Sanchez and Schottenheimer Form a Crucial Jets Bond - NY Times

sunnygs97 · Aug 27, 2010

August 26, 2010
Sanchez and Schottenheimer Form a Crucial Jets Bond

By GREG BISHOP
CORTLAND, N.Y. — The offensive coordinator of the Jets and his latest pupil seem like kindred spirits, not friends exactly but men inspired by each other, driven by each other and bonded by a mutual obsession: the finer points of playing quarterback.

The coordinator is Brian Schottenheimer. At his core, he remains a quarterbacks coach. One day, he will probably coach an N.F.L. team, but in January he declined to be interviewed for Buffalo’s head coaching vacancy. The major reason? Quarterback Mark Sanchez.

Each day, Sanchez spends as much time with Schottenheimer as he does with anyone else in the organization. They go out for steak dinners and quote lines from Adam Sandler comedies. They act, according to Schottenheimer’s wife, Gemmi, like her third and fourth children, football-lost boys, fully grown.

As they enter a second season, Sanchez would not be in this position — poised for a campaign far better than his first, recovered from knee surgery — without Schottenheimer. And Schottenheimer might not have been here — coaching Jets, not Bills — without Sanchez. Theirs is perhaps the Jets’ most important relationship. No wonder it is featured prominently this preseason in a story line on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.”

“Brian is the kind of guy who finishes what he starts,” Gemmi Schottenheimer said. “How Mark performs is definitely a reflection on Brian. There’s so much potential there. And a lot of unfinished business.”

Schottenheimer became enamored of Sanchez when Sanchez dined with a Jets contingent, including the owner Woody Johnson, in Los Angeles shortly before the 2009 N.F.L. draft. For two hours, Sanchez charmed them with humor, confidence and charisma, at least until he left the restaurant and straddled a nearby motorcycle.

Sanchez was joking. But for Schottenheimer, the scene was love at first fright. He called his wife immediately.

“I don’t know why, Gemmi, I can’t explain it,” Schottenheimer recalled saying. “But he reminds me so much of Drew.”

By that, Schottenheimer meant Drew Brees, the quarterback he coached in San Diego, the man he considers one of his best friends, the player he still speaks to before each game. The comparison startled Gemmi Schottenheimer, because her husband had handed his highest compliment to a quarterback he had just met.

“That’s when I knew they could be special,” she said.

The two spent the off-season strengthening their bond. Schottenheimer, along with the offensive line coach Bill Callahan, arranged for the retired quarterback Rich Gannon to tutor Sanchez. Brees and Sanchez also spoke.

Last spring, Schottenheimer and the Jets quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh flew to visit University of Washington Coach Steve Sarkisian, who was Sanchez’s offensive coordinator at Southern California. Wanting Sanchez to take ownership of their system and to feel comfortable, the Jets coaches followed Sarkisian’s advice and added a half-dozen routes to their playbook.

As Sanchez recovered from surgery on his left knee, he often spent full days at team headquarters, wiling away afternoons with the men he calls Schotty and Coach Cav. They worked to give him a deeper understanding of the offense, the playbook and the history of quarterbacks.

“They started to develop a relationship beyond coach-player,” Cavanaugh said. “There’s a legitimate friendship there.”

As training camp approached, Schottenheimer asked Sanchez to compile a list of goals. He expected Sanchez to rush through it, but nearly a week passed before he turned it in. That thought process impressed Schottenheimer as another sign of progress.

Once Sanchez’s knee had healed, they spent hours together concentrating on footwork and installing the internal clock that Sanchez often lacked last season. Schottenheimer wants Sanchez to throw after two or three progressions, even if out of bounds.

“All off-season he was teaching, teaching, teaching,” Sanchez said. “But not just like a coach. More like a friend, like a father, like a brother. That’s the way our bond is now.”

Initially, their relationship was more structured, and as it fluctuated over the course of last season, so did the Jets’ offense.

Despite Schottenheimer’s immediate comfort with Sanchez, the quarterback had much to learn. He too often locked in on receivers. Under pressure, he carried the ball like a loaf of bread. He struggled to let go of mistakes.

“There were times last year when I didn’t know exactly what he wanted,” Sanchez said. “Or he had no idea exactly what I was going to do. And that’s not good.”

Eventually, Schottenheimer adjusted his coaching style to suit Sanchez’s strengths. He deduced that Sanchez learned best when active, by drawing plays or acting them out. Whenever Sanchez seemed sluggish, Schottenheimer moved the quarterback meetings onto the field to walk through plays instead of talking through them.

After Sanchez threw five interceptions against Buffalo on Oct. 18, Schottenheimer called him to commiserate. By then, the Jets had scaled back the offense, and Coach Rex Ryan installed a color-coded scheme to remind Sanchez of the importance of ball security.

The turning point came Dec. 20 against Atlanta. Sanchez threw three interceptions in that game, but after one of them, he responded quickly with a deep touchdown pass to receiver Braylon Edwards. Sanchez turned immediately toward Schottenheimer and pointed. The Jets lost, 10-7, but Schottenheimer had learned something.

“That’s when I knew that Mark had it in him to respond,” Schottenheimer said.

Jets offensive players said that Schottenheimer reopened the playbook in the playoffs, adding more responsibility for Sanchez. “Schotty showed more confidence in Mark in the playoffs than he did in the regular season,” Edwards said. “And Mark was clearly a different player.”

