Approval Ratings: Mike Westhoff
Over the next few days, we want to hear from you about players, coaches and front office staff and whether you approve or disapprove of their contributions to the team. Basically, do you want them to stay on in 2010?
Mike Westhoff’s 2009 Highlights:
- Stayed on once Rex was hired.
- Attracted Larry Izzo back to the Jets (for good or ill?).
- Pooh-poohed the term ‘wedge buster.’
- Figured out a plan to get the ball out of Ryan Mouton’s hands against the Titans.
- Used the fake punt to great acclaim.
- Was crushed by Ted Ginn’s two returns at the Meadowlands.
- His unit had an ‘unholy trinity‘ of errors.
- Got his unit’s mind right before the Panthers game.
- Got a blocked kick against the Colts.
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53 Responses to Approval Ratings: Mike Westhoff
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SackDance99 says:
I voted to approve, but special teams breakdowns did contribute mightily to the home losses against Miami and Atlanta. I say a C+.
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I approved his rating but think he needs to improve from this past season. Especially on kickoffs and giving the teams good field position.
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TJBfan (twitter @infresco4) says:
i think our special teams excels in all areas besides punting. I approve but I want to see a great punter on this team soon!
special teams did cause me a bet and taunting from two dolphin fans who attended our home game with me last season though :(
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Play Like a JET says:
I would argue that Westy has been a BIG part of whatever success the team has had over the past decade. Year in year out, the special teams units are some of the most prepared and top performers in the league.
As far as the aberrations this season, I question more the HC’s game-day personnel decisions than Westy’s coaching on those days when the unit seemingly wasn’t at its best.
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I approved, but this must have been his unit’s worst season since miami dumped him (what a dumb move that was!). But you have to love his creativity and toughness. Not sure how much a mediocre punter is his fault. If you gave rex 11 gholstens, how good would the D be??
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BubbyBrister/shovelpass says:
I voted against. I think Westoff’s reputation as being a top teir Special Teams coach is over stated. His personal life victory(s) aside, I haven’t been overly impressed with him lately. Perhaps it may have more to do with Leon’s absence, but isn’t adversity the time when a good coach shines?
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ramble914 says:
Overall I approve, but this was a rough year. The two Ginn TD returns were a killer, as was the FG misses.
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Hey Bubby Brister,
Why do you continue to use that name? Doesn’t that conjure the “Same Old Jets” mentality? Why would you want to keep rehashing that awful period of Jets history? There are so many more positive/happier memories you could extract a user name from.
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Sarge says:
Mike Westhoff has been one of the consistently good/great things about this team. When THIS YEAR is the worst we’ve had in special teams in a while(not counting Doug Brien: Live in Pittsburgh ’05), I think things are going pretty well on that side of the ball. With Leon out, an admirable job was done. I think he has the job until he decides to retire.
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JayM says:
I approved but I wonder how do you blame the coach when a player misses the tackle? All a coach can do is put his players in the position to make the tackle the rest is left up to the player not the coach.
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Maybe I’ll change my user name to:
AaronGlennFakeSpike
RichKotite1-15
BlairThomasMNFFumble
MarkGastineauLateHit KosarThat will show how I feel about the team!
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Also, in response to Bubby’s post about facing adversity, I’m willing to give him a pass this year on the Leon thing as not only did he lose his top kick returner, they were already adapting to an entirely new scheme of blocking on kick returns. So now you have a backup kick returner reading blocks they’ve never seen on kickoffs before, and that’s that. Once Smith got a hold of it you could see how it works when executed properly.
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It was an off-year by our high Westhoff standards, but any sort of rankings I saw for special teams in the NFL, the Jets were still in the Top 10-15 overall.
As others have said, we’ve been spoiled by how great he’s been over the past decade. Even his “off-year” is still better than 2/3 of the NFL.
I approve, and hope he continues to have his teams eating white lightning and crapping green thunder!!!!!
