Jets did the right thing keeping Cavanaugh

Some felt the team didn’t go far enough moving on from their OC, O-Line and WR coaches, they also wanted the QB coach out. Well, they didn’t get their wish.

I personally think the “Cavanaugh was in trouble” angle was created by the media and message boards.

So when the Jets announced there 2012 coaching staff yesterday and Cavanaugh was part of that group, it led to headlines like this from the AP, “Jets retain Cavanaugh as QB’s coach despite heavy criticism.”

“In a move that surely will cause their fans to groan, the Jets announced Monday that Cavanaugh will be retained as their quarterbacks coach,” wrote ESPN’s Rich Cimini.

So basically, showing Brian Schottenheimer, Bill Callahan and Henry Ellard wasn’t enough, Cavanaugh had to go also.

You have to give Rex Ryan and Tony Sparano credit. They know Cavanaugh is a good quarterback coach, and they ignored the white noise.

According to a source close to Mark Brunell, the former Jets backup quarterback feels Cavanaugh was “the best” quarterback coach he ever had.

And the 41-year-old had a lot of quarterback coaches.

Also, when Sanchez improved during each of the 2010 and 2011 seasons, don’t you think Cavanaugh had something to do with that?

And how about how well rookie Greg McElroy played last summer in preseason games before getting hurt? Don’t you think Cavanaugh had something to do with that? Of course he did.

So the Jets were smart for keeping Cavanaugh; you don’t fire coaches because message boards demand it.

Let’s be fair, you can throw as many coaches as you want under the bus, but Mark Sanchez deserves a share of the blame also for what went on last year.

Also, Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum do as well, for moving on from players Sanchez was comfortable with, in Jericho Cotchery and Brad Smith, and bringing in Plaxico Burress and Derrick Mason, in a lockout year, with little time to develop chemistry.

A source close to the Jets is ticked off at this unwarranted Cavanaugh feeding frenzy, and blames the media for a lot of it.

“How many beat writers have met Cavanaugh?” asked the source. “How about forming their own opinions about how good or bad he is rather than just feeding off of this mob determination that he’s a bad coach? And isn’t it interesting that probably a bunch of the talking heads who ripped Sanchez for his own failings during the season now are ripping Cav. Which is it, the QB or his coach? Oh, I thought it was supposed to be Schotty. Now that he’s gone, might the problem be solved? No, more surgery is needed.”

Actually, aside from the fact that he’s a good coach, another reason it is a good idea to retain Cavanaugh, is to help Sanchez transition from the old offense to the new one.

Cavanaugh knows Sanchez better than any coach in the building, so who better to transition him from the old playbook to the new one? He’s the perfect guy to do it.

And Sparano was heavily involved in picking the offensive staff, so if you respect Tony, you should respect the decision to keep Cavanaugh.

Bringing Cavanaugh back was the right thing to do.

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