Why Chad Pennington Needs to Be on the Jets Staff

Nov. 18, 2010; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington (left) and Chad Henne (right) talk during the second half against the Chicago Bears at Sun Life Stadium. The Bears won 16-0. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-US PRESSWIRE

Anyone else think that the sight of Chad Pennington mentoring football players looks good? I know I do.

Mike Tannenbaum must have agreed, because he invited Chad to come to training camp yesterday. He was there to watch the quarterbacks play, and was seen talking to Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow. He then gave the team an inspirational message after practice, telling them not to take any day they work for granted. His message was not to go through the motions.

This move by Tannenbaum wasn’t good, it was excellent. Chad Pennington is perfect for working with the Jets. Whether it’s as a quarterbacks coach, an assistant coach, or whatever, he needs to be on this coaching staff. And Mike needs to do it now.

Now we will talk about why.

ABILITY

Chad’s skill set is exactly what the Jets’ quarterbacks need. What do we get annoyed at Mark Sanchez for? His decision making. I know that my most lingering picture from 2011 of Mark is him throwing INTs to defensive linemen down in Miami.

What about Tim Tebow? He’s a great runner, but his problem is throwing the football. His footwork is terrible, he takes too long to throw the ball, and he isn’t very accurate.

Who holds the record for greatest career completion percentage? Chad Pennington. His career percentage is 66.05%. Whether you liked Chad’s arm strength or not, you cannot argue the fact that Chad would make the right decisions with the football. He can teach these guys how to be better quarterbacks. That alone is a great reason, but there are others.

EXPERIENCE

Let’s talk about experience for a minute. We have discussed Chad’s experience in the Tony Sparano offense. Mark Sanchez has already taken advantage of that knowledge, visiting with him during the offseason. Clearly, Mark gets it. He knows to get to as many experts that can help. If an expert is available, they need to employ him.

Going on, he has the NY experience as well. We can all agree that Chad Pennington has experience perservering in the NY market. He had a great deal of success here, as we have talked about before. He didn’t have the ultimate success that he was driving for, and injuries derailed his time with the Jets, but his career with the Jets is otherwise successful.

Is there any more of a potentially volatile situation than the Jets QB situation? If there is anyone out there that the Jets can employ to help these guys weather the storm, that guy is Chad Pennington. Yet another reason for the Jets to bring him back. But I have one more for you.

PAYBACK

What do I mean by payback? I’ll tell you.

Think back to the 2008 preseason, when the Brett Favre trade was made. Chad Pennington came into that camp in the best shape he had been in for quite a long time. He had employed a team to get him prepared, and get his arm and shape. Talk about dedication to the Jets, wouldn’t you say?

And he was having a pretty good camp, and then the trade happened. How did the Jets handle Chad? Turn the page to talk about it.

Chad Pennington put in a long time for the Jets. Playoff appearance, playoff wins, and a pretty good regular season record. He also played pretty tough, playing through some injuries, and having success while doing so.

The Jets could have shown Chad respect for his ability by trading him outside of the division. Making sure that Chad Pennington was moved outside the division would have said to Chad, “We respect your talent and hard work enough that we don’t want to get beaten by you.”

But the Jets didn’t do that. They released him, so he could end up in the division, which he did with the Miami Dolphins. He ended up beating the Jets on the last day of the season, leading Miami to the divison title, Comeback Player of the Year Award, and second in the MVP voting.

My point is, that the Jets really did disrespect Pennington, and he didn’t deserve it. If he is interested, it would be great repayment to bring him back as a coach.

Hopefully Mike Tannenbaum is listening.