Jetsetting with Brian Schottenheimer

When the Jets hired Rex Ryan to be their new head coach, there was concern that there would be significant turnover on both sides of the ball. That certainly was the case on defense, as the Jets brought in several new defenders who meshed with Ryan's brand of aggressive playcalling, but not on offense. Ryan retained coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, who had been calling plays with the Jets since 2006, giving the team some much-needed offensive continuity.

Still, there is change on the Jets offense. The team traded up in the draft for USC quarterback Mark Sanchez and let veteran wideout Laveranues Coles walk. Adding Sanchez gives the club some hope for the future, but questions persist over whether or not he's ready to take the lead in 2009. Furthermore, the Jets receiving corps never came up with a replacement for Coles, meaning that one of their young receivers must step up or else the passing game won't be nearly as effective as it has been in 2009.

Schottenheimer talked with us about those components of the offense as well as other features and philosophies he'll have going into 2009.

We were glad to see you retained by Rex Ryan. When you discussed the offense with him, did he give his input on what he'd like to see change from last year? He has said that he wants his offense to be all weather, which suggests a run-based offense? Considering the talent you have at running back and on the O-line, is that where you might lean?

Schottenheimer: We've said all along we want to be a balanced attack. Rex and I laugh about being an all-weather offense. Basically that means when teams know we have to run we want to feel comfortable and confident we'll be able to run the ball and when teams know we have to pass we'll be able to throw the ball effectively versus max coverages. Obviously, we play in the Northeast. We play in a division that plays in some bad weather games late in the season. The ability to play in any condition is important to the confidence of the group. I think our run game was something we felt very good about last year, but we also feel good about where we were able to go with the passing game. Again, a balanced attack is what you'll hopefully see from the Jets in the 2009 season.

Has your offensive philosophy changed at all from last year to this year?

Schottenheimer: I think the philosophy on the offense from last year to this year is always changing in terms of the plays you're going to run. You're going to determine your plays based on your personnel, the different personnel packages you have, along with the individual players themselves. We have philosophical beliefs here about wanting to protect the football, wanting to be physical in the running game, wanting to do a great job protecting the passer in the passing game, and obviously trying to feature our playmakers in the passing game. That hasn't changed although the face of what you see will change. Being with Brett [Favre] last year we tried to play a little to his strengths and what he liked and this year we'll be doing the same thing with whichever quarterback is under center and trying to feature the guys that we have around them. We feel very good about those guys as we sit here and look at the roster today.

It's safe to say that you can pencil in Jerricho Cotchery as a starter, but the rest of the receiving corps looks like it's up for grabs. Who impressed you in minicamp?

Schottenheimer: Obviously Jerricho is our No. 1 receiver. We feel very good about that. We feel it's time for him to get that opportunity to showcase his skills.

As we look forward to the season, we have a lot of younger guys we feel very good about. There have been a number of guys that have impressed us not only in the minicamps but also a little bit last year as we got going. Chansi Stuckey is a guy we feel very good about. He played quite a bit of snaps for us last year and had over 30 catches and is having a very good offseason. Brad Smith is a guy that for a couple of years played multiple spots, played him some at quarterback, played him some at receiver, and a lot on special teams. He's developing into his own niche and we feel really good about how he's developed and he's had a terrific spring. David Clowney is another guy we feel very good about, a guy who has done nothing but impress us for two years with how hard he works. He came back off an injury last year and was able to get some playing time late in the season and made a great catch against Buffalo.

I think with Jerricho leading the troops and those three guys competing along with guys like Wallace Wright, Marcus Henry and some of the other guys, we feel really good about where that position is moving into. Obviously the big thing for those guys is consistency and taking advantage of the opportunities they're going to be given, which we think that they'll do.

Dustin Keller was a real nice rookie for you last year. How has he improved this offseason and might he be called on to contribute more?

