For all the world, it seemed one more banana-peel moment for a franchise that specializes in them. There, behind a makeshift podium, Jets owner Woody Johnson was explaining why he had asked Eric Mangini to leave. And sitting next to him, general manager Mike Tannenbaum was explaining how it could be that he’d been allowed to remain.
“I felt we had to make a move,” the owner said.
“I think we have a championship foundation in place,” the GM said.
One more time, it seemed, the Jets had fumbled the snap, gone half-way and gotten something half right. Nobody had a problem with Mangini going; it was Tannenbaum staying that seemed a goofy plan. They had been christened the Kiddie Korps, two precocious football lifers joined at the hip, close friends and closer associates, both of them trained in the various Kremlinesque stylings of Bill Parcells and Bill Belichick. It was hard to decipher where one ended and the other began.
What we knew — or thought we knew — about Tannenbaum was this: He had closed the ill-fated deal for Brett Favre. He had allowed Chad Pennington to end up with another team in his own division, when he clearly could have prevented that. He had drafted Kellen Clemens as his quarterback of the future. He had drafted Vernon Gholsten. He had hired Mangini. And he had spent an awful lot of Johnson’s money, with one playoff loss to show for it.
At that press conference, I asked Johnson this question: “Did you consider completely cleaning house when you made up your minds that a change needed to be made?”
“No,” the owner said, without pause. “I didn’t. I’m very comfortable with Mike.”
It seemed the worst kind of hedge on Johnson’s bet, a wager that was as large as ever thanks to the new stadium and all those available seats. Only, as it turns out, Johnson really did know his football operation better than anyone else did, or could. He really did know that it was Mangini who was the poisonous strain. Even mild-mannered Darrelle Revis pointed out after the Jets’ 24-14 win over the Bengals on Saturday, saying Mangini treated his team like “high school players.”
Most telling, Johnson really did have faith in Tannenbaum: That he saw a matching success for every failure; that he saw the drafting of Revis as every bit the positive that Gholsten was the negative; that Nick Mangold and D’Brickashaw Ferguson would bolster Tannenbaum’s draft acumen; that the $150 million he had approved to lure Calvin Pace, Kris Jenkins and Alan Faneca would ultimately prove to be money well spent. But even that was merely prologue.
Because since the moment Johnson stubbornly — if not defiantly — retained Tannenbaum, the GM has enjoyed a year not unlike the one Jerry Reese enjoyed in his first season as the Giants’ GM in 2007, when every one of the picks from his first draft wound up contributing to their Super Bowl championship.
Tannenbaum’s presence meant that high-profile coaching candidates like Bill Cowher and Mike Shanahan and Mike Holmgren, men who would seek enormous influence and power, would want no part of the Jets. That sparked a shattering spasm of outrage. Then he eschewed a hefty list of experience, topped by Marty Schottenheimer, Brian Billick and Jon Gruden. And then targeted Rex Ryan, lacking even one day of head-coaching experience.
“I think we found the perfect guy for this team,” Tannenbaum said. He was right.
On draft day, Tannenbaum moved up 12 spots in the first round and surrendered two picks and three players to draft Mark Sanchez, his second stab at identifying a franchise quarterback. Later, he moved up 11 slots in the third round for three more picks, and tabbed running back Shonn Greene out of Iowa.
“That was not our plan,” Tannenbaum said at the time, of making two such bold moves. “But we just felt it was a compelling opportunity.” And was right again. Twice.
Saturday, it was Ryan who inspired the Jets with his confidence and his competence, it was Sanchez who ignited the offense with a poise beyond his years, and it was Greene who turned the game around with a 39-yard tying touchdown scamper on his way to 135 yards rushing. Suddenly, it seems Johnson isn’t the only one comfortable with Tannenbaum.
An energized fan base would have to admit as much, too. Sometimes, the owner really does know his team better than anyone else.