As it turns out, the Jets aren’t just losing football games, they’re coming apart at the seams.
According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the team’s 3-9 record is matched only by the organizational rift between General Manager Mike Maccagnan and coach Todd Bowles.
The report suggests that Bowles is almost certainly gone after this season, and that Maccagnan may get a chance to hire a coach more in line with his philosophy. They were hired at the same time to replace Rex Ryan and John Idzik, and while it might seem that they’d be singing off the same sheet of music, they’re painted as being mismatched from the start.
The Jets set up a system in which both reported directly to ownership. That led to some natural turf wars, as they often disagreed.
Mehta outlines a numbers of points where the teams two top decision-makers diverged on personnel choices. The coaches apparently wanted Maccagnan to trade up to take running back Alvin Kamara in the 2017 draft, but Maccagnan thought it was too high a price to pay to move up (the Saints gave their 2018 second-rounder in the trade). He did give them the wide receiver they were clamoring for (ArDarius Stewart) 12 picks later, but Stewart is already gone.
Maccagnan is given credit(?) for the decision to burn a 2016 second-rounder on quarterback Christian Hackenberg, who never played a snap for the Jets, and that might have been because he was no good and it might have been part of a petty point-proving by the coaches who didn’t want him.
Regardless the personnel particulars — and it’s important to remember that sources will eagerly promote their own agendas at the expense of the other — having the two at odds serves no one’s best interest.
Whether they start with another clean slate or hire a coach Maccagnan trusts, the important part is having a clear organizational philosophy, and building a structure in which they work toward common goals.