Bruce Arians on Jets' Todd Bowles: 'You're only as good as your players'

[Gas2No99]

Bruce Arians on Jets' Todd Bowles: 'You're only as good as your players'

Bruce Arians goes back to 1983 with Todd Bowles. (AP Photo | Rick Scuteri) (Rick Scuteri)

PHOENIX -- The rest of the NFL saw what the Jets did this offseason, as they tore down their roster and cut expensive veterans in favor of cheaper, younger players.

Nobody expects much from the Jets in 2017, when Todd Bowles will be coaching for his job, coming off a 5-11 season. 

Cardinals coach Bruce Arians knows Bowles well, and even Arians -- especially Arians -- recognizes Bowles' reality, as he tries to turn things around with a roster thin on proven talent. 

"You're only as good as your players," Arians said Wednesday at the NFL owners meeting. "Right now, he's got to find a quarterback. But as far as toughness, able to teach, and being extremely bright, you're not going to find anybody better." 

Telling answer.

Bowles doesn't have to make the playoffs to stick around for 2018. Jets owner Woody Johnson has already said that. But another five-win season isn't going to get the job done.

Bowles is holding an open quarterback competition between veteran journeyman Josh McCown and young draft picks Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty. That quarterback trio surely doesn't scare many, if any, opposing coaches. 

Arians goes way back with Bowles, who was the Cardinals' defensive coordinator from 2013-14, before the Jets hired him. Arians was Temple's head coach from 1983-88. Bowles played at Temple from 1981-85. So they first crossed paths in 1983. 

[rangerous]

well...yes and no.  the coach needs to be able to otivate the players and then build schemes to take advantage of each player's strengths and weaknesses.  imo every nfl team has just about the same level of physical talents.  it's getting the players to use that talent as a team that separates the greats coaches from the others. of course some teams don't have the depth to recover if key players go down.  that's one of the main reasons why qb's are hard to find. and the slary cap makes it difficult to just throw money around and pick all superstars. 

[Gastineau Lives]

"There really is no such thing as a good coach. The only thing that separated Vince Lombardi from Rich Kotite was alls Lombardi gots was the good players while alls Richie gots the bad ones." - Bruce Arians in an interview with Playboy magazine in 2012.

[Jetdawgg]

Get a 'FEATURE' RB. The D's won't be able to stack the box. 

[T0mShane]

Bowles handed Fitzpatrick the starting QB job repeatedly, including in January of 2016, when Fitzpatrick was unsigned and unwanted. So, Arians should note that a coach is only as good as the players he chooses to surround himself with.

[jamesr]

6 hours ago, Gas2No99 said:

Bowles doesn't have to make the playoffs to stick around for 2018. Jets owner Woody Johnson has already said that. But another five-win season isn't going to get the job done.

In my mind, if Hack plays all 16 games and goes 5-11, that would be a pretty good achievement. I disagree that the record is all important.

5-11 with McCown, no use, absolutely. 5-11 with Hack (or Petty, or a draft pick), same result BUT an indication of future trajectory. Very different story.

[Ghost]

So bad decision making, timeout usage, and clock management fall on the players? Gotcha. 

[MaxAF]

2 hours ago, rangerous said:

well...yes and no.  the coach needs to be able to otivate the players and then build schemes to take advantage of each player's strengths and weaknesses.  imo every nfl team has just about the same level of physical talents.  it's getting the players to use that talent as a team that separates the greats coaches from the others. of course some teams don't have the depth to recover if key players go down.  that's one of the main reasons why qb's are hard to find. and the slary cap makes it difficult to just throw money around and pick all superstars. 

I definitely agree with you. If you look at Belecheat for example, that team has been overhauled completely over and over yet they are competitive every year with 5 SB's to boot. As much as I hate the Pat's they are consistently winners regardless of their roster. And that falls on the coach. I hate Belecheat but I respect his coaching successes. 

[JustInFudge]

2 hours ago, T0mShane said:

Bowles handed Fitzpatrick the starting QB job repeatedly, including in January of 2016, when Fitzpatrick was unsigned and unwanted. So, Arians should note that a coach is only as good as the players he chooses to surround himself with.

Beat me to it.  Hand picked veteran QB coming of the heels of a 10 win season with the same exact roster minus a 2 down NT and an often injured RB.

Explain that one, Mr. Overrated Arians. 

 

 

[slats]

11 minutes ago, JiF said:

Beat me to it.  Hand picked veteran QB coming of the heels of a 10 win season with the same exact roster minus a 2 down NT and an often injured RB.

