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What Can We Learn From Cleveland '95?

The New York Jets have talked about getting younger and more aggressive on defense, but that philosophy has to start from the top, and reverberate through the whole building.

Rich Barnes-US PRESSWIRE - Presswire

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.