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The Jets new offensive line coach made some headlines for some of the comments he made yesterday. Let’s break it down . . .
As you all know by now, Dave DeGugielmo got a lot of attention or his ardent support of embattled right tackle, Wayne Hunter.
”Until they ship him out of this building or until they shoot me dead in my office, that son of a gun’s going to be the starting right tackle, and he’s going to play well,” DeGuglielmo said. “This his year.”
Hunter will be the right tackle starting this year. Whether he plays well, and this is his year, that remains to be seen. “Guge” doesn’t know, and neither do we. This quote was more for the player, than the media. The new coach was showing the player he has his back against a skeptical media and fan base.
”They should strap shields to this guy and put him in The Coliseum,” ‘Guge’ said about Hunter’s physique.
He has a point here. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, if you were looking for what a right tackle should look like, it’s Wayne Hunter. He is 6-5, 318, and not fat. Also, he’s a superstar in the weight room and light on his feet. His problems weren’t physical last year, they were mental.
And remember, in Pittsburgh, in the Jets playoff loss after the 2011 season, some Steelers said Hunter was tipping calls with his stance.
So Hunter needs to step up mentally.
At one point this media session took an unfortunate turn, and the team’s former offensive line coach, Bill Callahan, took some heat, probably unwarranted.
”The difference between me and Bill: I have a Super Bowl ring, and he don’t,” said DeGuglielmo, who was assistant offensive line coach on the Giants’ 2007 championship team.
He probably stepped over the line here, and he seemed to realize it in his next sentence.
“Whether that means anything, it probably doesn’t,” DeGuglielmo said. “He’s a great football coach.”
“Guge” was also asked what went wrong with Hunter last year, a season he gave up 11 sacks.
“You’d have to ask Bill Callahan – I think he’s in the directory in Dallas,” DeGuglielmo said.
This is nonsense. “Guge” has reviewed a ton of film of Hunter, and the rest of the line, since he took the job. He knows darn well what the problems were last year.
“Guge” knows, and he’s not going to say, because he doesn’t want to disrespect Hunter publicly. He’s trying to build him up. And plus, if “Guge” doesn’t know what the problem was, how is he going to fix it?
He knows all the issues to the nth degree.
But none of this negativity about Callahan was necessary. The Jets Nation had Callahan going to Canton over his first three years with the team (one under Eric Mangini, and two under Ryan.)
He didn’t become a bad offensive line coach in one year. Surely, it wasn’t his decision to move-on from Damien Woody. That was above him.
Callahan is a heck of an offensive line coach, and was a terrific hire by Dallas.
As for “Guge” we will see what he brings to the table.
But clearly he is embracing Ryan’s culture of freedom of speech.
And you know what, two days ago most football fans never heard of him, now a lot more do.
So you would have to think he’s tired of living in Sparano’s shadow, and wants to make a name for himself.
He certainly got his name out Thursday.
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