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NY Jets Week One Starting Quarterback: Geno Smith


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Okay, but if Idzik's job is to asses all aspects of the Jets, including Rex, through training camp and games, then you are basically saying that Woody gave Rex the job for at least this year.  Because I don't think Woody has in mind Idzik saying after preseason game #2, "We need a new head coach now, let's start looking".

 

If Woody gave Idzik the right to fire Rex this year, Idzik or any other general manager would do so and move his own choice in, guaranteed.  That's why, if Woody was willing to let the new GM get rid of Rex, he should have cleared Rex out with Tannenbaum and let the man hook up with another team while the positions are available.  To do anything else would show lack of character.

 

That is not guaranteed at all.  It is entirely possible he would keep Rex on even if he was allowed to fire him.  You are making some grand assumptions, such as a GM forming the same opinions that you have with Rex, and also that Idzik had someone in mind - "his own choice" - who was presently available and who wanted to take over a train wreck of a roster in 2013.  You're looking at the roster situation with July's viewpoint instead of January's.  

 

Coaching this team will be far more attractive, for a new coach, in 2014 than in 2013.

 

Rex, while he did plenty of boneheaded things, also had enough cards stacked against him that 6-10 might not even be considered a bad season around the league:

  • No QB
  • No backup or future QB
  • Injured #1 WR
  • Unready and then injured #2 WR
  • 1 healthy slot WR
  • starting TE was injured
  • RBs underwhelming
  • FB awful
  • While the OL graded out ok comparatively, the stud LT and C having down seasons while the other 3 ranged from meh to decent.  RT was an undrafted castoff who was forced into starting.  Roster's other linemen included a 2nd round bust the team drafted and a #2 overall pick bust that St Louis just wanted to be rid of.
  • Top player on defense, Revis, got concussed during week 1, causing him to miss week 2, then got knocked out for the season during week 3.  In other words, for the whole season he played in 2 games and got knocked out of both.
  • Team's only player with obvious, potentially star-like pass-rushing skills was a rookie who doesn't have an obvious position on a team chiefly employing a 3-4 front alignment.
  • 3 starting LBers were years past their prime.  The 4th starting LB took a major step backwards and guaranteed $25M from 2012-2013.
  • Recently re-signed NT was playing injured & play dropped off some as well at age 33.  Player drafted to take his place merely showed "some flashes" in 2012 (and was injured for the middle third of the season anyway).
  • OC was garbage (yes, he was Rex's hire, but it still was a handicap.  Particularly for a HC whose expertise is on the other side of the ball).
  • Special teams went down the toilet after being perpetually among the league's best for a decade. 

So you will have to accept that there are GMs in the NFL who would look at all that and say to themselves that 2 games shy of .500 isn't the worst thing they could imagine as a final record.  A GM could easily conclude that, given that the team went to the AFCCG in 2 of the prior 3 seasons before, that the most recent 6-10 record might not be due to poor coaching from Rex.

 

And a GM could say that Rex is a big part of the failure and needs to be tossed out immediately as part of a culture change.  But there is no "guarantee" that every 1st-time GM would make that move if given the opportunity.

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I don't know about that. Mornhinweg and Idzik were hired the same day, iirc. We can speculate that Idzik had a hand in the hire, but I'm pretty sure that was ultimately Rex's hire.

You are absolutely correct, Mornhinweg was Rex's hire.  I did a little checking back, and that's the way it worked out.

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 It is entirely possible he would keep Rex on even if he was allowed to fire him....

Impressive post, but probably moot.  I did some checking back when.  Rex was going to keep his job for this year at least regardless of who got hired for GM. 

 

The following is a quote.

 

NY Jets hire Seattle Seahawks VP John Idzik to be Gang Green’s new general manager
Idzik, 52, will have final say on personnel matters, not Rex Ryan. The Jets’ head coach, however, will have authority to rebuild his staff, which lost nine coaches in the past three weeks
By Manish Mehta / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Friday, January 18, 2013, 4:49 PM Updated: Monday, January 21, 2013, 1:18 PM
 
jetsweb19s-1-web.jpg David Gonzales/ASSOCIATED PRESS  

Seahawks vice president of football administration John Idzik takes GM role with Jets.

inform.jpg

Woody Johnson began repairing his wayward franchise by hiring Seattle Seahawks executive John Idzik as the Jets’ new general manager on Friday.

Idzik has the arduous task of fixing a team with a thin roster, a slew of salary-cap hurdles, a quarterback dilemma and a polarizing head coach who could be a lame duck.

 
“After a thorough search in which we met many qualified and outstanding candidates, it was clear to me that John was the right choice,” Johnson said in a statement released by the Jets. “During his two decades in the NFL, John helped build a Super Bowl championship team in Tampa Bay, an NFC championship team in Arizona and, most recently, a team in Seattle that narrowly missed reaching the NFC Championship Game.
 
