Mike Westhoff: Stay or Go?

Mike Westhoff is a popular man, and there is good reason. He has established himself as a top special teams coach. Time after time the Jets have lost a good kickoff return man only to plug in somebody new to be just as effective during his run. It happened again this year. Joe McKnight found his way into the lineup as a kick returner and led the league with a 31.6 average. The coverage teams were also very good. The Jets allowed the fourth fewest yards per kick return in the league.

It was not all great for Westhoff this year. He was influential in the decision not to bring back the effective Steve Weatherford and replace him with the inconsistent T.J. Conley. That was puzzling. He also made questionable decisions to replace McKnight with Antonio Cromartie on kick returns at times. He also has to take a hit during the second half of the year for putting McKnight and Cromartie on punt returns they subsequently muffed when both had previously turned punts into adventures.

In Westhoff's favor, Jeremy Kerley got more comfortable returning punts near the end of the year and broke off some nice returns in the last two games. It seems like things started to slow down for him as he focused on making the catch and then running if something was there instead of doing both at once.

Even with the negatives, his track record speaks for itself. I think this is an easy vote. I choose stay. How about you?