The Green and White have a lot of positions to fill and they started by adding to the coaching staff.
The Jets named
Kevin O'Dea their new special teams coordinator. O'Dea spent the last two seasons as an assistant special teams coach for the Chicago Bears. O'Dea was also a special teams coach with the Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions, was an offensive/defensive assistant with the Tampa Bay Bucs and was a defensive assistant for the San Diego Chargers.
O'Dea will be taking over for Mike Westhoff, who left for health reasons after the 2007 season. The Bears had a disappointing year last year, but their special teams was still one of the best in football. Kicker Robbie Gould was 31 out of 36 in field goal attempts last season and punter Brad Maynard and the coverage unit ranked third in the NFL in allowing 5.9 yards a return in 2007.
But the brightest star of Chicago's special teams was (and is) Devin Hester. Hester had two kickoff returns for touchdowns last season to go with his four punt returns for scores. Leon Washington isn't in Hester's class (who is?), but O'Dea will be inheriting another home-run-type player on kick returns. The Jets should also have Justin Miller back at full strength.
In other
news, the Gotham Green re-named Mike Devlin the tight ends/assistant offensive line coach and promoted Jerome Henderson to defensive backs coach. Devlin will be entering his third season with the Jets and Henderson, who was the assistant D-backs coach last season, will be taking over for the departed Mike MacIntyre.
And speaking of defensive backs, the Jets signed safety
Artrell Hawkins Tuesday. Hawkins last played for the New England Patriots in 2006. It's an unimpressive pickup by Gang Green as Hawkins figures to be just another warm body on the depth chart.
Yes, these are minor moves by the Jets, but they all add up come September.
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