Brian Schottenheimer, who became the bane of Jets fans' existence for coaching the 22nd ranked offense in the NFL is now out as Jets offensive coordinator.
"I am grateful for the relationships that I have with our players and coaches and appreciate the hard work and dedication that went into our success. My family and I would like to thank Rex Ryan and the entire Jets organization and wish them continued success. I look forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead."
In short, the Jets gave Schottenheimer an ultimatum. He could either accept the fact that the franchise was going to fire him, or he could resign, which is cleaner than a messy firing.
The news came just minutes after the Jacksonville Jaguars hired Mike Mularky as their head coach. A week ago, the Jets refused to fire Schottenheimer, and even praised his status as the Jets offensive coordinator because he was being interviewed by the Jaguars. Once the Jags made their pick, the Jets could drop the axe on Schotty.
Schottenheimer managed to run the Jets offense into the ground. His ultra aggressive play-calling steered the Jets away from Rex Ryan's ground and pound philosophy. To make matters worse, Schottenheimer failed to develop quarterback Mark Sanchez into a competent football player. Sanchez is now a total waste of talent and time who throws too many interceptions, is inaccurate and indecisive with the football.
You can't blame Schotty for everything for this offense, considering how bad Sanchez was this season. The quarterback has to share some of the blame here.
Fact is, when Schottenheimer had Sanchez drop back to pass 64 times against the New York Giants on Christmas Eve, a 29-14 loss, the writing was on the wall that Schottenheimer would be out.
Whomever the Jets bring in to to be the offensive coordinator, they will inherit an offense that has an awful offensive line, no running game, a mediocre quarterback, and a star wide receiver who, well, just wants the damn ball. Sound familiar Jets fans?
According to NFL.com, the Jets are interested in bringing in former Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano as offensive coordinator. Sparano, who was a tight ends coach in Dallas before getting the job in Miami, is best known as a motivator, and his high energy motor could benefit the Jets.
ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported that the Jets plan on hiring Sparano on Wednesday, and the Jets had been making a move to bring Sparano in while Schottenheimer was interviewing in Jacksonville. Sparano was fired by the Dolphins in December after the Dolphins fell to the Philadelphia Eagles 26-10. The Dolphins got off to a hideous 0-7 start, but played extremely well in the final two months of the season, winning their next three games to get to 3-7, and probably should have beaten the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving Day.
Sparano did see some success in Miami. He won a division title in 2008 when he had ex-Jets quarterback Chad Pennington leading the way. And in case you want to be reminded, the Dolphins won the division that season with a regular season ending victory over the Jets. Oh, the irony.
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