Ranting With Rizzo Podcast For 1-14-12

If you missed the show, here's the Podcast.
We went over the list of playoff games this
past weekend as well as the many moves that
took place over the past week. You also hear
what I thought of Tim Tebow's chances in
Foxboro and for the rest of his career.
Tune in to 1170AM WDIS and WDISAM.Com
Join the discussion. Rizzo@WDISAM.Com

Break Up The New York Jets

AP Photo

No, seriously, break up the Jets. I know that it's
an expression used for when a team is doing really
well, but in this case the Jets who are not doing
well, are not just being broken up, but are falling
apart and trying to reassemble.

If the expression is "defense wins championships",
then I have a new one for you, "offense gets the
blame". The Jets scored the 5th most points in the
AFC this season, 1 point less than the 12-4 Baltimore
Ravens, 11th most in the NFL, that's in the top half
of all teams. Their defense allowed the 6th most
in AFC, 13th most in the NFL, that's the bottom half
in the league. The defense even allowed more points
than the woefully bad New England Patriots defense,
and though I'm sure you can make the case some some of
the points allowed came from the offense, and some of
the points scored came from the defense, those numbers
are usually a wash.

This is all relevant because since the season ended
just 10 short days ago, the Jets have lost a very good
O-Line coach in Bill Callahan (to Dallas), their WR
Coach Henry Ellard, their Offensive Coordinator Brian
Schottenheimer ("resigned"), and Quarterbacks Coach
Matt Cavanaugh. The defense kinda stunk this season
and the offense is getting revamped, huh. I'll be the
first to tell you that their offense kinda looked inept
this season, but it has the previous 2 seasons as well
and as the Jets are quick to point out, they went to
the AFC Championship two years in a row, so why such a
fuss now?

Is it fan uproar? Is it a panic move?, or is it because
their coach is all about the defense, and they can't
blame him if they are keeping him around this season or
beyond? I think it's clear that the last option is much
more viable, but I will remove the "beyond" part.
If the Jets look like this again this time next year,
they will be breaking up the Jets alright, and it may
start with Rex, though I'm not sure that their GM is
really safe from what might be a total gutting, in a
heads will roll type of atmosphere, and this off season
is just a preview of what may come.



Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Brian Schottenheimer & Jeff Fisher: Pays To Have A Good Reputation

AP Photo

Just like many other things in life, having a good
reputation is a very key. Build a good one and you're
bound to succeed, build a bad one and but a few will
take a second look at you.

The NFL coaching carousel spinning right now is really
not too much different. If we take a look at these two
hot names right now, they are perfect examples of a good
reputation. Look at Brian Schottenheimer, Jets fans for
the better part of his stay in NY have been dying to run
Brian out of town, and yet due to his reputation around
the league he remains a very hot coaching commodity.
As offensive coordinator for the NY Jets this year, his
offense scored the 5th most points in the AFC, but yet
they seemed so very in inept at times. Was it the QB or
was it Brian? As hot as his name as remains, it would
lead you to believe it was the weapons not the offensive
coordinator. A good reputation will do that for you.

Now let's look at another name that remains smoking hot
throughout the coaching circles in yet to be filled spots
so far this year. Jeff Fisher about to start a bidding
war between the St Louis Rams and the Miami Dolphins.
Both teams have owners with deep pockets and are desperate
to win NOW. Fisher's reputation as a good coach is about
to make one of those teams party very dearly. Now, I don't
dispute that Fisher is not just a good coach but a very good
coach, it's just that it's his reputation that is really
what's leading the way here.

Fisher has never won a Super Bowl as a head coach, he has
never appeared in more than one Super Bowl as a head coach,
and his 142 wins over 16 full seasons average out to about a
9 and 7 season, every season. As has been said many times,
before numbers don't lie. And though I am quite sure he's
going to make either the Dolphins or Rams a better team I
just wonder whether he's going to be worth the money that
they are going to be throwing at him.

The moral here without a doubt is: Maintain a good reputation
and you can get just about anything you want, at least if you
are an NFL head coach.

Tweet Don't Believe In Plays, Believe In Players - Al Davis

Does This Schottenheimer Championship Bode Well For Brian And The Jets?

Antonelli/NY Daily News

Since I am probably the first person to bring the
Schottenheimer curse to your attention, I think
it's only fair that I mention that it may have
ended on Friday. If you consider winning a UFL
(United Football League) Championship a legit
Championship that is. Marty is the first member
of the Schottenheimer family to be part of a
Championship of "any" kind. This list includes
brother Kurt, special teams coordinator for the
UFL Champion Virginia Destroyers, and son Brian,
Offensive Coordinator of the NY Jets.

