What do the New York Jets, the Carolina Panthers, and the Miami Dolphins have in common?
In the past year, all three teams have fired their general manager while retaining their head coach. The Jets, for example, fired Mike Tannenbaum and kept Rex Ryan. The same is true of the Panthers and the Dolphins. The Cleveland Browns fired their head coach but are actively pursuing a defensive coordinator before a new head coach is hired, which creates, in effect, the same scenario. The practical implications of this maneuver is that a newly-hired higher up is forced to keep an underling that they may or may not get along with, one who certainly, and by definition, wasn't of their own choosing.
Last year, we heard cries that Woody Johnson was forcing Ryan on John Idzik, that it was doomed to fail, that it was unprecedented, and "how dare a new general manager be saddled with a head coach he did not choose." At that same time, the Panthers kept Ron Rivera and hired a new general manager, and we heard silence from those same individuals. This year, the Dolphins kept Joe Philbin and fired Jeff Ireland. And again, we heard silence.
While many, although certainly not all, members of the mass media made a big stink about Rex Ryan being retained, I have yet to hear a single journalist comment on this disparity on treatment, on the clear double standard of public treatment. This double standard is not new; and everyone knows of the "intense New York media," which is a euphemism for bad reporting and a severe case of much ado about nothing. But that is not an excuse. It's lazy journalism, and to laugh it off and say, "ha ha, that's New York for ya!" is cheap.
The next time the media calls afoul without a shred of consistency, remind them of their own double standards, and force them to be better through your page views. Heaven knows they'll continue catering to the lowest common denominator if left to their own devices.