What Can We Learn From Cleveland '95?

If you haven't seen Cleveland '95, the film from the A Football Life series by NFL Network, you should. One of the people featured is our very own General Manager, Mike Tannenbaum. A lot of the film is gushing about how amazing Bill Belichick is, yadda yadda yadda, but the rest is very informative on how to build a winning franchise. It all begins with the coaching.

Good coaching gets you a winning record. Great coaching gets you a championship. It masks a lot of deficiencies and is the difference between a roster and a team. As the New York Jets head into a period of rebuilding, one of the most important things to re-evaluate are our current crop of coaches. As we do so, and keeping Cleveland '95 in mind, I want the following:

Young, hungry coaches.

At the end of the season, it's time to clean house. I respect the loyalty of a lot of our coaches, including Anthony Lynn, Bob Sutton, Dennis Thurman, etc. But when was the last time one of our position groups really over-achieved? Our offensive line a few years ago was almost entirely Pro Bowlers. When has Matt Cavanaugh coached up and developed a quarterback? When was the last time our defensive line or linebackers showed any pass rushing ability? A lot of our issues are with the talent of the players, but great coaches can get production from their players regardless.

In a lot of positions, it's time to start fresh. Time to get young, aggressive, and hungry. And it's gotta start from the top.