tremendous help to Mangini in many ways. Let's hope he's up to it and the Jets bring it on.
The NYJs have adopted an interactive play system so that the coaches and the players can communicate about x's and o's on a shared over-the-Internet application. This would be a perfect way for Westoff to kibitz with O'Dea throughout the season.
Good to know. I'm sure Westhoff will avail himself of this, but I'd also love to hear of him conducting live interactive classroom sessions with the players, perhaps using a large screen, etc. I'm sure the new facitlity will have such a meeting room. As an aside, has anyone heard of any tours of the new facility yet? I was hoping the Jets might have some kind of "fan appreciation day" or whatever, where you could tour the facitliy and see what it looks like.
I'd think that would come next year. Since they're starting out at Hofstra, and only moving to Jersey when camp closes to the public, it makes more sense to do something huge to open next season. Of course, that's simply my own speculation, and not in any way based in fact.
Actually, I was thinking that because the team will not be in the new facility in August (because they are obviously over at Hofstra), that would be an excellent time to set aside several days in which fans could tour the new, empty facility. They could pass out tickets, for example, at TC over at Hofstra. This would narrow the amount of people down to those who actually took the interest and time to attend a TC session. Another way of doing it would be to notify season ticketholders that if they wish to tour the faciltiy, call this number, etc. That would narrow down the number of people so they're not bombarded by 80,000 people. Again, like yourself, just speculation and "thinking out loud," not based on anything I've read.
