What Hiring of Todd Bowles Means for Future of New York Jets: The New York Jets may have hired a sixth consecutive defensive coach, as ESPNs Rich Cimini reported, but they are getting anything but more of the same after hiring Todd Bowles as head coach. Like his predecessor, Bowles a brilliant defensive mind, a players coach and a master motivator who seems to get everything out of his players, no matter the situation. No play call is too aggressive; no personnel package is too exotic. Yet still, Bowles could not be any more different than Rex Ryan. For six years, the Jets have been in the headlines, sometimes for the wrong reasons. For better or worse, the Jets conducted business like no other franchise, living through their talk even if their play on the field did not reflect it. The Jets were not always a great team, but they were always entertaining. Now, its all business. Under Bowles, the Jets are going back to the roots of what it takes to become a winning franchise. As energizing as Ryan was as a coach, Bowles laid-back, even-keeled approach is exactly what the Jets need to change the course of the franchise for good, cutting no corners on the road to success. A more relaxed approach is just one (key) attribute the Jets are getting from Bowles, but he checks all the boxes when it comes to hiring a first-time head coach, both on the field and off. Xs and Os Fielding a highly ranked unit hardly prepares someone for the life of an NFL head coach, but Bowles history as a defensive assistant and coordinator matches up against anyones. Bowles only spent two-and a half full seasons as a defensive coordinator—he took over for Jaun Castillo for the Philadelphia Eagles in 2012 before joining Bruce Arians and the Arizona Cardinals in 2013. With Bowles calling the defensive shots, the Jets can expect to see a defense that will strongly resemble what they saw during the Ryan years, littered with aggressive blitzes and outside-the-box personnel mixes to keep even the most advanced offenses off balance. In fact, Bowles blitzed even more than his predecessor since taking over the Cardinals, as ESPNs Rich Cimini notes: Bowles is also not afraid to switch up his personnel or alignment to better fit a matchup or cater to a players strengths. Bowles runs a base 3-4 scheme, but against the Dallas Cowboys and their dominant run game, he elected to use more old-school, 46 Bear fronts (a staple of Ryans scheme). Note the four down linemen and wide linebackers in use to shut down the run before it has a chance to get anywhere. The Cardinals are not built to run this style of defense for an entire season (no modern NFL defense is), but this is an example of Bowles perfectly using a scheme to shut down a specific opponent as opposed to stubbornly sticking to one particular scheme or style of defense. Bowles plan worked to perfection: DeMarco Murray was held to 79 yards, and the Cardinals won handily, 28-17. Their head coach may not be as aggressive in the press room, but he at least is as stingy where it counts: on the football field. Resourcefulness and Player Development As impressive as his units rank on the stat sheet, how he was able to achieve such success is where Bowles separates himself from the average coordinator, particularly in 2014. Even after losing defensive stars Darnell Dockett and Daryl Washington to injury, the Cardinals still found a way to win games not just by keeping the score down—but hiding an offense that was lost after losing its top two quarterbacks to injury. The fact that the Cardinals season ended prematurely or that his pass-defense rank is lower-than-usual for his standards is irrelevant. What Bowles proved this season is a level of resourcefulness and ability to problem solve that top head coaches possess. In his two seasons with the Cardinals, he has revived careers and made superstars out of nobodies. In 2013, veteran linebacker Karlos Dansby was seen as a dwindling talent at age 32. Just one season of Bowles leadership with the Cardinals the following season, Dansby was rewarded with a $24 million contract with the Cleveland Browns. There would be an inevitable drop-off following the loss of Dockett for the season, but Bowles defense assured that the damage would be minimized. His replacement, Frostee Rucker, had a career-defining season in his place, ranking in the top half of 3-4 defensive ends according to Pro Football Focus. As an anonymous source told Rich Cimini of ESPN, Bowles ability to relate to players as a former player helps him get the most out of them, regardless of their age of position on the depth chart: He has a quiet, steady persona, but he has a presence...He did more with less in Arizona. Hes a former player, so he can work and handle players. Every team deals with adversity throughout the season, and few have been dealt more unlikely cards than the Cardinals over the past year. While their injury luck may have cost them a real chance to compete for a championship, it gave Bowles an opportunity to show off his resourcefulness and ability to get the most out of his players, regardless of their position on the depth chart. Team Building An undersold trait of Bowles head coaching candidacy is how he has seen the league from so many perspectives as a former player, assistant coach, interim head coach and, most uniquely, a personnel man. Bowles first NFL stint came the Green Bay Packers personnel department in 1995. Although he spent just one season in the position before returning to the college coaching ranks, he has a unique perspective of how teams are built compared to most first-time head coaches. Bowles also worked under Bill Parcells in 2005 with the Dallas Cowboys, seeing yet another example of the importance of coaches being active and mindful of personnel decisions made up top on both sides of the ball. While he spent nearly his entire career on the defensive side of the ball, he did get a trial run as a head coach in 2011 in place of the fired Tony Sparano (winning two of three games), forced to prepare and coach both sides of the ball for the first time in his career. For a franchise that just fired a coach who waited three years to get more involved in offensive meetings and drafted a quarterback in the sixth round because of his sons endorsement, a coach with an appreciation for building a complete team on both sides of the well is a breath of fresh air. The Jets spent the last six years coaching with the extremes, as moderation was not an often-used word in Ryans vocabulary. Bowles, on the other hand, is a much more balanced coach who has more attributes at his disposal, making him more versatile in handling the wide array of challenges that an NFL head coach faces on a regular basis. Bowles may be more reserved than his predecessor and has gained plenty of popularity among the players whom he coached—but he also knew when to rip into them when necessary. As Cimini notes, he once tore up a whiteboard in frustration at halftime against the Washington Redskins. In short, the Jets are getting a coach who can address any challenge through any means necessary, putting ego and pride aside in the name of getting the job done. As with any rookie head coach, Bowles will make his share of mistakes and get plenty of on-the-job training, right alongside his fellow rookie general manager, Mike Maccagnan. A balanced and level-headed coach both on and off the field, he has shown all of the traits necessary to meet the coming challenges head-on. Advanced statistics provided by Pro Football Focus (subscription required). Follow @Ryan_Alfieri Read more NFL news on BleacherReport #Football #NFL #AFCEast #NewYorkJets
Posted on: Thu, 15 Jan 2015 09:24:47 +0000
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