Explain that one, Mr. Overrated Arians. 

 

 

 

You're inversely as good as your strength of schedule. 

[jetspenguin]

Arians is right to some degree..we didnt have the same talent as the average NFL squad last year for starters or backups, plus we had an inordinate amount of injuries. I know many fans like to point out bowles playing certain guys but ignore that there wasnt a great alternative on the bench. You can scheme all you want, if the other team has better players more often than not they will whup dat ass.

Fitz wasnt "hand picked", he was Geno punked. He was intended to never see the field his first year and in his second year I'd have liked to see the outrage Bowles would have gotten for benching him after a 10-6 record, after he broke all those QB records, after he and the offense looked like the best we have seen around these parts in years. Hindsight is 20/20 and I HATE Fitz but there was no way he could have started glass jaw, pecker flashing, interception throwing, airplane leaving, meeting missing, money owing Geno until it was absolutely no choice. 

We dont have the players....we all know it. We all talk about all the holes on the roster on the board everyday. I know the coach isnt popular these days but that doesnt change the fact that we have drafted poorly for what 7-9 years now? The overall talent on this team over achieved in 2015 and gave people false hope. If you switched around year 1 and year 2 of this regime people here would be talking super bowl right now but because the bad record came in year 2 the short term memory kicks in.    

[SickJetFan]

 

 

[ZachEY]

23 minutes ago, slats said:

You're inversely as good as your strength of schedule. 

Jets went from 2nd easiest schedule to 9th most difficult.  Hard to undersell how significant that is, and how much it inflated our 2015 season.  Interestingly, the 11 most difficult schedules all missed the playoffs last year, whereas in 2015, it's a bit more evenly distributed with 2 teams in the top 10 in difficulty making the playoffs.

[Sperm Edwards]

2 minutes ago, gEYno said:

Jets went from 2nd easiest schedule to 9th most difficult.  Hard to undersell how significant that is, and how much it inflated our 2015 season.

Even worse than that, the few teams worth a damn on our 2015 schedule had multiple/significant injuries when we played them, sans NE game 1: Indy, NE game 2, Washington, Houston. The actual schedule in 2015 was far easier than the SOS win % suggests.

[JetsFanatic]

Bowles had one year where the team exceeded expectations and one disappointing year. The jury is still out, but he deserves more time as the team is being built.

[Integrity28]

3 hours ago, T0mShane said:

Bowles handed Fitzpatrick the starting QB job repeatedly, including in January of 2016, when Fitzpatrick was unsigned and unwanted. So, Arians should note that a coach is only as good as the players he chooses to surround himself with.

Rex flashbacks.

[jetrider]

Why is Bruce Arians talking about Todd Bowles? Is Bowles hiring his buddies to white knight him?

You're only as good as the players you develop. 

[ASH1962]

What an absolute joke this whole thing is and it makes me want to stop watching / following this team forever. The fact that this guy still has a job as a HC in the NFL is laughable at best after what transpired last season. "A HC is only as good as his players" - right Bruce, is that why you did not make the playoffs last season, because you had no players? Give me a break, really. Who is Bruce Arians anyway, WTF has he won as a HC? Now he is the Shrimp Boat Captain's spokesperson? Oh yes I forgot, Arians has a 53' trailer with all glass showcases inside to display his SB trophies

Bubba Gump Bowltite. Just stop already. PLEASE. Kill me now and end this painlessly.

[phill1c]

13 minutes ago, ASH1962 said:

fact that this guy still has a job as a HC in the NFL is laughable at best after what transpired last season.

I'm not sure I follow this logic. The team had a core of under-performing veterans, guys like Revis, Breno Giacomini, Ryan Fitzpatrick, David Harris and a host of unproven young players. Why are you surprised that the results were what they were?

[HighPitch]

4 hours ago, Gastineau Lives said:

"There really is no such thing as a good coach. The only thing that separated Vince Lombardi from Rich Kotite was alls Lombardi gots was the good players while alls Richie gots the bad ones." - Bruce Arians in an interview with Playboy magazine in 2012.

This is complete nonsense. Look at bellicheck and parcells. What a retarded thing to say

[jetrider]

11 minutes ago, phill1c said:

I'm not sure I follow this logic. The team had a core of under-performing veterans, guys like Revis, Breno Giacomini, Ryan Fitzpatrick, David Harris and a host of unproven young players. Why are you surprised that the results were what they were?

Whose job was it to coach them up and prepare them every week?

