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Last night I got into why the Jets shouldn’t jump into this right now, but tonight . . .
. . . I want to get into why they might do it.
I’m talking about a contract extension for Jets coach Todd Bowles.
I’ve been asked about Todd Bowles future quite a bit on sports talk shows over the last six months or so.
This is what I basically say every time: “Bowles doesn’t need to make the playoffs to keep his job. He also doesn’t need to have a winning record. What he has to do is field a team that plays hard and smart every week, and is competitive. Last year the Jets got blown out six times, if that happens again this year – myriad blowouts, Bowles is in trouble.”
So far, he’s doing most of what I believe he needs to do survive. Right now, I’m talking about surviving, not an extension.
The one area that he’s coming off short is “playing smart.” They are committing too many penalties.
But they are playing hard and have been competitive every game, sans Oakland.
So if this trend continues of playing hard and being competitive, I think he will definitely survive into a fourth year. Obviously, the penalty issue is far from ideal, but I don’t think that will get him fired with how hard they are playing and how competitive they have been.
And he could get an extension this off-season.
Keep in mind, it’s non-football people who will make the decision about extending Bowles.
Remember Mr. Coffee, Jets GM Mike Maccagan, isn’t Todd’s boss. Last week, a reporter new to the scene, and not aware of the Jets’ corporate set-up, asked Maccagan if Bowles has done enough to earn an extension.
Maccagnan informed the reporter he and Todd are on the same level.
So the people who will decide whether to extend Bowles are Christopher Johnson and Ira Akselrad.
Ira Akselrad is the most powerful man in the Jets’ organization aside from the owner, and he’s not even in the Jets’ organization.
He runs the Johnson Company, which manages money for some people in the family.
Informed Jets fans know this cat wields a lot of power in Florham Park.
Before games, he can often be seen having long talks with Maccagnan on the Jets’ sideline.
He was always with Woody when he was the Jets active owner, and now he’s always with Chris.
When you are the right-hand man of the owner, you are involved with most major decisions.
So after the season, it will be Chris and Ira deciding whether to extend Bowles.
When I saw they are non-football people, I don’t mean that be an insult. I’m just saying they are more businessmen, than football men. They aren’t going to breakdown the “Tampa Two” for you.
So when they make a decision whether to extend Bowles, it’s not going to be based on what a GM, who lords over the coach, might focus on. Different worldviews.
My guess is if the Jets finish the season respectable, and are competitive and play hard the rest of the way, Bowles will get what Rex got, a one-year extension, to avoid the lame-duck deal.
Johnson and Axselrad will likely be happy with the what Bowles did, and will also likely want to avoid all the lame-duck talk in 2018.
November 17, 2017
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