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ekill says:
westhoff is the best special teams coach in the game. f your voted against him you probably dont know anything about the jets and jsut jumped on the bandwagon with the playoff run.
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Harvlis says:
Westhoff has to do the best with what he is given. He has a been given a mediocre punter, his best returner broke his leg, some of his key coverage players were traded away, and yet our special teams was rated among the best in the league. How many times did the special teams make big plays this past season. I love this guy.
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I have been hearing that Westoff is the best ST coach in the league for 10 years now. But we have yet to have a consistent punter and before J feely our FG kicker werent that great either under Westoff.
Not to mention that he hated Ben Graham and he went on to have 2 very good years in Arizona after a roller coaster career for us.
Now when we have very good return units (return & coverage) you tend to forget these things
Westoff had an awful year….AWFUL year. His units lost 2 games by themsleves. I like Westoff and think he is a good overall coach but he was flat out bad this year.
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ekill
Would you like to explain why Westoff is the best ST coach in the league? I know I always hear fans and people say that but i would love for your explanation since youre questioning what people know about the Jets.
I like Westoff but someone will have to tell me how the best ST coach in the league has never had a good punter or FG for almost all of his years as Jets ST coach. Lets not forget that Leon had a bad year returning before he got hurt.
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Drew,
Does Westhoff choose his punter. I don’t think so. I believe Mangini brought Graham from Austrailian football. Weatherford was the best of a group of journeymen that the Jets looked at in pre-season. I am sure that Westhoff would prefer someone better. To blame him for our string or inconsistent punters is not right. I don’t know why the Jets got rid of Graham but, he did have a great season in 2009. Maybe, it was due to a contract scenario.
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Harvlis
So when does the “best special team coach” in the league take a hit for not having a consistent punter or until recently a consistent FG kicker in all of the years he has been here?
He has as much say as any coach in the league in who are the players in his unit. Again, I am not a Westoff hater but he is the guy who gets all of the praise when a fake punt works or when Leon return a kick for a score but he dosent get any balme for the awful punting and kicking we have had since he arrived?
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Snakeman says:
Like Regan, Mike Westhoff is the “Teflon” Coach in my mind – somehow I don’t blame him for any of the special team unit’s breakdowns this year (willful ignorance). Approve
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Ramble – You may be right. But like most on this site (in my case…40+ years), I’m a “tortured” and “twisted” Jets fan. Just ask 96debacle, Harvlis, JAGG, etc…they know. At the end of 2008, I was completely comfortable with the negativity of my user name. The Ed(itor) would agree with me on that. But while I feel all the optimism after a successful 2009, I don’t see the urgent need to change it right now. So, I’ve told myself that when the second SB championship comes, I’ll change it. I promise.
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awe, shucks…thanks, AKA…Drew.
Let’s all hope the karma of ol’ number six changes (see Bubby, Ray Lucas, et al)
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brian311 says:
he was far from perfect this year – i would go with a B-. if we could find a punter, that grade would be a lot higher. the disaster vs the dolphins is well documented, but the unit won us the titans game, and perhaps the 1st indy game. also played a huge role in 2nd half of the 1st pats game
my take is the team is better with him than without him
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Bent says: I kinda like Bubby’s name, because he’s never been a negative poster, so the name comes across as a reminder of the tougher times that are now behind us. There’s nothing wrong with wearing your thru-thick-and-thin dyed-in-the-wool fanship as a badge of honor. Better that than a bandwagon fan, who complains when things go badly and trashes the guys the true fans have been rooting for for years.
(Note: that wasn’t aimed at anyone in particular).
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Rollercoaster says:
I gotta vote disapprove. He’s a good coach, but ST definitely lost a couple of games this year. Hopefully we can pick it up this upcoming season.
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Drew – I agree, the media sometimes gives Westhoff the praise for a play that works in our favor when, in reality, it was a great individual effort. On the other hand, he should not be criticized for every play that works against us.
