The Jets apparently extended the contracts of both their coordinators last offseason with little fanfare.
The Jets gave offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and defensive coordinator Mike Pettine contract extensions last offseason but never announced it to the public.
It is unclear how long the contracts of the men run, but they are through at least the 2012 season.
I am sure this will not be well received. The Pettine extension makes a lot of sense. The Jets had a top three defense in his first two seasons, and he is Rex Ryan's right hand man. Pettine has reportedly taken more of an active role as Ryan's tenure has progressed. As much as people complain about the unit, it is still ranked eighth in the league this year. That is pretty good. In fact, the defense has dominated in two losses this year against the
Ravens and
Broncos where even a passable offensive performace would have resulted in a win and probably changed a lot of perceptions about the unit.
As far as Schottenheimer goes, I am stumped. I actually agreed with the decision to bring him back for this year, but that was mainly because it was unclear whether a new coordinator would have much time in the offseason to install a new season with the lockout. Mark Sanchez did improve last year, and the offense put up its best numbers under Schottenheimer. With that said, it was only the eleventh best offense in the league. Was there anything really worthy of an extension? Was there anything that really screamed out the Jets could not just let him coach this year out?
People say Rex Ryan is aware of the problems on the team and will fix them. Things like this really make me wonder whether this is so. Now firing Schottenheimer would be a drop in the bucket as far as NFL costs go so I am not convinced he is secure anyhow. Somebody will probably be held accountable if the offense cannot improve, and it probably will not be the quarterback who is the apple of his owner's eyes.
