New York Jets: How to judge Todd Bowles in 2017

How do we judge New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles?

The New York Jets are entering a very different type of year for them. Typically, the team has put together a group of veterans and young players hopeful to challenge the Patriots for the division title. In 2017, the Jets are rebuilding, with all but three players being younger than 30 years old. Some believe that this should have happened years ago, but be that as it may, it is happening now. There simply aren’t a lot of wins in the predicted future of the Jets.

With that, we come to the topic of Todd Bowles. How do we judge his third season? Normally this would be an easy answer. He has had one good season (2015) and one bad one (2016). We judge him by how the tie is broken, right? But now it’s a little bit different. If things play out as they are set to, Bowles won’t be recording very many wins in 2017. But he can only play the team that he is presented with. He can only do so much as far as the record is concerned. So how do we judge his performance?

First we should look at the scoreboard, believe it or not. Yes, I just finished talking about how there many not be very many wins, but that isn’t what I mean. Look at how often they get blown out, if they do at all. Are the games competitive, or are the Jets losing by 2-3 touchdowns every single week? Are any games still in doubt in the fourth quarter? Even when they lose, the score can tell us if they are still playing hard for Todd Bowles. With a rebuild, the important piece is whether or not these kids are responding to their coach, and this is one way to tell.

Another way is to use the eye test. What does that mean? We saw when the 2016 team played like they were disinterested. There was that one clip in particular where Darrelle Revis looked very uninterested in making a tackle down field. These are the types of trends that we can look for in everyone. Are they playing hard? Do they look like they want it, despite the odds being stacked against them? Or have they accepted their fate and begun to play out the string? If they have accepted their fate, that is a huge indictment of the coach.

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You see, Todd Bowles is in a very precarious position. A head coach is judged on his win-loss record, for obvious reasons. He is brought in to lead his team to a title, if he doesn’t win enough games, he’s gone. Bowles needs to win.

Now, owner Woody Johnson has stated publicly that making the playoffs is not a mandate for Bowles to stay. That could be telling us that the front office will be looking at the above types of criteria. It’s also an interesting statement as it goes away from Johnson’s previous stance each year, looking to bring in a title. It wouldn’t be the first time he made a curious decision on the football side.

Next: Reactions to the first depth chart of 2017 for the Jets

Bowles needs to win, but there is only so much he can do with this young of a roster. If he were to lead this team to a better than expected record, that would tell us all we need to know about coach Bowles. But what if he doesn’t? If they finish 2-14, how do they decide if Bowles is the right guy? The team had better use the above criteria, otherwise they might go the wrong way. Though it certainly wouldn’t be the first time for that either, now would it?

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