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    Rich CiminiESPN Staff Writer

No matter whom Todd Bowles picks to become his new offensive coordinator -- whether it's George Godsey, John Morton or a mystery candidate -- the New York Jets will be starting over on offense in Year 3 of the current regime.So much for continuity. It'll be a new philosophy and a new playbook, Bowles' second chance to create an offensive identity.

Godsey, who spent the past three seasons with the Houston Texans (the last two as coordinator), comes from a team that employs a Patriots-like system -- a "game-plan" offense, so to speak. It varies week to week, depending on personnel and matchups. The Patriots are the gold standard with this approach. Godsey, a former Patriots assistant, must have done something right in New England, because Tom Brady calls him "Goose" and considers him a "close" friend.

Godsey is former college quarterback who has coached the position, and that's important to the Jets, who have a couple of young quarterbacks who need to be coached up. The negative: He was stripped of his playcalling duties after three games last season as the Texans collapsed on offense. They scored only 23 touchdowns, the lowest output for a playoff team in a non-strike season since the NFL expanded to 16 games in 1978.

The Texans were doomed, in large part, by Brock Osweiler's ineptitude at quarterback, but Godsey was the scapegoat. His ouster was called a "mutual" parting of the ways. Wink, wink.Morton has worked under two bright offensive minds, Sean Payton and Jim Harbaugh. You have to think his offense would be a blend of Payton's sophisticated passing attack and Harbaugh's power-running game. He spent four years with Harbaugh and the 49ers when Colin Kaepernick was, you know, a good quarterback.

The concern with Morton, currently the Saints' receivers coach, is that he's never worked directly with quarterbacks and he has no NFL experience as a coordinator. He was Pete Carroll's at USC in 2009, but the offense slipped and he was demoted the following season under Lane Kiffin.Bowles also interviewed Broncos running backs coach Eric Studesville, but he opted to stay in Denver. Bowles has discussed the opening with other candidates, but those names haven't surfaced.

In the ideal scenario, the head coach would've promoted from within, allowing for a seamless transition. That's how the good teams do it, but the Jets didn't have a great plan to replace Chan Gailey.It's not as though Bowles was blindsided by Gailey's retirement. In a Jan. 3 statement, Gailey said he informed Bowles of his plans prior to the season. "Prior to" covers a lot of ground. On Tuesday, we found out how much ground, as Bowles told reporters at the Senior Bowl he received word last January.

The specified timetable raises an important question :

Why didn't Bowles have a succession plan in place? There was enough time to bring aboard an heir apparent and groom him for a year. That would've made for an easy passing of the baton for all involved, particularly young quarterbacks Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty.

Just speculating here, but maybe Bowles didn't want to mess with the mojo after a successful offensive season in 2015. Maybe, if he did have his eye on someone outside the organization, he couldn't pry that person away from his team during the hiring cycle. Maybe he was hoping Kevin Patullo could ascend into the coordinator job. If that was the case, he miscalculated because he fired Gailey's handpicked quarterbacks coach as soon as the season ended.

Or maybe Bowles just wanted to break away from the Gailey system, which showed its imperfections in 2016. Sure, it clicked the year before, helping to revive quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's career, but it all fell apart. Now the Jets will move on from Fitzpatrick, and perhaps Bowles doesn't believe the system -- even if coached by someone other than Gailey -- is right for the Jets in the post-Fitz era.

But this isn't just a Fitz thing. Remember, Bowles hired Gailey before Fitzpatrick came along, so he had nothing to do with Bowles' original conviction in Gailey. Bowles knew what he was getting in terms of the coach and his ideology. He wasn't just picking a coordinator -- he was setting an offensive course for his team. Now, two years later, he wants to change, a growth-stunting decision.

Some might applaud Bowles for having the onions to change direction on the fly, especially as he prepares to enter a make-or-break season. Thing is, if he had set it up better two years ago, he wouldn't be in this situation. Did he really think a Gailey-to-Patullo transfer would work? Patullo had no experience as a primary position coach before joining the Jets.

Enough history. What matters now is the replacement. Now it's up to Bowles, who probably is out of mulligans.

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