Schotty to Stay

ESPN is reporting that Rex Ryan will retain offensive coordinator Brian Shottenheimer and apparently Shottenheimer has agreed to remain in green and white.

Two interesting subplots to go along with this story:

1. Reportedly, Shottenheimer told the Jet brass that he would not, under any circumstances, work under Rex Ryan. Was this a ploy to get the big job? Probably. We'd heard all month long that the Johnsons and Mike Tanenbaum were smitten with Shottenheimer. The only thing that kept them from hiring him for the big job was a fear that it would be nearly impossible to sell it to the fans (I, for one, would have done everything short of disowning the team I have grown up loving). Schottenheimers "ultimatum" was obviously an empty threat...and a pretty transparent one at that. Or it was an altogether false report.

2. Now it's time to test the theory that Shottenheimer was handcuffed by Eric Mangini. All season long, the main criticism of Shotty was his refusal to live and die with the running game. Although the running game was the strength of the Jet offense, Shottenheimer would routinely pass on obvious rushing downs. How many times did we yell and scream about Thomas Jones only getting 15-18 carries and Leon Washington only getting 2-5? It was naturally assumed that this fell on the shoulders of the offensive coordinator. Apparently, this may not be the case. A theory has surfaced that Eric Mangini had his hands more entrenched in the offensive game plan then we thought. This means that the Jets apparent refusal run the ball may have been more the fault of Mangini then it was of Shottenheimer. I actually believe this theory because of the football back round that Shottenheimer has. It always seemed odd to me that the spawn of Marty "Martyball" Shottenheimer would have such trouble managing a run game. It almost goes against all logic. The way the running game is managed this season will shed a lot of light on the validity of that theory. You can't tell me that a hard nosed, tough guy like Rex Ryan is going to be shy about running the football...

More Later on Fourth Down....

6:30 pm on youcastr.com

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9:00 pm on mywcwp.com


Jordan Lauterbach