Is Kevin O’Dea’s Job in Trouble?
Mike Lombardi an accomplished former exec and writer, blogs on National Football Post that Jets Special Teams Coach Kevin O’Dea might be on the verge of losing his job to …
wait for it …
Mike Westhoff.
Here’s what Lombardi writes on NFP, a fairly new (to me), but fairly awesome football blog:
The New York Football Jets are in very serious discussions with Mike Westoff to bring him back as their special teams coach. Kevin O’Dea replaced Westoff after the season and it appears the Jets are very unhappy about the work he has done so far. Stay tuned.
Wow. I know this news would make TJB writer R in CT a very … very happy man.
O’Dea is in a tough position … no one is Mike Westhoff and anyone is a downgrade. O’Dea might be good at his job (although the Jets don’t seem to think so, according to Lombardi) but he’s just no Westhoff — a guy who might be one of the best special teams coaches in the past 10 years. Its kind of like the Jets are going from prime rib to bad imitation of prime rib who gets to claim Devin Hester and RObbie Gould on his resume.
WIth the additions that the team has made this offseason, it’s clear that they are very serious about not only getting competitive in the AFC East, but the whole league. This could get very, very interesting if they were to make a replacement this close to the start of the season. Also stay tuned to what this could mean for special teams contributors.
14 Responses to Is Kevin O’Dea’s Job in Trouble?
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nelson17 says:
This is great news in 2 fronts, I hope this means Westhoff is doing well physically and that he could also help the Jets putrid ST thus far, what has happened to Nugent? He has taken a step back even though its 2 preseason games
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Dylan says:
This may not be saying much since it’s only 4:00 AM, but this made my day. I hope it’s true, Westhoff is amazing.
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Aww come on nyckage, it’s not like he’s an actual player. He can just sit on the sidelines if his leg’s acting up. This is the stuff wet dreams are made of. If Westhoff comes back I will be so happy. All we have left is to decide what to do with Nugent. Are there any free-agent kickers out there? If we get another Doug Brien…
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nelson17 hit the nail on the head — this would be great for multiple reasons, not the least of which is it means there’s been an improvement in Westhoff’s health.
I think it’s a little early to criticize O’Dea — it is preseason, so far — but his strength was supposed to be working with kickers. Hmm …
If this is true — and I stress “if” — and Westhoff comes back, I’d be thrilled! A coach of his caliber is priceless.
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Andrew Weiss says:
Hate to see anybody lose his job but Camp wasn’t the same without the Cane. They’ve clearly had some issues on STs so far in preseason. I’d welcome him back.
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The Ed(itor) says:
This is GREAT NEWS if true. Now if we could only replace Sutton at D Coordinator!
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Has anyone heard from Westoff since he retired? I would love to hear that he was doing well and was ready to get back on the sidleines. It’s not a coincidence how well the Jets ST’s played when he arrived from Miami.
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swizzle81 says:
I went to one of the first few practices at hofstra this year and I noticed Westhoff riding a bike around the practice facility and a couple of reporters noticed too, no joke. This will be great if he is healthy enough to come back.
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RK says:
The NFP also mentions Merriman’s knee problem which may bode well for week 3 if he’s out. Also Peyton Manning’s injury is a concern.
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kixworld says:
SUTTON MUST GO SUTTON MUST GO SUTTON MUST GO DID I FORGET TO MENTION THAT SUTTON MUST GO GUYS IN 2 YEARS SUTTON BEEN HERE OUR DEF IS LIKE A ROLLOR COASTER HE IS THE ONLY THING STANDING IN OUR WAY ………………….HE CAN NOT RUN THIS DEF I HOPE HE AND OUR DEF PROVE MR WRONG BUT THEY WONT.,….. SP WE HAVE A BIG PROBLEM HERE 2 GAMES OP STARTING AT THE 35 OR BETTER AND US AT THE 25 IS NOT ONLY INSANE BUT JUST NOT OUR STYLE.
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DaveTN says:
How could the Jets be that unhappy with a guy when they haven’t actually played a down yet this season? Did he hit on Manginis wife or something crazy like that? Very strange.
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CaneJet says:
Well, Westhoff was on with Joe Rose down here in Mia-muh (Davie, actually) back on August 6. He visited his old pal Parcells. He did hint about coming back (but not exactly where to). Here’s a link to the interview…scroll down to where it says “Mike Westhoff with Big Dog 8-6″
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mole57 says:
Daily News has confirmed that Westoff is back and O’Dea will remain with the team (probably as an assitant to Westoff).
well if you ask me westoff is the best at his job but i wouldnt want to bring him early and risk his safety, he did have surgery and he needs a year to recover , but if he recovers early which i hope he does maybe we can have O’ Dea as the assistant special teams coach and maybe ha can some day have leon washington and mike nugent on his resume ( ok maybe not nugent , if he has another average season he will most likely be out of here so we can waste another 2nd Rd on a kicker ) and maybe O Dea can learn stuff from westoff assuming westoff comes back