“John has seen firsthand what’s necessary to construct a winning team and has worked with some of the most innovative and successful coaches in the NFL, including Pete Carroll, Tony Dungy, Dennis Green, Jon Gruden and Mike Holmgren. Drawing on 20 years of NFL experience, John, working with Rex (Ryan), will get the Jets where all of us want to be.”
 
Nearly three weeks after the regular season ended, Johnson chose Idzik, whose expertise lies in contract negotiations and salary-cap navigation rather than scouting and personnel. 
 
Idzik, 52, will have final say on personnel matters, not Ryan. The Jets’ head coach, however, will have authority to rebuild his staff, which lost nine coaches in the past three weeks. To that end, the Jets will hire Marty Mornhinweg, who was part of the coaching purge with the Eagles, as the new offensive coordinator, according to a source. Mornhinweg will replace Tony Sparano, who was fired after one season.
 
The prevailing thought was that the Jets, whose paper-thin roster was exposed during their 6-10 season after injuries to key players, would pick a GM with a scouting-centric background, but Johnson opted for a candidate  whose traits were similar to those of the recently fired Mike Tannenbaum. 
 
However, Idzik, who was the Seahawks’ vice president of football administration, isn’t a Tannenbaum clone. He played football at Dartmouth before coaching two years as a college assistant. A source who knows Idzik called him “smart, honest (and) tough” and told The News that he was on the college scouting trail this season for Seattle. 
 
“I am eager to get started building on the foundation that is already in place,” Idzik said in a statement.
 
Another source who worked with Idzik during his 11-year tenure with the Buccaneers said Idzik routinely watched game film with coaches and the personnel department to better grasp the team’s roster. However, that’s no substitute for extensive field scouting. 
 
Early in the search process, Jets were preparing an offer for Falcons’ personnel guru David Caldwell, who was one of three candidates to get a second interview, before he chose the Jaguars GM job. Caldwell had requested a $1 million housing allowance, according to the team. 
 
In all, the Jets interviewed 10 candidates, including three former NFL GMs — Jerry Angelo, Randy Mueller and Ted Sundquist — the 49ers’ Tom Gamble, the Giants’ Marc Ross and the Dolphins’ Brian Gaine. 
 
Johnson, team president Neil Glat and executive search firm head Jed Hughes were present for all the interviews, while Ira Akselrad, the president of the Johnson Companies and an adviser to the owner, was there for most of them. 
 
Idzik, who was a part of the Jets’ expanded search, and Steelers executive Omar Khan were the two finalists. Idzik flew in from Seattle for a second interview on Wednesday before negotiations began on Thursday.
 
Idzik will rely on consensus- building when evaluating talent. There will not be an overhaul of the personnel department, but some changes could be made, according to a source. 
 
Idzik shared philosophies with Ryan during his second phase of interviewing, but the head coach wasn’t part of the final evaluation process. Idzik will inherit Ryan for at least one season, as Johnson indicated to all the candidates.  
 
It will ultimately be Idzik’s job to reshape the roster to further the organization’s long-term efforts. 
 
The Jets are nearly $20 million over the salary cap, but expected moves such as cutting Bart Scott, Calvin Pace and Jason Smith will put them under the max value. Idzik will make more cuts and likely restructure some contracts to re-set the team during this rebuilding process. 
 
The Seahawks’ recent history suggests that they aren’t shy about making trades, either. 
 
One of the first orders of business for Idzik will be to determine how to handle the quarterback situation that helped derail Ryan’s team. Mark Sanchez’s contract — he has an $8.25 million guaranteed base salary in 2013 — will make it extremely difficult to trade him. 
 
The Jets will almost certainly bring in a signal-caller to compete with Sanchez. Seahawks GM John Schneider made it clear that he’s willing to entertain offers for Matt Flynn, who has become expendable in the wake of Russell Wilson’s rise. 
 
Idzik will also have to make a definitive decision on Tim Tebow, who provided more headlines than production in his first season with the Jets. 
 
Jets’ brass was impressed by Idzik’s vision for the franchise. 
 
Now, it’s time to turn those ideas into action. 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/source-jets-hire-idzik-new-gm-article-1.1242785#ixzz2YaAHry1O

 

Found at:  http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/source-jets-hire-idzik-new-gm-article-1.1242785

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Impressive post, but probably moot.  I did some checking back when.  The following is a quote.

 

NY Jets hire Seattle Seahawks VP John Idzik to be Gang Green’s new general manager
 
Jets’ brass was impressed by Idzik’s vision for the franchise. 
 
Now, it’s time to turn those ideas into action. 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/source-jets-hire-idzik-new-gm-article-1.1242785#ixzz2YaAHry1O

 

Found at:  http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/source-jets-hire-idzik-new-gm-article-1.1242785

 

It is entirely possible - perhaps even likely - that Idzik was not permitted to fire Ryan until at least mid-season.  But all I was saying (in my extended-version way) is that Rex's presence doesn't mean that Idzik was denied that power upon being hired.

