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It really seems like Tony Sparano is the right man at the right time for the Jets offense.
Tony has the perfect persona to compliment Rex Ryan.
People who say, “Rex needs to get tougher with that team,” might be a little misguided.
Rex always says he’s not going to change and continue to be himself.
That is a smart approach.
Rex is a player’s coach, and I don’t mean that as a pejorative. His style worked very well in his first two years.
And Rex knows you can’t go from being a player’s coach to being a hard-ass. In coaching, that almost never works – players see right throught it.
Actually, most people in the coaching business well tell you can you can go the other way – once you establish a tough program, you can pull back a little, but the reverse is a dangerous road to travel.
But this is where Sparano comes in. He can be the bad cop, and Rex can continue in his more comfortable role as the good cop.
Brian Schottenheimer was very much like Rex, putting strategy aside – a good cop-type coach. B-Schotty, whether you like his coaching or not, is one of the nicest people you will ever meet.
Rex and Brian were probably too nice with this offensive unit, and this probably contributed to a little bit of an accountability problem.
The Jets need a little bit more of an edgier coaching style on offense, and this is why Tony is the right guy at the right time.
One NFL executive gave us some good insight into Sparano’s coaching style.
“He’s a Parcells kind of guy, gruff, tough,” said the executive. “But he’s tough with a human touch that keeps the players off-balance, makes them think on balance at the end of the day, I hate the bastard, but he’s not a bad guy.”
Miami Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland said a few years ago about Sparano- “He is always hard on his players, very demanding, a very clear, concise communicator.”
Just ask WR Patrick Turner (pictured above), how tough Sparano is. He cut him after one year with the Dolphins.
“There’s no question I’m a Northeast guy,” Sparano told the New York Times in 2010. “I never figured out if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.”
For the Jets, it’s not a good thing, it’s a great thing.
This tough guy from the streets of New Haven, is just what their offense needs right now.
The Jets brass had a bad year in 2011, making a lot of poor decisions.
But they certainly started off 2012 with a bang.
On paper, this looks like a great hire.
The right guy, at the right time . . .
The departure of assistant strength coach Bryan Dermody should not come as a surprise. Remember, Dermody was an assistant to Sal Alosi, who was fired after last season. The Jets hired Bill Hughan from Atlanta last winter, and the new strength coach agreed to keep Dermody around.
But he wasn’t Hughan’s guy, so it’s not a surprise that one year later, Dermody departs.
He could land at UCLA, where Alosi just was recently named the strength coach, after a brief stint at Bryant University in Rhode Island.
I will be on assignment on Wednesday, so premium will return Thursday by 8 pm.
