New York Jets: Maccagnan and Bowles Quotes and Thoughts

Jan 21, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets new general manager Mike Maccagnan (left) and new head coach

Todd Bowles

(right) speak during a press conference at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com via USA TODAY Sports

Evening, New York Jets fans. It’s a new era with our beloved Jets, as general manager Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles were introduced to the media for the first time yesterday. I haven’t shared my thoughts on the press conference as of yet, so tonight, I want to piggyback on Craig Hoffman’s terrific piece from this morning, where he talked about some takeaways from yesterday’s events, and give my two cents worth.

First of all, there is clearly a wonderful synergy between Mike Maccagnan and Todd Bowles. They both are on the same page, with the one goal of building a championship organization. They feel quite comfortable with one another. When Bowles and Maccagnan were asked what they were looking for in each other during the interview process, here is what Bowles had to say:

Well for me it was the chemistry. You can’t go into a job not feeling comfortable with the people you are working with. I have been around front offices where they are in disarray, and I have seen how those things work. You definitely don’t want that kind of job. For me, working with Mike, just hitting it off with him early on, we’ve been on the same page as far as the way we see things, understanding players, understand the business, going forward with each of us not having an ego, willing to help each other. All those things were important to me, coming back and seeing Mike. That’s what eased my mind a lot about this job. It was really him.

Maccagnan basically mirrored that with the same response. You need that complimentary energy between the coach and the GM, a feeling that they can work together and bounce ideas off of one another successfully. We have not had that over the last two seasons here in New York, and we definitely have that now.

I also like that Maccagnan is ready to explore all options necessary to rebuild the Jets. He is excited about the amount of cap space that the Jets have, and realizes the importance of the free agency system. He knows that the long-term success comes from the draft, but that doesn’t mean you shut off all other options to improve. A guy in his position didn’t seem to get the free agency process, one of the many reasons that he is no longer here.

Bowles is clearly taking his role as head coach as an administrator. He address the idea of playcalling yesterday:

I think the biggest thing for a head coach, in order to lead, you’ve got to listen. I’m going to hire some coaches that know how to coach football and coach their position. Our defensive coordinator will call (the plays), but I’ll have a big hand in the defense as far as understanding scheme and terminology and the way we go forward. Offensively, I’ll have my hand on the print. I’m the head coach of the football team. We have an offensive coordinator that’s going to call plays and run the show, but we have to do what’s best for our team and play complimentary football and it’s my job to make sure we do that.

It’s interesting in that a lot of coaches like to have a hand in their expertise, and often call the plays. Guys like Sean Payton and Rex come to mind. Bowles has a fresh take, allowing the others to call the plays, to make sure he has a hand in everything. We will see how it plays out.

Jan 21, 2015; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets new general manager Mike Maccagnan (left), owner

Wood

y Johnson (center), and new head coach Todd Bowles (right) pose for a photo during a press conference at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/NJ Advance Media for NJ.com via USA TODAY Sports

I actually believe that the two new Jets leaders are not fond of Geno Smith. Take a look at their responses on the quarterback and you will see what I mean. First, is Maccagnan, followed by coach Bowles:

In regards to Geno (Smith), I don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves here. Obviously, we’re just kind of putting our coaching staff together. I’m excited about working with Geno and getting to know him a little bit better. But I would say at this point in time going forward, really with Todd and the staff, we need to really sit down and kind of go through this roster to kind of get an idea of what we want to do schematically. I’m kind of looking forward to working with him going forward.

Same here. Obviously, he was a great college quarterback. Going in with us just getting here, we’re going to evaluate with Geno as well as everyone else on the team. When we get a good feeling and get the coaches in the building, we’ll sit down and do it then.

The whole time, neither Maccagnan or Bowles told them much about their strategies, which I like. There is no reason to tell the world how they are going to work. But, look at those quotes. Nowhere do they talk about Geno Smith competing. Maccagnan said they are going to “go through this roster”, and Bowles called him a “great college quarterback”. These are not the ringing endorsements you would hear about a guy they want on their roster. Maybe I am reading too much into it, maybe not. We’ll see.

Here is Bowles on Chan Gailey:

I chose Chan because Chan has been an outstanding coordinator for years, pro as well as college football. He can get the most out of the players that he has. He always gets the most out of them. He has done it with a lot of different quarterbacks from Kordell Stewart to Ryan Fitzpatrick and at Georgia Tech and so on and so forth. He knows how to run the football. He understands complimentary football. We understand that if Geno is our guy going forward, we have to get some people around him and do a lot of things better. Chan is outstanding at that. That made it a priority for me to get him. Obviously, I am a defensive guy, I know the offensive side of the football, but I need somebody over there that has done it for a long time and understands the game inside and out with the older players, as well as the younger players. So that made Chan my pick.