[Kevin L]

15 minutes ago, phill1c said:

I'm not sure I follow this logic. The team had a core of under-performing veterans, guys like Revis, Breno Giacomini, Ryan Fitzpatrick, David Harris and a host of unproven young players. Why are you surprised that the results were what they were?

The question then becomes "why were they underperforming?"

[phill1c]

14 minutes ago, Kevin L said:

The question then becomes "why were they underperforming?"

I think we know why they are underperforming: they suck! They are old. I'm surprised by the dropoff of Revis, but not that there was a dropoff. I'm not surprised at the dropoff of Fitzpatrick because I, and many others, expected it. Breno Giacomini: well, there wasn't a dropoff because he was injured and pretty much sucked anyway. Do you need a full list or will this do?

[Beerfish]

Arians is right no doubt however there are 101 attributes a coach has that can still affect the team even with lack of or a lot of talent. 

Bowles utterly failed in those things last year.  Also one again, as usual, as always the focus is on the Qb and the offense.

The Jets defense, lead by Todd Bowles was a FAR bigger disgrace than the offense last year.  A vast majority of the teams resources both cap wise and drat pick wise have been given to the defense. 

The talent that the Jets did have?  Bowles used it about as ineffectively as possible.

[phill1c]

Just now, Beerfish said:

The talent that the Jets did have?  Bowles used it about as ineffectively as possible.

And the year before he used it pretty effectively, taking a 4-12 team to 10-6.

I mean, there's a lot of critiques of Bowles that one can legitimately have. Saying that he didn't get the most out of the roster, when the critical pieces were horrible (QB, CB, DL) seems somewhat unfair.

[Beerfish]

8 minutes ago, phill1c said:

And the year before he used it pretty effectively, taking a 4-12 team to 10-6.

I mean, there's a lot of critiques of Bowles that one can legitimately have. Saying that he didn't get the most out of the roster, when the critical pieces were horrible (QB, CB, DL) seems somewhat unfair.

Yeah,  two yeas ago he did a decent job, last year he was nothing short of atrocious in all areas.

[Kevin L]

15 minutes ago, phill1c said:

I think we know why they are underperforming: they suck! They are old. I'm surprised by the dropoff of Revis, but not that there was a dropoff. I'm not surprised at the dropoff of Fitzpatrick because I, and many others, expected it. Breno Giacomini: well, there wasn't a dropoff because he was injured and pretty much sucked anyway. Do you need a full list or will this do?

Fitz and Breno just flat out suck. I'll give you that.

The rest of them aren't so old that they should have fallen off a cliff like they did. Even the younger guys seemed to take a step backwards.

[phill1c]

6 minutes ago, Kevin L said:

Fitz and Breno just flat out suck. I'll give you that.

The rest of them aren't so old that they should have fallen off a cliff like they did. Even the younger guys seemed to take a step backwards.

I think you underestimate how deleterious it is to have your QB have game-clinching turnovers late in games, which happened regularly with Fitz. And then to have to go back to him. And Revis fell off a cliff, Bowles could have done some things better, but he cannot turn back time. Same with Harris, no amount of coaching is going to allow Harris to cover a back out of the backfield.

In the end, it's unclear how the expectations people have for the coach meet up with the reality of critical pieces unable to function at a high level. and, would you have preferred that the Jets won, say, the 5 games Fitzpatrick alone lost with late-game turnovers or game-long suckage? They would be in even worse position.

I know it's easy to bash Bowles because, hey, it's the offseason and you don't have a Tim Tebow signing to debate, but I'd like to see him with a QB and some young talent before I cast him aside.

[jetrider]

12 minutes ago, phill1c said:

And the year before he used it pretty effectively, taking a 4-12 team to 10-6.

I mean, there's a lot of critiques of Bowles that one can legitimately have. Saying that he didn't get the most out of the roster, when the critical pieces were horrible (QB, CB, DL) seems somewhat unfair.

So your version of "fair" is to credit the HC at 10-6 and blame the players at 5-11.

[Kevin L]

9 minutes ago, phill1c said:

I think you underestimate how deleterious it is to have your QB have game-clinching turnovers late in games, which happened regularly with Fitz. And then to have to go back to him. And Revis fell off a cliff, Bowles could have done some things better, but he cannot turn back time. Same with Harris, no amount of coaching is going to allow Harris to cover a back out of the backfield.

In the end, it's unclear how the expectations people have for the coach meet up with the reality of critical pieces unable to function at a high level. and, what you have preferred, that the Jets won, say, the 5 games Fitzpatrick alone lost with late-game turnovers or game-long suckage? They would be in even worse position.

