A day after the Buffalo Bills hired Rex Ryan, another AFC East filled two large vacancies of their own.
Just hours after hiring a new general manager in Mike Maccagnan (former director of college scouting for the Houston Texans), the New York Jets found their man to take over at head coach too.
They looked to Arizona, and hired their defensive coordinator, Todd Bowles, who will become the 18th coach in Jets franchise history.
Bowles, an 8-year NFL veteran in his own right, is a strong defensive minded coach, who will take over a unit that finished 6th in the league in total defense this past season.
After the Cardinals rode their strong defense to a 11-5 record and playoff appearance, it was only a matter of time before Bowles was snatched up by one of the many teams still with an open head coaching gig. The Jets had to get their second interview in on Monday with Bowles, who was going to be heading to Atlanta for a second interview with the Falcons on Wednesday.
From a football standpoint, the defense shouldn’t see too much of an overhaul in terms of scheme, as Bowles, like former coach Rex Ryan, favors an attacking 3-4 scheme.
It will be interesting to see who he picks as his offensive coordinator though, as there are still very big questions on that side of the ball, especially with what New York is going to do at the quarterback position.
With the hiring of Maccagnan and Bowles, Rich Cimini of ESPN reported that the Jets will be undergoing a change of their power structure with the hires.
Both the head coach and the GM will report directly to team owner Woody Johnson, who envisions the GM and coach as equal partners. Previously, the coach (Ryan) reported to the GM (John Idzik). Maccagnan will have control over the 53-man roster and final say on the draft while Bowles will decide the weekly lineups.
The new partnership also has more than $40 million in salary-cap space to spend along with the sixth overall pick in the up-coming NFL Draft as immediate ways to boost a team who has missed out on the post season for the last four years.
