The 2007 season ended three days ago for Gang Green, but the Jets are already making moves to the coaching staff.
Special Teams Coach
Mike Westhoff will not be back with the Green and White for 2008. He's not being fired, but he will be undergoing a procedure on his left leg that will involve an lengthy recovery period. Westhoff has had eight operations on his leg since he had a malignant tumor discovered there in 1988.
Westhoff isn't ruling out coming back in 2009, but with the way the NFL works I wouldn't count on it. Westhoff came to the Green and White in 2001 and almost instantly turned the Jets into one of the top special teams units in the league. The Jets have had such kickoff specialists as Chad Morton, Justin Miller and Leon Washington emerge under his watch and have been solid in defending returns.
How respected was Westhoff? The Gotham Green actually interviewed him to become the head coach after Herman Edwards skipped town. Westhoff was one of the few holdovers left from Edwards' staff.
No word yet on who will replace him.
In other news, it looks like the Jets are about to ax defensive coordinator Bob Sutton and replace him with soon-to-be unemployed
Rob Ryan of the Oakland Raiders. Ryan, the son of defensive guru Buddy, coached with Eric Mangini for four season in New England. Ryan was in charge of the linebackers while Mangini schooled the defensive backs.
Nothing is official yet, but there have been whispers about Sutton's job since the beginning of the season. Somebody was going to take the fall for the Jets abysmal defensive performance during the first half of the year and looks like it will be Sutton. I'm not sure if it's fair to pin total blame on Sutton since he's implementing Mangini's defense, but Mangini is the one calling the shots and you know how that goes. To be fair, the Jets defense did improve during the second half of the season and actually played respectable D to finish the year.
I guess Sutton didn't have much to do with the turnaround.
Ryan has a fiery personality, which is in stark contrast to Sutton's even demeanor, but his approach didn't help the Raiders this past season. The Silver and Black finished 22nd in the NFL in total defense while the Jets finished 18th overall.
But maybe a different voice is needed in New York.
A pass rusher and a run stopper along the defensive line would also help.
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