Todd Bowles: It's OK That the Jets Went With a Defensive Head Coach Again

One complaint I have seen in a few places about the hiring of Todd Bowles is his defensive background. There are a few grumblings out there that the Jets hired a defensive coach. The thinking seems to be that the Jets fired Rex Ryan, who had a better defensive mind than any defensive coach the Jets could have hired. Why hire somebody with the same specialty who will be a downgrade?

The answer is simple. The Jets aren't hiring a defensive coordinator. They are hiring a head coach. Acumen on one side of the ball is only one of the factors that goes into this decision. I might add that Bowles is not much of a dropoff from Rex Ryan as a defensive strategist. This is the way to look at the hire, though.

There are many different aspects of being a head coach. One of them is the ability to build a defense. Almost anybody the Jets would have hired would be a downgrade. Some would be more than others. The idea is to find somebody who can make up for the defensive dropoff by adding more value in the areas where Rex was deficient like player development outside the defensive line, assembling a coaching staff, instilling the necessary discipline, making sure the team is prepared, building an offense, managing the game, and others.

Building a defense matters, but it isn't the only thing that matters. As it turned out, the Jets got a guy who is pretty close to Rex Ryan as a defensive strategist anyway.