Silverman: Idzik-Ryan Combo Not Likely To Cause Belichick Many Sleepless Nights
By Steve Silverman
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Here's something to admire about Bill Belichick: He likes his job.
Unlike multiple Super Bowl-winning coaches of the past like Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson and Bill Walsh, Belichick is more than happy to go about his business.
He may be unwilling to share himself, his philosophies or his game plans with the media and fans, but he is simply a man who likes to coach football.
Burn out? No way. He doesn't take himself so seriously to think that he is doing the most important work in the world.
He obviously takes it seriously and he is quite good at it, but he refuses to get involved in the periphery that would weaken his concentration.
A day after getting beaten by the Ravens in the AFC Title Game, Belichick confirmed that he would be back in 2013.
That's bad news for new Jets general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan. If Belichick had had enough and decided to retire, that would make those twice-a-year games against the Patriots a much more reasonable enterprise.
The Jets are still up against it when it comes to competing against Belichick.
Until the Jets can build a modern offense that can attack through the air the way the Ravens, Broncos or even the Bengals can, they are not going to compete with the Patriots.
Belichick's team clearly has weaknesses, or they wouldn't have lost to the Giants in last year's Super Bowl or the Ravens in this year's AFC Championship Game.
But you can't go into the battle without a full-fledged attack if you are going to give them a run for their money.
There are serious questions about Ryan's ability to put a serious NFL offense on the field. There are probably even more questions about Idzik's ability to provide the personnel that Ryan needs to improve that attack.
Idzik is not a personnel guy. He was a contract negotiator with the Seattle Seahawks. He has not been in charge of a draft in the past and he has not initiated free-agent acquisitions, either.
So what does that mean for the Jets? It means that Ryan is likely to make many personnel "suggestions" that Idzik will probably follow for at least a couple of years on the job.
That has not proven to be a good thing in the past. While Mike Tannenbaum was the Jets' general manager, Ryan had a lot of influence.
The Idzik hiring is good news for Belichick. Life is a lot harder in New England when the Jets are tearing things up on defense and playing competent offensive football.
They are a long way from competent on the offensive end at this point. The Jets are probably two excellent offseasons away from being a legitimate contender in the AFC.
They didn't help themselves when they hired an inexperienced personnel man like Idzik. If Idzik turns into a personnel man the way Ozzie Newsome has with the Baltimore Ravens, it will probably be a bigger upset than Super Bowl III.
He's being thrown in the biggest NFL market in the country without having the requisite resume.
Idzik has his opportunity, but it's difficult to see this decision working out in the long run for the Jets.
More suffering for Jets fans will follow.
How much longer do you expect Belichick to coach? Sound off with your thoughts and comments in the section below...