The result was a trip to the A.F.C. championship game and this season’s heightened expectations.

Sanchez and his coordinator share much in common — both come from close families, with strong fathers who provided great influence, although both are on some level their mother’s son — and they revel in their shared obsession with all things quarterback.

Schottenheimer said he sometimes bolts from bed in the middle of the night to scribble down formations or talking points. Sanchez often compares notes with him.

For all their mutual admiration, Schottenheimer remains in charge. Sometimes, to the delight of veteran teammates, he lets Sanchez have it. Other times, Schottenheimer guides with a softer touch.

In both ways, Schottenheimer reminds Sanchez of his father, Nick, a disciplinarian who taught Sanchez focus and self-awareness with love best described as tough.

“Listen, Mark is becoming the face of the franchise,” Cavanaugh said. “He’s well known. He’s highly paid. He’s got a lot going for him. We need to remind him every once in a while that he hasn’t got it figured out.”

In the off-season Sanchez and Schottenheimer attended baseball’s All-Star Game and an N.B.A. finals game. They developed inside jokes, and sometimes they seem as if they are speaking their own language.

To LaDainian Tomlinson, who played in San Diego during Schottenheimer’s time there, the relationship seemed familiar. It was like Schottenheimer and Brees, all over again.

Now, Sanchez finishes Schottenheimer’s play calls as well as his sentences. Schottenheimer predicts Sanchez will record superior numbers this season, even if his preseason performance so far has been sluggish.

Evidence of the importance of their relationship is displayed in Schottenheimer’s basement. Each year, Gemmi frames an autographed jersey from one of her husband’s favorite players. Last year, she added a Sanchez jersey to a collection that includes those of Brees, Chad Pennington, Philip Rivers and Brett Favre.

Sanchez provided a game jersey, worn and torn and stained and meaningful. More evidence of progress.
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http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/sports/football/27jets.html?_r=2

rholt168 · Aug 27, 2010

Great article. The New York Times is head and shoulders above some of these other hacks.

MadBacker Prime · Aug 27, 2010

Great read, love hearing some positive stuff these days.

The only thing it was missing was Darrelle Revis. lol

lamont_jordan_rules · Aug 27, 2010

... good stuff ...

... if we see the results on the field, this will be what allows us to go to the dance ...

l_j_r

DonnieBaseball23 · Aug 27, 2010

Bishop is probably the best Jets writer out there... His quality of work is above and beyond everyone else.

TommyGreen · Aug 27, 2010

“They started to develop a relationship beyond coach-player,” Cavanaugh said.
Click to expand...

I'm hoping just a friendship.

Nacho Sanchez · Aug 27, 2010

The best decision Schotty made was staying with this team and not persuing another head coaching position for another team.

Im sure it wasnt easy for him and i for one am thankful Rex managed to keep him here

kinghenry89 · Aug 27, 2010

Schottenheimer takes to much criticism from Jets fans I think. The guy knows what he's doing.

That said, hopefully this is our last season with him--because if we have a great season, he'll probably get his shot at being a Head Coach.

milo · Aug 27, 2010

TommyGreen said: ↑

I'm hoping just a friendship.
Click to expand...

As long as it doesn't involve peanut butter and "your dog"...

JetFanInMD · Aug 27, 2010

Thanks for posting this. I am really starting to like the Ryan regime. This is the first time I can remember really being happy with the Jets coaching staff. I hope Ryan sticks around for a while.

fozzi58 · Aug 27, 2010

Great article.

Hopefully if they do well again, Schotty will stay on. You would be surprised how much better it is to build up a resume of successful years and then pick the coaching job you want. With the Defense Rex/Pettine are putting on the feild, it will help the O look better than most team's O's.

If the Jets have a half decade of playoff appearances with the same O & D Co-ords, either one of those guys can basically pick the next team they want to be an HC of...

jcluttrell · Aug 27, 2010

Great read!

fenwyr · Aug 27, 2010

fozzi58 said: ↑

Great article.

Hopefully if they do well again, Schotty will stay on. You would be surprised how much better it is to build up a resume of successful years and then pick the coaching job you want. With the Defense Rex/Pettine are putting on the feild, it will help the O look better than most team's O's.

If the Jets have a half decade of playoff appearances with the same O & D Co-ords, either one of those guys can basically pick the next team they want to be an HC of...
Click to expand...

Could not agree more. Pettine gets lost in some discussions. I think he might be the price of having our team on Hard Knocks, but I hope you're right and they wait for the best job. Schotty almost went to Buffalo? Been there, kill me if I ever have to go back.

Red Menace · Aug 27, 2010

Not to rain on the parade, but while it was a positive article, it was very general, nothing we did not know already, however the article mentioned the Jets AFC Championship game was due to BS opening up the playbook, that is not true, the Jets minimized his throws to 20 or under and relied on the running game and defense to get them to the championship game.

I do hope Sanchez progresses this year but we have seen BS and this offense for quite some time now and honestly I hope he gets a job somewhere else, it has been posted here many times already BS runs a very unproductive scheme. Honestly I really did not think we would be talking about BS this soon.

Go Jets

Sanchez and Schottenheimer Form a Crucial Jets Bond - NY Times

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