| Is there something wrong with the state of New
York? Is it because Hillary’s coming that everyone involved in football has
high-tailed it out of the state? If ever there were two teams with seemingly no
direction, the Bills and Jets are currently those teams. The only team saving the state
from total football anarchy is the Giants. But the other two teams more than make up for
the Giants’ success.
Both the Jets and Bills are in a precarious position right now. The Bills finished 8-8
and the Jets finished 9-7. Both missed the playoffs. And now, neither has a general
manager or a head coach. Neither really seems to have a grand-scale plan either.
The Jets’ problems began when Al Groh quit the head-coaching position to take a
head-coaching job at the University of Virginia. The speculation at the time was the Jets
would move quickly and likely name Maurice Carthon the new head coach. The thought was the
Jets could avoid another tumultuous offseason if Carthon was the coach, because he’d
continue the vision the Jets had at the time.
But then, Jets owner Woody Johnson and director of football operations Bill Parcells
had several meetings to talk about Parcells’ future with the Jets. Those meetings
resulted in Parcells’ reported resignation today.
Now what will the Jets do? One of the main reasons Carthon was a front-runner for the
head-coach spot was that he was a "Parcells guy." He played for Parcells and
coached in Parcells’ style. Now, does this mean he’s out of the running? And
what of the team? Supposedly, Bryan Cox and Mo Lewis signed contract extensions with
assurances that Parcells would also be with the team. Rumors have floated around that Cox
has an out clause in his contract if Parcells leaves, but that’s just speculation
right now.
The Bills are in no better shape. They fired GM John Butler a few weeks ago, a move
that surprised even the man who fired him, owner Ralph Wilson. Wilson said at the time he
hadn’t even thought of a possible replacement because he hadn’t had to worry
about that possibility until then. For the past week, NFL observers have been waiting
patiently for Wilson to hire Tom Donahoe as GM. It was rumored to happen early last week
but still hasn’t gone through. That leaves many of us to wonder what is going on.
Instead last week, the Bills fired head coach Wade Phillips. Maybe Wilson has some sort
of grand plan in mind that he has kept really quiet. Why wouldn’t he have hired
Donahoe to have input in Phillips’ future? Many think that Donahoe didn’t want
to be the bad guy for coming in and firing Phillips.
But maybe Wilson has lost Donahoe, and both sides are keeping mum? Or maybe Wilson is
looking for someone to come in and take over both positions, not unlike what Mike Holmgren
does in Seattle? There aren’t many candidates around who could do such a thing. There
were early, early whispers about Marv Levy coming back to Buffalo … but I
don’t know how realistic it is that Levy would come back to the NFL.
So where do they go from here? If I really knew, I wouldn’t be writing about it,
I’d be working for the NFL. All I know is that you’re going to see the Jets and
Bills a lot in the headlines for the next few weeks, even if the Giants go to the Super
Bowl. Nothing beats scandal and upheaval in the media capital of the world. |
