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Bobby April Fired as Special Teams Coach


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Good move but next season we need to sacrifice a couple of spots for a KR and a PR. Jets like Versatile players, but we need guys that are good in this area. And please........ Tell me we can get a better Punter 

Good point the fact that we cut Walter Powell after a great pre season made me wonder when we never replaced him.

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Seriously, this is great news...cutting Coples, firing assistant coaches after 1 year....I am very high on Bowles and Mac - they know what they want and what they don't...buckle up because I think this offseason will have more twists and surprises than we have had in a while

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Good move but next season we need to sacrifice a couple of spots for a KR and a PR. Jets like Versatile players, but we need guys that are good in this area. And please........ Tell me we can get a better Punter 

we don't need a kick returner specialist.  If we have someone like CRO who can do it (it not cut) great otherwise down the ball. 

Punt retuner is a different story.  That we Need

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Good move but next season we need to sacrifice a couple of spots for a KR and a PR. Jets like Versatile players, but we need guys that are good in this area. And please........ Tell me we can get a better Punter 

Word. If anyone watched that Seahawks-Cardinals game, that Tyler Lockett dude almost single-handedly killed the Cardinals with his returns. It's such a low-cost way to dramatically win and lose games that there's really no excuse to have bad special teams play. 

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we don't need a kick returner specialist.  If we have someone like CRO who can do it (it not cut) great otherwise down the ball. 

Punt retuner is a different story.  That we Need

Cro didnt even try on kick returns this year. Him and Kerley both knew they were gone after the year and didnt want to risk getting hurt on returns. They totally half-assed every return they had. Neither ran hard.

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Just shows again what having mostly horrible drafts from 2010-2014 can do to a team. Coach had to go, but our talent on specials really slipped.

This is what happens when you have year after year after year of subpar drafts.  The talent at the back end of the roster was weakened and hence ST play suffered.

 

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A good punter is worth the money, cut Kerley & give Shane Lechler his freaking salary! Don't be surprised if Mac is thinking the same thing. How many games did we watch this year where we punted from our 20 & Quigley would kick it 35 yards, then the defense would hold but the opposing punter would BOMB a 50 yarder with Kerley calling for a fair catch, AGAIN.

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No one would ever blame a HC for cutting a scrub, unproven return man who's still a scrub

In most instances you are right but in this one you are wrong, special teams sucked especially in the return game and we lacked a kick returner and a punt returner which caused terrible field position all season long. 

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In most instances you are right but in this one you are wrong, special teams sucked especially in the return game and we lacked a kick returner and a punt returner which caused terrible field position all season long. 

And what makes Powell the guy who would have helped? 

HC asks the group who to cut all say Powell and when STs suck we blame the HC as if he cut a player who would have made STs,good.  Don't think so. 

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Going into the season you would have thought the NFL had eliminated kickoffs and punts with the personnel we had. Kerley and Stacy? Wasnt NFL calibre. 

I was thinking the same thing. Makes me wonder how much of this was coaching and how much was personnel. I certainly don't object to April getting tossed, but our late-round picks have been horrendous for close to a decade, so I'm not sure we're going to see a huge improvement next year.

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Special Teams are MOSTLY coaching.  There are a lot of teams with less talent and depth than the Jets with much better ST units.  April was a total loser that had no clue.   He should have been fired in October and some are making excuses for him.

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In my opinion ST players mostly fall into the "good athlete" group, not necessarily the "good player" group...with some notable exceptions. Play design is a huge factor in STs and this year our play design was very basic.  Even flawed in the punt return game as I noted in another thread.  A coach has to be flexible and have a certain ability to remain dynamic in getting the most from his athletes, and altering play design to keep from being exposed by film. Blocking schemes and rushes need to be altered occasionally as does alignment and personnel groups. Our STs were basic and at times flawed in design. April had to adapt or die. This is the result. 

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http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/57854/jets-special-teams-were-a-joke-todd-bowles-wasnt-laughing

Jets' special teams were a joke; Todd Bowles wasn't laughing

The New York Jets announced Wednesday night that three assistants won't return in 2016 -- special teams coordinator Bobby April, assistant special teams coach Steve Hagen and assistant offensive-line coach Ron Heller. A few takeaways:

1. If you're surprised by April's firing, you must have missed the season. The special teams were a mess throughout the year, surrendering four touchdowns -- two punt returns, a blocked punt in the end zone and a fumbled kickoff return that was returned for a score. That stinks. The Jets finished in the bottom-5 in most of the major statistical categories, including 30th in ESPN's StEPA (total expected added points by special teams). In case you're wondering, they were minus 27.7 points.

2. You wouldn't expect a 10-6 team to dump a coordinator, but it shows that Todd Bowles won't tolerate a subpar performance. April is a good man and well-respected around the league; he's been coaching special teams for nearly a quarter-century. Some head coaches would've given a mulligan, calling the season an aberration. Not Bowles. This sends a not-so-subtle message at the outset of the offseason. “After having our season-ending meetings with the staff, I decided that changes were necessary in these areas," said Bowles, who indicated Monday he wasn't planning any staff changes.

3. April didn't have a great year, but he didn't get any favors from general manager Mike Maccagnan, who compiled a roster that had no proven kickoff returners and a mediocre punt returner (Jeremy Kerley). The units also lacked youth and athleticism, although that can't be blamed on Maccagnan. The recent drafts under the previous regime failed to yield quality depth players that could help on special teams.

4. A replacement for April? Hard to say, but know this: Last year, Bowles made a run at Atlanta Falcons coordinator Keith Armstrong, a former college teammate, but was blocked by the Falcons. Armstrong's current contractual status is unclear.

5. The Jets will have their fifth special teams coach in five years. Remember when they used to be, like, good?

6. No surprise by Hagen and Heller, the only holdovers from Rex Ryan's staff.

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Our special teams really affected both sides of the ball that can't be underestimated. Our offense was constantly backed up and forced to march down the field while our poor punting and tackling on specials left us always defending a shorter field. Good luck to Bobby as it sounds like he's a well respected coach but this was a move that had to be made and really speaks volumes to Bowles no nonsense attitude towards winning. 

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Our special teams really affected both sides of the ball that can't be underestimated. Our offense was constantly backed up and forced to march down the field while our poor punting and tackling on specials left us always defending a shorter field. Good luck to Bobby as it sounds like he's a well respected coach but this was a move that had to be made and really speaks volumes to Bowles no nonsense attitude towards winning. 

I agree; I said it before, if we want accountability in the players we have to demand it from our coaches. 

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Special teams will get better when drafting gets better. It was solid this season (drafting), but your ST players come from rounds 3-7. And with the number of injuries the Jets endured, there wasn't enough roster spots to have a WR on the team that couldn't actually contribute on the field as a WR. Someone mentioned Tyler Lockett in Seattle, he's also got a lot of run at WR and made plays there. It will be on MM to get players on the roster than can do more. 

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