What Westhoff brings to the table is consistency. His coverage and return teams are solid every season. We always have good protection on punts and field goals. Our success rate on fakes, on-side kicks, and situational kicks is quite good. He always has the team prepared and pumped up. We were recently rated fifth in the league by a writer from Texas who puts out a yearly special teams review.
We can definitely improve on our special teams but, that has to do with personnel. As for coaching, we are not going to do much better than Westhoff.
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Bent – thanks for the props, and for “getting it”…
oh, and for forgetting what I wrote to ‘nicholas’ that one time…LOL
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Harvlis
I am just being a little critical on Westoff because of the Punting and FG kicking that has been a problem for this team for years. I know he is a good coach and wouldnt want him replaced….
I just dont understand how someone can be soundly named the “best in the league” but has the same problems with a large portion of our special teams almost every year.
For the most part his coverage and returns have done well (excluding last season) which was not good. I think he is getting a pass on the return game since the wedge rule was put in….. Leon was not doing much before he got injured.
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Ed says:
Approve. I agree with those above who say anyone who voted against doesn’t understand the game very well. Yes, our ST had a rough year, and so did Mike. Guess we should get rid of everyone who has a bad year. I know things will improve this season and I have full faith in Mike, as does Ryan and the organization.
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head_coach says:
i like westy but i totally disaprove. We lost a game”s” on special teams. I dont think it is his fault all of the time but i think his ego has something to do with it. Like putting little Danny Woodhead to make tackles. That doesnt seem right. Like using Jerchico Cotchery to field punts. What if he gets hurt. Why not use Woodhead or Brad Smith. Then letting Feely get in on tackles and i dont mind him getting physical but he should stay back and be the safety net. Then losing him losing the game for us in the Afc Champ. We should have punted to keep Manning back. OHHH and dont get me on punting cause i dont know if our punter is playing kick ball or special teams. I could go on and on but i just dont see why he should just be givin the pass. Special Teams is “Special” because it is like we are handycapped. First Shotty gets a pass now this. And let me go on the record and say I DO LIKE WESTY before i receive death threats from the TJB faithfull.
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Old Rich says:
He’s been very good but needs a comeback year. The loss of Leon and that stupid wedge rule obviously hurt.
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While the Jets have had good FG kickers now and then, they’ve never had a good punter in his prime. I have no idea why punter for the Jets is like Spinal Tap’s drummer. Maybe it’s time to use a 7th rounder on the best punter or make it a focus in UDFA signings. With the Jets defense, a punter that consistently puts the ball @ the 20 would be invaluable.
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Bent says:
They did – TJ Conley was the top rated punter with a 7th round grade. I’m as baffled as you are as to why he (and everyone else they’ve tried) wouldn’t pan out.
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Did you know that the record for longest punt ever is held by a Jet? Steve O’Neill – 98 yards. Unfortunately, he wasn’t any good either and just got lucky with a punt from the one that took a great bounce and rolled to the other team’s one.
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Maybe the Jets should go back down under and get another Aussie. Graham was inconsistent and never fufilled his initial promise, but he could boom them. I looked it up, the Jets best punter of all-time? Tom Tupa in 1999 was both in the Pro Bowl and was named a 1st team All-Pro and, for you old-timers, Curley Johnson made the AFL Pro Bowl in 1965 and is probably the Jets overall best punter of all-time because he lasted 7 years as the punter with a 42.5 average…not bad for punting in Shea. With Jim Turner (maybe the AFL’s best kicker) and Johnson, the Jets had a great kicking game in 1968…hmmm, didn’t something else happen then?
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Bent says:
That O’Neal kick apparently caught a gust of wind and carried 75 yards through the air. Third place is (or was) Randall Cunningham, whose quick kick rolled for over half of its 90 yards.
What about Dave Jennings? He was reliable enough.
And Joe Prokop deserves a mention for his fake FG runs and the most painful looking injury I’ve ever seen!
