The rising rumors about the Jets pursuing ex-Bills HC Doug Marrone to take over for Rex Ryan and lead them into the second half of the decade makes total sense. Not because Marrone was a genius HC during his college stint at Syracuse. In four seasons he compiled a very pedestrian 25–25 record and he was the same average sideline stalker in the NFL completing a brief two-year run with the Bills with a 15-17 record.
Other misguided franchises seem to like the stench of mediocrity as well. The Atlanta Falcons and Chicago Bears are also interested, but to tell you the truth, those franchises are too good for him.
The Jets are a perfect match because they wrote the book on underachieving and messing up a smooth situation. Remember when Mark Sanchez was a young QB who went to two straight AFC c’hips and then the Jets brought in the Tim Tebow show, eventually relinquished their major weapons and half of a great defense, just to make sure Sanchez lost all confidence and never developed into a Super Bowl QB?
They get close. Take two steps backwards and then go in a crazy direction to really get off track.
The only thing that would endear Marrone to NY fans is the fact that he's from the Boogie Down and coached the Jets' offensive line back in the early 2000s under then coach Herm Edwards. The Jets couldn’t wait to grab up some home grown mediocrity after Marrone abruptly opted out of his contract with the Bills on New Year's Eve.
It’s not like Marrone’s a step down from Rex, but he sure isn’t a significant upgrade. Not really sure why everybody adored Ryan so much in the first place. Let a brother HC act like he’s clueless to one side of the ball, flip fingers at fans and be on foot fetish websites with his wife, who also has a tattoo of the starting QB on her body. Don’t even entertain the thought because it wouldn’t happen. I know on the flip side, the Texas Rangers let manager Ron “Ready Rock” Washington get high as a helicopter as long as he won games, but racial double standards is really not the point of this piece.
I’m just saying, the Jets are the perfect mess and whenever they fire a GM or hire another coach, it’s an admission of incompetence. Woody Johnson may be a great guy, but his football pulse is suspect.
If the Jets want to go 8-8 for the next three years with a team that could go 11-5 with the correct leadership, then Marrone is their guy. He’s done nothing other than coach in upstate NY (which is akin to Siberia for people from the actual city) and win as many games as he loses at every level.
Hiring this guy makes sense for a franchise that is mired in a pit of mediocrity, poor decisions and asinine gambles. The way Woody cleaned house by chucking John Idzik and getting rid of the most beloved player’s coach in Jets history—any fan would assume Gang Green would be going for the gusto and in true New York fashion, bring in major names at HC and GM. It’s the only way to go after the bland and bumpy ride the Jets have put their fans on the past few seasons.
However, the Jets are realists as well – to a point. They aren’t a very attractive job at this juncture and two potential GM candidates have already declined interview requests, so you know the pickings are probably slim. If Marrone is the biggest name the Jets can find, then isn’t that just the Jets luck to be in need of new leadership and there’s nothing out there worth making a splash about?
Next season Jon Gruden or some hot name will probably be available and the Jets will be in the first year of the Doug Marrone Era. Supposedly, the team has all of this cap money to spend to improve the team, but what player is going to want to sign with a team full of new parts and no idea of how these parts will blend. It could go down like a Grand Master Vic mixtape or the new coach and GM could clash like their predecessors (Ryan and Idzik).
Everything the Jets do lately ends in a crash and burn. So why would they change the status quo just because the owner cleaned house and claims to want to go in another direction?
Newspaper icon Mike Lupica put it best when he said, “Marrone is just another guy,” on his ESPN radio show today. In fact Lupica compares this potential Marrone hiring to when the Jets hired Rich Kotite away from the Philadelphia Eagles to replace Pete Carroll in 1995.
Kotite had suddenly become available after going 36-28 as Philadelphia's head coach, he was a Staten Island native, and the Jets moved on him with the quickness. Kotite’s rein as HC was one of the worst in Jets history and he rock-bottomed at 1-15 in 1996 before franchise-reviver Bill Parcells came in, shook the culture and made the Jets a team to be reckoned with. Lupica feels the Jets are doing the same thing with Marrone and should beware of past mistakes.
The coaching carousel has begun and the musical chairs is in full effect. The Jets want to pluck unproven, unsuccessful, used goods from a division foe and hope he turns them into a respectable winner. That type of thinking is why the Jets exist in a constant state of being unimpressive. It’s obviously what they strive for these days.
