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Bowles-Maccagnan partnership off to a good start
Updated January 21, 2015 9:55 PM
By BOB GLAUBER bob.glauber@newsday.com
Bob GlauberNewsday columnist Bob Glauber
Glauber has been Newsday's national football columnist since 1992. He was Newsday's football writer covering the Jets and ...
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - When Mike Maccagnan first sat down with Todd Bowles to interview him for the Jets' head coaching job, there was an interesting moment in the conversation that gave you a sense of why this partnership could work, and why the Jets might just be in good hands with their new general manager and new coach.
This was last Tuesday at the Jets' training facility, and Maccagnan, who had just been named GM after an intensive search by owner Woody Johnson and former NFL GMs-turned-advisers Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf, was conducting his first interview with the head-coaching candidate.
It already was clear that Johnson had extremely high regard for Bowles, who already had been interviewed once. But Maccagnan wanted to be comfortable with the idea of working with Bowles. He also wanted Bowles to see if he'd be comfortable working with Maccagnan.
"I kind of opened it up to him and say, 'Hey, listen, I don't want to necessarily ask you questions, I want you to tell me what you think and see if I'm the guy you want to work with," Maccagnan said Wednesday at an introductory news conference. "It was a very natural fit."
Only time -- and results -- will tell if the Maccagnan-Bowles alliance will work, and the fact that neither man has lost a game in his current role lends itself to a feeling of optimism. But with their long and rich history of working in their respective fields -- Maccagnan as a longtime front-office executive in Houston and Washington and Bowles as a former NFL player and assistant in both the college and pro games -- there really is reason for genuine hope moving forward.
JetsJets introduce Todd Bowles, Mike Maccagnan
Yes, they are in their first gigs at the top after long apprenticeships. And there is obviously no guarantee of success, not in a league that is so uber-competitive. But Maccagnan and Bowles are widely respected among their peers, they both come with good references, and with Johnson needing to get serious about his football operation after a 4-12 meltdown last season, this looks like a solid pairing.
It is urgent for Johnson to have a GM-coach partnership that works, especially after watching the alliance between Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik unravel over a two-year period. Johnson thought he could thread the needle by having Ryan inherit a new GM after the owner fired Mike Tannenbaum. And while there were some promising results in an 8-8 season in Year 1, the differing agendas for each man -- Ryan needed to win now, while Idzik took a longer view -- resulted in a collapse.
Johnson wisely sought the counsel of Casserly, who first met Maccagnan when the two were in Washington and then brought him to Houston, and Wolf, who likely will be entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame this month. These two excellent football minds helped steer Johnson to the most promising talent available among this year's would-be GMs and coaches, and the Jets came out of it with two bright football people to steer them out of the mess from last season.
There is still much work to be done, and many more quality players to acquire to make the Jets a playoff contender. But Maccagnan has been around the game long enough to know how to build through the draft and act judiciously in free agency when the opportunity arises. And Bowles, a Bill Parcells disciple who was first noticed by the Hall of Fame coach when Bowles was a safety in Washington in the 1980s, has a long track record of earning the confidence of the players he has coached.
As a former player, he knows how to relate to them; and as a disciplinarian coach, he knows how to put down the hammer when a firm hand is called for.
JetsHistory of Jets coaches
"We're going to be a tough team, we're going to be an intelligent team," Bowles said. "We're going to do things the right way." Bowles will have the support of Maccagnan, and the two men will move forward with a resolve that seems genuine and feels right. Even if there are no guarantees
Updated January 21, 2015 9:55 PM
By BOB GLAUBER bob.glauber@newsday.com
Bob GlauberNewsday columnist Bob Glauber
Glauber has been Newsday's national football columnist since 1992. He was Newsday's football writer covering the Jets and ...
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - When Mike Maccagnan first sat down with Todd Bowles to interview him for the Jets' head coaching job, there was an interesting moment in the conversation that gave you a sense of why this partnership could work, and why the Jets might just be in good hands with their new general manager and new coach.
This was last Tuesday at the Jets' training facility, and Maccagnan, who had just been named GM after an intensive search by owner Woody Johnson and former NFL GMs-turned-advisers Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf, was conducting his first interview with the head-coaching candidate.
It already was clear that Johnson had extremely high regard for Bowles, who already had been interviewed once. But Maccagnan wanted to be comfortable with the idea of working with Bowles. He also wanted Bowles to see if he'd be comfortable working with Maccagnan.
"I kind of opened it up to him and say, 'Hey, listen, I don't want to necessarily ask you questions, I want you to tell me what you think and see if I'm the guy you want to work with," Maccagnan said Wednesday at an introductory news conference. "It was a very natural fit."
Only time -- and results -- will tell if the Maccagnan-Bowles alliance will work, and the fact that neither man has lost a game in his current role lends itself to a feeling of optimism. But with their long and rich history of working in their respective fields -- Maccagnan as a longtime front-office executive in Houston and Washington and Bowles as a former NFL player and assistant in both the college and pro games -- there really is reason for genuine hope moving forward.
JetsJets introduce Todd Bowles, Mike Maccagnan
Yes, they are in their first gigs at the top after long apprenticeships. And there is obviously no guarantee of success, not in a league that is so uber-competitive. But Maccagnan and Bowles are widely respected among their peers, they both come with good references, and with Johnson needing to get serious about his football operation after a 4-12 meltdown last season, this looks like a solid pairing.
It is urgent for Johnson to have a GM-coach partnership that works, especially after watching the alliance between Rex Ryan and GM John Idzik unravel over a two-year period. Johnson thought he could thread the needle by having Ryan inherit a new GM after the owner fired Mike Tannenbaum. And while there were some promising results in an 8-8 season in Year 1, the differing agendas for each man -- Ryan needed to win now, while Idzik took a longer view -- resulted in a collapse.
Johnson wisely sought the counsel of Casserly, who first met Maccagnan when the two were in Washington and then brought him to Houston, and Wolf, who likely will be entering the Pro Football Hall of Fame this month. These two excellent football minds helped steer Johnson to the most promising talent available among this year's would-be GMs and coaches, and the Jets came out of it with two bright football people to steer them out of the mess from last season.
There is still much work to be done, and many more quality players to acquire to make the Jets a playoff contender. But Maccagnan has been around the game long enough to know how to build through the draft and act judiciously in free agency when the opportunity arises. And Bowles, a Bill Parcells disciple who was first noticed by the Hall of Fame coach when Bowles was a safety in Washington in the 1980s, has a long track record of earning the confidence of the players he has coached.
As a former player, he knows how to relate to them; and as a disciplinarian coach, he knows how to put down the hammer when a firm hand is called for.
JetsHistory of Jets coaches
"We're going to be a tough team, we're going to be an intelligent team," Bowles said. "We're going to do things the right way." Bowles will have the support of Maccagnan, and the two men will move forward with a resolve that seems genuine and feels right. Even if there are no guarantees