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Jennings was great as a Giant, but just okay as a Jet. Chuck Ramsey was around for a long time (8 seasons), but wasn’t all that good (40.0 avg.). Jennings was with the Jets for 3 years and was a little worse (39.3 avg. over 2 yards less than his Giants average). They were back-to-back, so that’s over a decade of mediocre punting.
Bent, do you remember why the Jets got rid of Tupa? He ended his career 3 years after leaving the Jets in 2001 and averaged over 43 yards, which was his Jets average. He had a down year in 2001, but he rebounded and had a good run end to his career.
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Bent says:
Tupa was the NFL’s highest salaried punter when he signed a 4 year deal for $6.1m in 1999. His down year in 2001 was largely due to injuries, but the team needed to get under the cap and he was no longer kicking like the best paid punter in the league.
One of his final contributions was rescuing a rare errant James Dearth snap to salvage John Hall’s 53yd FG to beat the Raiders and get the Jets into the postseason.
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Bent,
Thanks, I figured it was cap related. Hard to believe that Tupa was the gold-standard for Jets punters.
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Add to Tupa’s resume that he played some QB – good enough to beat the pats on Vinny’s achilles day, if not for mirer.
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zenlaw says:
Ekill made a comment that I thought was funny. He said, “if you voted against him [Westoff] you probably dont know anything about the jets and jsut jumped on the bandwagon with the playoff run.”
I highly doubt anyone reading and commenting on TJB in the middle of Feb is a “fair weather fan.” Those fair weather fans have without question, at least for now, jumped off the bandwagon. Only Jets geeks like ourselves are commenting on Jets blogs in the dead of winter.
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Bent says:
I would say that most of the disapprove votes would probably still say yes to the question “basically, do you think they should remain on the team…”
I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone call for his head.
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Eddie DiGio says:
He didnt have the best season this year as ST Cord but in his tenure here at times it would be hard to have found a better ST coach in all of football
The greatest players have down years and so do the greatest coaches
The guy also had to adjust to some rule changes after Belicheat cried like a little girl because Westy’s STs owned his precious little Pats
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James in TN says:
I disapproved because we don’t have a legit punter and he put Cotchery in as a PR. I like him, but this year was not very good in the special team dept.
Care to argue?
My rebuttal:
Ted Ginn: 2 TD returns, and we kick to him again.
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He still should be with the team, I just want improvement on coverage and a decent punter.
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Bent says:
I actually don’t mind the decision to make Cotch return punts when Leonhard was hurt. How many did he drop? None. Would that have been the case with someone less sure-handed with no PR experience in the pros? That’s what every other player on the roster was. Good kick returners can’t always catch a punt. Leon muffed a big one against the Raiders last year, Miller looked totally uncomfortable under there are Lowery fumbled 3 in one game in preseason.
One muff could have ended the Jets season months earlier than it actually did, so in the absence of a gamebreaker, you have to put the safest pair of hands back there. I’m sure Leonhard will get the job back unless they draft a specialist.
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Not the best of years for Westhoff, but he continues to do ell in designing return games. The Jets have had outstanding return guys the last few years from Miller to Leon to Smith and the alot of the credit goes to coaching. He was dealt a bad hand with some or the roster decisions such as cutting Carroll, constantly activating Clowney, burying Murrell, keeping Woodhead and the Ghost active, etc…Rex paid much less attention to specials than Mangini did and I think that is a big reason why we saw so many coverage issues this year.
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NamVetJet says:
Westy obviously striking a nerve with Drew. Should we put you down as an approve?
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john l says:
dissaprove in 2009……like anything else this is a “what have you done for me lately league.
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yea bent but what if he got hurt?
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Bent says:
Obviously that’s the risk you take, but I don’t think there’s any more risk of being hurt returning punts than catching passes and running with the ball. Plenty of teams have important players returning kicks, whereas some have guys like Ryan Mouton doing it he ended up costing them a game which would have put them in the playoffs.
I’ve always like Mike, and I think his physical fight back is an inspiration to the players.