Palladino: Jets' Head Coaching Job Would Be A Comedown For Dan Quinn
By Ernie Palladino
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The way the Seahawks are playing right now, it appears the Jets will have to wait until after the Super Bowl to offer their head coaching job to defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.
Indications are that the Jets will do exactly that, and then hope Quinn will push aside other interest from the 49ers, Falcons and Bears to become Rex Ryan's successor. If he accepts, he'll engage in a twice-yearly matchup of defensive wits with the soon-to-be-signed Ryan in Buffalo.
If there's even a part of Quinn that thinks he'll be walking into a Seattle-type situation, he should do an about-face and consider whichever team is still looking for a smart, defense-minded leader. Someone with, say, some semblance of a secondary.
The reason is obvious. Despite the Jets' $40 million salary-cap cushion, no players who wear the names Kam Chancellor, Richard Sherman or Earl Thomas III are driving through Florham Park anytime soon.
And, by the way, neither is Darrelle Revis. After what he's done for the New England secondary this year, does anyone really think the Pats won't exercise that $12 million option for 2015?
Having any one of those players would certainly transform the weak link of the Jets' best unit into a dream backfield. But the Seahawks, using forethought, locked up all three of their stars long-term the past two seasons. As for Revis, well, the ever-fiduciary John Idzik believed last year that shutting down half a playing field comes with a price. And risking a large portion of the then-$20 million of cap space snuggling in his owner's pocket was too big a tag.
So what Quinn would start with is a very good defensive line. The linebacking corps will probably lose David Harris, and the secondary features a much-injured Dee Milliner, a benched Calvin Pryor, an out-of-position Kyle Wilson, a beatable Darrin Walls and a teensy bit of potential in Jaiquawn Jarrett.
In other words, he'll go from "Legion of Boom" to "Legion of Gloom."
He certainly should not expect to see anyone who looks like Chancellor, one of the best and most physical safeties in the NFL. The site of Chancellor hitting Panthers and returning an interception 90 yards for a touchdown Saturday night would seem enough to entice any coordinator to stay right where he is. Quinn should also not expect anyone to be leaping over offensive linemen in a single bound -- twice -- to try to block a field goal.
Athletic guys like Chancellor don't come around often, even if a new general manager -- probably Texans director of college scouting Mike Maccagnan -- is willing to spread around all of the $40 million in his free-agent war chest.
However, if Quinn can convince himself that Maccagnan can rebuild that secondary and get a veteran linebacker, he'll only have to worry about rebuilding that disaster of an offense. Ryan actually walked into a worse defensive situation in 2009, as the Jets ranked 16th in both overall and pass defense in Eric Mangini's final season. Ryan's overall defense ranked sixth, and 14th against the pass, in 2014.
Quinn, therefore, won't face an impossible task. And his simple schemes -- successful only if his GM acquires and drafts a pack of fast, smart and athletic DBs -- can work wonders. Seattle's rightly-feared 12th man reveled at his handiwork.
The question will be whether he feels the Jets are his best fit.
They may well be.
But above all, Quinn must understand two things: MetLife Stadium is not CenturyLink Field. And any secondary he puts together here will never truly compare to the Legion of Boom.
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