I guess you could say it was a two for one since
they were both on the staff of the Destroyers,
but was this really a Championship? The League
started with 5 teams but only wound up playing
four when the Hartford Colonials had money issues
and had to suspend operations prior to the season
starting. The season had to start late due to
money issues, and end early for the same reason.
The played 4 games out of a 6 game schedule,
that's right a SIX game schedule, and the game
was played at Virginia, not a neutral site.
So I guess a Trophy is a trophy, but if they
have to chip in a few dollars a piece to buy
one, then they may have to put there foot down.
Congrats Marty, you are truly worthy of this
Championship, it's got Schottenheimer clan
written all over it.

Thank You Al Davis ! Tweet

The Curse Has Legs

I wrote a story about a curse that hasn't
really picked up the type of steam that
the "Curse of the Bambino" or the "Curse
of the Billy Goat" has over the years,
but I promise you that soon enough,
Jets fans will be all too familiar with
what I'm saying, only curse words are
what they will be using to describe it
as opposed to describing it as a "Curse".
This follow up is merely to acknowledge
a fellow writer, Ed Hawkins of 212Sports
who wrote of his frustrations with the
Jets Offense in their preseason game vs
the Giants last night, and even more so
with OC Brian Schottenheimer.

Frankly I'm not surprised, and if you're a
Jets fan you shouldn't be either. In the
original piece I eluded to in detail how
the Schottenheimer clan (there's 3 of them)
have never won anything on any level, and
now, not too long after Marty, Brian's
father was named head coach of the Virginia
Destroyers of the UFL comes word that the
league is in danger of folding. Their
season is already starting later than they
expected, and one of their five teams won't
play at all due to financial struggles.
Now the economy is bad, we can all agree,
but is the "Curse" worse?

End Of The Curse? ? ?

Courtesy Life.com

Back in January I wrote a piece that detailed
how it's possible that their is a "curse" on
the Schottenheimer family. The Schottenheimer's
have never won a Championship of ANY KIND.
Kurt, Brian, and most notably Marty have coached
on three levels and nothing, zip, nada, zilch.

Brian and his uncle Kurt have been in both the
pro ranks and the college level, and though Marty
never coached college ball in any capacity, he
did play/coach with the Expansion and now defunct
WFL(World Football League), and again just a
reminder, NOTHING. So the news that Marty has
taken over as GM and Head Coach of the Virginia
Destroyers of the UFL (United Football League)
comes as no surprise, but could prove to be quite
embarrassing if Marty doesn't make it work, and
win a trophy there. The UFL only has 5 teams,
and even Jim Fassel has won their Championship,
not once but twice! Their only two seasons as
a matter of fact. First season when they were a
4 team league and the second when they expanded
to their present 5 team alignment. So what will
that say about the curse if he doesn't get the
job done on that level? Heck, the league is so
desperate for survival and notoriety that they
even gave Jerry Glanville a job as head man of
the Hartford Colonials. I hope hope Marty
understands that if this is the way to get back
into the NFL coaching ranks, he's gonna need to
bring home the bacon, and bring it home BIG TIME!

Mark San-chise Or Dumb-chise ?

Full disclosure will tell you that I am not a
Mark Sanchez fan, as a matter a fact I have been
predicting his demise since the moment the NY
Jets traded up to get him in the 2008 NFL draft,
but that is not why I am writing this.

A little over a week ago Deadspin reported a
story about Sanchez and his hooking up with 17
year old girl a few weeks back, and all the little
pieces of the story since attached to it.
The details are not something I'm really all that
interested in, maybe you are. What does strike a
cord with me is that even though I root against him
from time to time, I kinda like the kid. He's
comes across as a bright guy, likable and smart, but
this latest story kind of leaves you scratching your
head. You see the synopsis of the story is this:
He meets a girl, she's says she's 17, he says well
I guess I'll have to wait until you turn 18 because
he thinks that 18 and not 16 is legal in NY. She,
the girl tells him no, I'm legal now it's 16 in NY,
he, Mark Sanchez is 23 at the time, so this all seems
ok, except it really isn't. You see, 23 year olds
shouldn't be with 17 year olds, but they sometimes
are and it turns out just fine, and the intentions
are good, BUT you are the starting Quarterback of the
NY Jets, yes that's right in the media mecca of the
world. What the F%&K are you thinking? Are you
serious? There are a tremendous amount of women
ranging from 22 - 82 who are willing to drop to their
unabashed knees and service within a seconds notice
at just about any hour of the day, and you choose a
17 year old girl?, who no matter how hot she is, is
more than certainly going to give you a bad name in
the press just because they are going to label you
with making a bad choice! As Pro Football Talk
pointed out in one of their stories, no laws were
broken, but it will raise eyebrows, and that to me
has to have Jets fans wondering if this is the guy
who through his decision making is the one that's
going to lead the J-E-T-S to the promised land.

