New York Jets News: Brant Boyer Named Special Teams Coordinator

Sep 21, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Indianapolis Colts assistant special teams coach Brant Boyer gestures before the start of their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 21, 2014; Jacksonville, FL, USA; Indianapolis Colts assistant special teams coach Brant Boyer gestures before the start of their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Field. Mandatory Credit: Phil Sears-USA TODAY Sports /
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New York Jets News: The Jets have filled their special teams coordinator vacancy, hiring Brant Boyer away from the Indianapolis Colts.

The New York Jets have a very successful first season under Todd Bowles as head coach. With the help of the offseason work from general manager Mike Maccagnan, the Jets were able to improve to 10 wins in 2015 from only four in 2014. Unfortunately, the Jets fell just short of a playoff berth, missing out because of tiebreakers.

One of the areas that the team had wished was better was the special teams. The Jets struggled mightily in this facet of the game, which led to them firing special teams coordinator Bobby April. The Jets have now found a replacement for April that they hope to get things turned around, as they announced that Indianapolis Colts’ assistant special teams coach Brant Boyer has been named the Jets new special teams coordinator.

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Unlike April, Boyer will be coming in with very little experience. April had over 25 years of experience on an NFL sideline as a coordinator, while Boyer will be bringing only four with him from his time with the Colts. This will be the first coordinator job that he holds as well, so the Jets are going in a complete different direction with this hire than they did last season.

Bowles opted for a veteran with experience the first time around. Now that the decision didn’t pay off, Bowles has decided to go in the opposite direction, giving a new face a chance to make a name for himself. Boyer is someone that was very successful in his NFL career as a special teamer, so he knows what it takes to be successful in that area of the game. Also, Boyer has some familiarity with Bowles; Bowles was the secondary coach with the Cleveland Browns when Boyer played for the organization from 2001-2003.

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Boyer will have his hands full trying to turn the Jets special teams unit around, as they struggled mightily at times last season. They were solid on kick off coverage, giving up only 23.8 yards per return, but were abysmal defending punts. They allowed two punt returns for touchdowns, and gave up 12.7 yards per punt return, third worst in the NFL. They forced only 14 fair catches on the season, which was the second lowest total in the NFL.

Their return game was not very strong either. They were unable to find a kick returner for the season, as they shuffled through multiple players such as Antonio Cromartie, Zac Stacy and Chris Owusu. No one was able to get the job done, as the Jets ranked 26th in the NFL with 20.8 yards per kick return. The punt return game was not much better, as Jeremy Kerley was middle of the road. The Jets finished the season ranked 14th with 8.6 yards per punt return on the season.

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The special teams are in need of a lot of work from the Jets, and Boyer will be the man tasked with doing so. He will be the fifth special teams coordinator for the Jets in the last five seasons, as this has been a black hole for the organization since Mike Westhoff retired in 2012.