Todd Bowles won’t cut corners as head coach of Jets

In hiring Todd Bowles to be their next head coach, the New York Jets didn’t want to let the pendulum swing too far the other way, a team source told Metro on Wednesday. In Bowles they feel that they have a happy medium as they begin their transition from former head coach Rex Ryan.

Ryan, the affable and goofy and uber-player’s coach, was a dream for anyone on the roster as he allowed an environment that was comfortable both publicly and privately. Players are quick to say that he wasn’t a lackadaisical head coach, just that his persona as a head coach who didn’t criticize players and who let affections get in the way at times was very true. In Bowles, the Jets have a former NFL veteran with a resume that spends over two decades as an assistant as well as three games as an interim head coach.

They believe, in the words of a league source familiar with the team’s thinking during this process, that they “found a man in Todd who brings accountability but doesn’t line-up too far from the Rex years.” Ryan was criticized in years past for having a “Club Med” mentality to running the team and even wrote in his autobiography about the perception that the inmates ran the asylum.

There is a history for Bowles with his new team as he was the Jets secondary coach in 2000. In 2011, as interim head coach of the Dolphins, he had a 2-1 record, showing that he has some chops to be a head coach in this league.

The organization was “blessed,” in the words of a team source, to hire Bowles – whose second interview with the Jets this week left them impressed.

“He outlined a vision. He spoke well and clearly. You got the sense that he wasn’t going to cut corners,” the team source said. “He is big on accountability. I think everyone in that [interview] room knows that it is important in the NFL today to have a player’s respect but to understand that these are grown men, professionals. But you don’t want to swing too far from where this team was at and has been the past six years. Todd, to me, provided that balance. The players will love him, but he’s not a drill master. That’s important when you look at where this team has come from.”

The source wouldn’t criticize Ryan or his handling of the team, only to say that “Bowles will resonate with the players on this team, but he will provide discipline and a high level of expectations.”