One year was all Tony Sparano got as the Jets’ offensive coordinator.
After weeks of speculation that Sparano would be fired, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported on Tuesday morning that it’s done: Sparano has been fired. This is the second consecutive offseason in which Sparano will be looking for work; he was fired as the Dolphins’ head coach after the 2011 season.
When Jets coach Rex Ryan brought Sparano in last year, he hailed him as a smart and innovative offensive coach who would get the stagnant Jets offense moving. And when the Jets later traded for Tim Tebow, they said that Sparano would be the architect of a dual-threat offense that saw Mark Sanchez develop as a passer and Tebow making contributions as a Wildcat quarterback.
Instead, Tebow did next to nothing, Sanchez regressed, and late in the season Ryan was so desperate to try something different that he put Greg McElroy ahead of both of them on the depth chart.
Given the disaster that was the Jets’ offense in 2012, the biggest surprise is that the Jets didn’t make this move until eight days into 2013.