Schottenheimer: Dustin had a really good first year. I think everybody realized the problems he can create for people in the passing game and that's how we used him a lot last year. Basically he's made improvements this offseason, he's becoming a more complete tight end. Dustin is a guy that gets a bad rap for not being able to block just because he's not 275 pounds, but he's been working really hard in the weight room adding some strength. He's been doing a great job working with Mike Devlin, our tight ends coach, in terms of improving his fundamentals and techniques at the point of attack in the running game. His ability to stay in the game more and to be utilized on almost all downs will give him more opportunities to make plays and his development into a complete tight end is something that we're closely watching and are very excited about as we move forward into the upcoming season.

Could you give me an example or two of how good Mark Sanchez has looked in practice? I know it's too soon to start with the "starter" talk, but are you at least confident that he'll be a capable quarterback in a few years?

Schottenheimer: Mark's done a great job of developing. Every quarterback that comes into this league, they all have their own timetable. It depends a lot on the person. It depends a lot on the situation, what the team has in place at quarterback, what he's surrounded with. It's been more of the complete evaluation from the process leading up to the draft of going to work him out, spending time with him, watching countless hours of film, not only the coaching staff, but the personnel department upstairs, Joey Clinkscales, Terry Bradway, and those guys, and getting him in here and getting to work with him on a day-to-day basis. You see how important it is to the guy, how much he loves the game, how much he loves the preparation part of it, the chess match of it. That's one of the things that you really need is a guy that's confident in his ability and is very hungry to succeed. Mark's done a tremendous job of attacking the playbook trying to pick it up. We feel very good about how he's developed over the course of the spring and we feel very good about he and Kellen going into training camp. We think it will be an exciting quarterback situation to watch and monitor closely.

I love that you guys added Shonn Greene to your roster. What have you seen from him in camp so far? How might you utilize him with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington?

Schottenheimer: I think what Shonn brings to the roster is depth. We all understand initially you need depth at the tailback position. Obviously, along with the offensive line it's one of the most physically demanding positions in pro football. You look at the teams last year that ran the ball really, really well, the Carolina Panthers, they had a couple of backs they featured, the New York Giants obviously had a couple of backs that they featured. I think Shonn gives us another guy that we can try to add to the stable of backs with Leon and Thomas that we feel really good about. He's done a good job of picking up a different system, more of a multiple system, probably than the one he's used to coming from at Iowa. His production at Iowa speaks for itself, so we'll find things for him to do. We're very excited about having Shonn here and adding depth to that position for us.

Would you mind explaining how the improvements on the Jets' defense will ultimately help the offense succeed?

Schottenheimer: I think that any time a team has a defense like we believe we'll have this year helps you. Obviously it's a team game. Football is the greatest team game there is. Unlike in basketball where one guy can take over the game, you need offense, defense, and special teams to play well, to have the best chance to win on Sundays. The first thing that jumps out with how the defense is going to help us is just with our preparation throughout the spring, going into training camp, going against one of the top defenses in the league, not only from a personnel standpoint but from a scheme standpoint, has really been a great benefit to us. Seeing the multiple looks and problems they present has helped us iron out some problems and answer some questions of how we would want to handle some of these things throughout the course of the year. We also feel very good about our ability to play good sound fundamental football on offense. We think if you combine what we can do offensively with the tremendous defense we're going to have and the success we've had in the kicking game this year, that we feel very confident and comfortable going into this season.

Finally, you come from a great football family, obviously. Is it in your mind to eventually become a head coach in the NFL?

Schottenheimer: I have a lot of respect for my father and what he accomplished. I'm very proud of the success he had at this level, but right now I'm extremely happy to be an offensive coordinator for the New York Jets. I just feel really blessed that Rex kept me on board. This is where I wanted to be. This is where my family wanted to be. Right now we're concentrating on trying to have a great offensive, productive season. With the type of guys we have here, both coaches and players on offense, there's not a place I'd rather be heading into this season.

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