 

Also which part was the quote? You quoted the whole article and highlighted multiple passages.

 

*edit* - nevermind, I see which one you're referring to.  Just keep in mind the author of that article.

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Not to pile on, but here's another report.  I don't know the sportswriters enough to form opinions, other than I'm not crazy about Florio's attitude.  But a lot of posters here make it clear that Mehta was not highly regarded among many Jets fans, so here's a different author, (the following is a quote):

 

 

 

Jets Name Leaders in Front Office and Offense

By BEN SHPIGEL Published: January 19, 2013

 

The Jets’ roster lacks quality and depth. There is disarray at quarterback. Their salary-cap situation is daunting.

 
On Friday, they hired two men to help them deal with those problems. An extensive 19-day search ended when the Jets selected John Idzik, formerly the vice president for football administration for the Seattle Seahawks, as their general manager.
 

In a move that may carry risks, the Jets selected a candidate thoroughly experienced in salary-cap management and contract negotiations — much like his predecessor, Mike Tannenbaum — and not player evaluation and scouting. Idzik, 52, emerged from a field of 10 interviewed contenders, including former general managers, current personnel executives and administrators on the business side.

 

Idzik’s arrival came on the same day Coach Rex Ryan made the most critical decision of his tenure, choosing Marty Mornhinweg, who spent the previous 10 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, as the team’s offensive coordinator. The Jets, who went 6-10 this season, lost nine members of their coaching staff in the last three weeks.

 

Just as Ryan will be judged for how Mornhinweg, his third offensive coordinator in three seasons, fares in implementing his desire for an unpredictable and attacking offense, Idzik will be evaluated for his attempt to resolve the Jets’ quarterback quandary. He will decide the fate of Mark Sanchez, whose prohibitive contract — $8.25 million guaranteed — increases the possibility that he will remain with the team in some capacity for 2013, and of Tim Tebow, who is all but certain to be traded or released.

 

Idzik will also need to revamp an offense devoid of playmakers and dismantle, then rebuild, a roster in a salary-cap crunch: the Jets are roughly $20 million over the projected salary cap of $121 million.

 

It will be Mornhinweg’s responsibility to mold that new offensive talent into a cohesive, productive group. Mornhinweg’s hiring is the clearest signal yet that the Jets will adjust their philosophy, shifting from the so-called ground-and-pound to a more West Coast-style passing offense — shorter, horizontal routes — that produced four of the top five scoring seasons in Eagles history. His familiarity with Michael Vick may fuel speculation that, after Vick’s expected departure from Philadelphia, he could find a home with the Jets, although it is unclear why they would want essentially an amalgamation of Sanchez and Tebow: a left-handed, turnover-prone quarterback.

 

Idzik, who has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Dartmouth and a master’s degree in liberal studies from Duke, has spent the last 20 seasons in the N.F.L. — 11 with Tampa Bay, 3 with Arizona and 6 in Seattle, where his responsibilities included contract negotiations, salary-cap compliance and football operations budgeting. Idzik, who will report directly to the team owner Woody Johnson, will also work closely with Ryan, who had significant input on roster construction under Tannenbaum. Johnson has guaranteed Ryan’s return for 2013.

 

Despite Johnson’s recent assertion that Ryan is the “perfect” coach for the Jets, his status could be endangered if Idzik, after next season, feels differently.

 

As reflected by the first wave of candidates in the search led by Jed Hughes of the recruiting firm Korn/Ferry, the Jets were initially interested in finding someone with experience in player personnel. They considered two candidates who accepted general manager positions elsewhere — David Caldwell (Jacksonville) and Tom Telesco (San Diego) — and it was only after they expanded their pursuit, about 10 days ago, that Idzik emerged as an option. He interviewed last week and again Wednesday before being offered the position.

 

Only one other candidate — Omar Khan, the director of business and football administration for Pittsburgh — had a second interview.

 

In a statement, Johnson said Idzik’s experience working with coaches like Pete Carroll, Tony Dungy and Mike Holmgren was an asset. “John has seen firsthand what’s necessary to construct a winning team,” Johnson, said, adding, “Drawing on 20 years of N.F.L. experience, John, working with Rex, will get the Jets where all of us want to be.”

 

Mornhinweg, who emerged from a group of candidates that also included the New Orleans quarterback coach Joe Lombardi and the former Browns coach Pat Shurmur, has spent the last 18 seasons in the N.F.L. — 16 on offensive staffs and 2, in 2001 and 2002, as the Detroit Lions’ head coach.

 

https://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/19/sports/football/jets-select-john-idzik-general-manager-and-marty-mornhinweg-as-offensive-coordinator.html

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