Rex Ryan has already guaranteed that the Jets will
win the Super Bowl next year, and I believe that
the Jets have the curse of the Schottenheimer to
deal with as well, so just add this to the things
that stand in the way of their second Lombardi
trophy and all you have is people around the league
saying is: "Typical Jets".

Curse Of The Schottenheimer ?

The Curse of the Schottenheimer may sound like
something I just made up, and it very well could
be, but if you take a look at the numbers of the
Schottenheimer trio and their history, both on the
College and Pro level, you have to admit, it may
actually exist. Marty the most notable member of
the Schottenheimer's has the most extensive career.
Marty started out coaching in the now defunct WFL
(World Football League), where he was the linebacker
coach for the Portland Storm. During his time there
they compiled a record of 7-12, and though you can't
very well blame that on him, you may eventually see
a pattern. I for one think Marty Schottenheimer is
a very good football coach, I just don't think he
is a coach you can win a Championship with.
I also think that Dan Snyder made a mistake firing
Marty and replacing him with Steve Spurrier, and I
said so at the time. Marty is a great coach to get
your team going in the right direction, but eventually
he plateaus, and that's as far as you're gonna get.

Marty also has a well documented one sided feud with
the owner of the Oakland Raiders. I say one sided
because he won't say anything other than he hates the
Raiders and Al Davis, and Al Davis never makes any
mention of this. Marty says that he will tell us all
in due time when he retires, but those days seem to
be upon us, since he hasn't coached in more than four
years and is quickly approaching the age of 68 when
team owners and GM's stop beating down the door of
a coach who has a losing playoff record and has never
been able to reach the Super Bowl let alone win one.
Marty never coached on the collegiate level that I can
find but his career numbers read as follows:
200 Wins and 126 Losses with one Tie a very respectable
.613 winning percentage but his playoff number are
a different story all together. He has 5 Wins and
13 Losses with NO Super Bowl Appearances, that is
a winning percentage of .384, and if you take
the numbers of the coaching staffs he's been a part
of the numbers get worse, 259-225-1 .538% and
5-15 in the playoffs for a .250 winning percentage.
His so called "feud" with Davis might in no small
part have to do with the fact the Marty was in his
first year as defensive coordinator of the Cleveland
Browns in 1980 when they lost to the Raiders in
Cleveland, but that's just a guess.

There are two other members of the Schottenheimer
clan that take part in this "curse". The lesser
known Kurt Schottenheimer is Marty's brother, and
though he has never been a head coach, the teams
he has been on the staff of, and many times as
defensive coordinator have compiled a record of
202 Wins and 166 Losses, and while again a .549
regular season winning percentage is quite
respectable, the playoff numbers dip to 5-11 or
a .313 winning percentage. Add to that that he
was the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay
Packers the year they lost to the Giants in the
NFC Championship game in the 2007 season.
Just another Conference loss for the Schottenheimer
clan, and believe me those are plentiful.
By the way Kurt did coach on the college level, and
again never as a head coach. His collegiate numbers
are as follows: 39-57-1 a woeful .402 %

Since conference Championships were mentioned with
Kurt it's only fair to point out how fresh Marty's
son Brian is from Conference Championship battle.
Brian has been the offensive coordinator for the
NY Jets the past two years worth of those, and
it should surprise no one that they are 0-2 in that
time. Brian's name has been mentioned many times
for head coaching jobs in the past, but if the family
numbers are to be taken into account, then the question
that begs to be asked is, why? His career numbers are
as vanilla as the family trophy case, 12-12 as an
assistant on the college level with two different schools.
96-96 on the pro level with 5 different organizations,
and 4-4 in the playoffs, and yes NO Championships.
With that the family numbers read as follows.
557-487-1 a .533 win percentage in the regular season.
14-30 a .318 win percentage in the playoffs, 0 for
7 in conference championships, hence the ZERO Super
Bowl appearances, and that is with eleven different
franchises. Yes even as assistants.
Their college numbers are 51-69-1 .421% with 7
different schools and ZERO Championships.
More numbers, if you add all this up it is as
follows: 526-586-2 a very very sad .472%

Rex Ryan said that Brian Schottenheimer would
absolutely be back as offensive coordinator of
the Jets the day after they were ousted in the
AFC Championship for the second consecutive year,
but maybe he should have taken a little time to
think that over. Many Jets fans want Brian's
head on stick, however that's not unusual for fans
these days. It's just that the numbers don't lie
and perhaps they are starting to understand that
having a Schottenheimer in your ranks may not
lead to the type of success you're looking for.