Two years ago, the Jets had zeroed in on two candidates in their search to replace Rex Ryan as head coach: Dan Quinn and Todd Bowles.
Both were NFC West defensive coordinators who were hot head-coaching candidates. Both had wowed the Jets’ decision-makers in their interviews. Both were Jersey guys, which was less important than their coaching acumen, but a nice touch to the hire.
As everyone knows, the Jets decided to go with Bowles. Quinn landed with the Falcons. Two years later, Quinn is going to the Super Bowl and Bowles is trying to figure out what went wrong in a 5-11 season.