I know it's easy to bash Bowles because, hey, it's the offseason and you don't have a Tim Tebow signing to debate, but I'd like to see him with a QB and some young talent before I cast him aside.

No. It's easy to bash Bowles because he's not a good coach. Whether he can become one in time or not is up for debate.

[LIJetsFan]

34 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Arians is right no doubt however there are 101 attributes a coach has that can still affect the team even with lack of or a lot of talent. 

Bowles utterly failed in those things last year.  Also one again, as usual, as always the focus is on the Qb and the offense.

The Jets defense, lead by Todd Bowles was a FAR bigger disgrace than the offense last year.  A vast majority of the teams resources both cap wise and drat pick wise have been given to the defense. 

The talent that the Jets did have?  Bowles used it about as ineffectively as possible.

Why are Bowles defenders relatively blind to this and prefer talking about the schedule? 

[SR24]

5 hours ago, T0mShane said:

Bowles handed Fitzpatrick the starting QB job repeatedly, including in January of 2016, when Fitzpatrick was unsigned and unwanted. So, Arians should note that a coach is only as good as the players he chooses to surround himself with.

Might be the best thing I've read on this site yet. 

[Sperm Edwards]

19 minutes ago, phill1c said:

I think you underestimate how deleterious it is to have your QB have game-clinching turnovers late in games, which happened regularly with Fitz. And then to have to go back to him. And Revis fell off a cliff, Bowles could have done some things better, but he cannot turn back time. Same with Harris, no amount of coaching is going to allow Harris to cover a back out of the backfield.

In the end, it's unclear how the expectations people have for the coach meet up with the reality of critical pieces unable to function at a high level. and, would you have preferred that the Jets won, say, the 5 games Fitzpatrick alone lost with late-game turnovers or game-long suckage? They would be in even worse position.

I know it's easy to bash Bowles because, hey, it's the offseason and you don't have a Tim Tebow signing to debate, but I'd like to see him with a QB and some young talent before I cast him aside.

You cannot credibly absolve him over Fitz's play when Fitz was the very QB he wanted, even before the 2016 offseason began. 

 

[C Mart]

23 minutes ago, phill1c said:

I think you underestimate how deleterious it is to have your QB have game-clinching turnovers late in games, which happened regularly with Fitz. And then to have to go back to him. And Revis fell off a cliff, Bowles could have done some things better, but he cannot turn back time. Same with Harris, no amount of coaching is going to allow Harris to cover a back out of the backfield.

In the end, it's unclear how the expectations people have for the coach meet up with the reality of critical pieces unable to function at a high level. and, would you have preferred that the Jets won, say, the 5 games Fitzpatrick alone lost with late-game turnovers or game-long suckage? They would be in even worse position.

I know it's easy to bash Bowles because, hey, it's the offseason and you don't have a Tim Tebow signing to debate, but I'd like to see him with a QB and some young talent before I cast him aside.

I'll just say a few things and will be ripped but I feel part of the hate/outrage towards Bowles is: 1) his stoic demeanor. 2) his bland pressers 3) 40+ yrs of Jets frustration and I was going to mention a 4th but will refrain....

I'll wrap it up with this: You can't keep changing 1st time HCs and GMs every 2-3 years..Just as players should be allowed some time to grow/develop the same should apply for Coaches/GMs..40+ years of frustration isn't this HC & GM's fault. You want to argue that a NY market team should hire experienced HCs & GMs I can understand that. As for Bowles gameday performance, which can be questioned, I'll say 1) again new HC and should be given time to grow/develop/improve 2) Look around the league, very few HCs are immune from consistent questionable/stupid clock management issues, TOs usage, 4th down decisions.

[C Mart]

30 minutes ago, SR24 said:

Might be the best thing I've read on this site yet. 

and he has acknowledged he shouldn't have announced that.

January 2, 2017

It was after the team’s week 17 loss to the Buffalo Bills last season that Bowles anointed free agent-to be, Ryan Fitzpatrick, his starting quarterback for the 2016 season.  An announcement that gave the journeyman additional leverage in his upcoming contract negotiations..When asked about Revis, Bowles replied:

“I’m not going to discuss any player going in to 2017 thanks to you guys (Jets beat writers) when I said something about Fitz last year.  I have you guys to thank for that.  I won’t be saying anything about any players heading in to 2017.  My second year as a head coach and I learned some things, so thank you guys”.

http://www.jetnation.com/2017/01/02/bowles-acknowledges-fitz-flub-wont-elaborate-on-revis/#sthash.GfAgb9Ak.vng2SxMq.dpbs