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New York Jets: Next head coach should also be general manager

By Michael Pallas

New York City firefighter and superfan for the New York Jets, Fireman Edwin M. Anzalone better known as Fireman Ed leads the J-E-T-S chant from Section 134 of the Meadowlands during the American Football Conference East game against the Washington Redskins on 26 September 1999 at the Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The Redskins won the game 27 - 20. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
New York City firefighter and superfan for the New York Jets, Fireman Edwin M. Anzalone better known as Fireman Ed leads the J-E-T-S chant from Section 134 of the Meadowlands during the American Football Conference East game against the Washington Redskins on 26 September 1999 at the Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey, United States. The Redskins won the game 27 - 20. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) /
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The next man to assume the position of head coach of the New York Jets should be given full control of player personnel for the organization.

Given the nature of the two jobs, it’s been widely considered that no one should be both the head coach and the person in the organization in charge of player personnel decisions. Some would say it doesn’t make sense to put that much on one person’s plate. That being said, the next New York Jets head coach should be in charge of player personnel.

Whether it’s the title of general manager (sometimes the “de facto general manager”, as per Pro Football Reference) or director of player personnel, no one knows the players better than the coaches. They’re with them every practice. Thus, it would make sense for the head coach to be in charge of player personnel, because he knows what the team needs better than anyone.

The NFL has been around since 1920, and it’s a small sample size given the number of coaches that have coached at that level. That being said, the coaches that have been in charge of player personnel in some way have a .550 winning percentage in the regular season and a .604 winning percentage in the postseason.

They’re also responsible for 28 of the 98 world championships in NFL history — including 14 of the 52 Super Bowls (Vince Lombardi, Weeb Ewbank, Don Shula, Bill Walsh, Jimmy Johnson, Bill Belichick and Pete Carroll).

The narrative is that typically coaches who try to do both fail. However, the ultimate goal is to win a world championship. Less than 10 percent of coaches all-time have done both, and they represent 28.6 percent of all championships won in league history, and many of the coaches who “failed” had only one or two seasons in the role.

When it comes to the Jets, the two head coaches widely considered the top two in franchise history held both roles. Ewbank was the only coach with a championship, and Bill Parcells is the only coach to coach multiple seasons and finish with a winning record, and they were a Super Bowl contender until Vinny Testaverde ruptured his Achilles.

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Since the goal is to win the Super Bowl, the Jets should consider their own history and the recent history of the NFL. It seems like the success rate of head coaches being in charge of player personnel is more successful than the narrative in the media would make you think.

Today’s NFL is about passing offense. So the Jets need to find an offensive minded head coach, but he should also be in charge of player personnel.

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