It was surprising when the Jets hired the recently fired Adam Gase to be their head coach in the first place. Gase himself has doubled down on the surprises as he fills out his coaching staff, including hiring former Lions coordinator Jim Bob Cooter as running backs coach.
The colorfully named coach has never held the position of running backs coach. He began his career as offensive assistant (Colts), Quality Control (Kansas City), offensive assistant (Broncos) and then quarterbacks coach with the Lions. He was promoted to offensive coordinator when Joe Lombardi was fired in 2015, and has served as their coordinator the last four seasons. The offense had its moments, certainly, but not really for its work with running backs (as runners, certainly).
In the last four seasons, the Lions haven't ranked higher than 23rd in rushing -- dead last in two of those years. Last year was the first in his four seasons as coordinator that they reached even 85 rushing yards per game.
| TEAM RUSHING RANKS, 2015-2018 | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Yds(15) | Rk(15) | Yds(16) | Rk(16) | Yds(17) | Rk(17) | Yds(18) | Rk(18) |
| Arizona | 119.8 | 8 | 108.2 | 18 | 86.6 | 30 | 83.9 | 32 |
| Atlanta | 100.4 | 19 | 120.5 | 5 | 115.4 | 13 | 98.3 | 27 |
| Baltimore | 92.4 | 26 | 91.4 | 28 | 116.0 | 11 | 152.6 | 2 |
| Buffalo | 152.0 | 1 | 164.4 | 1 | 126.1 | 6 | 124.0 | 9 |
| Carolina | 142.6 | 2 | 113.4 | 10 | 131.4 | 4 | 133.5 | 4 |
| Chicago | 115.9 | 11 | 108.4 | 17 | 111.8 | 16 | 121.1 | 11 |
| Cincinnati | 112.8 | 13 | 110.6 | 13 | 85.4 | 31 | 105.1 | 21 |
| Cleveland | 95.6 | 22 | 107.9 | 19 | 107.1 | 18 | 118.3 | 14 |
| Dallas | 118.1 | 9 | 149.8 | 2 | 135.6 | 2 | 122.7 | 10 |
| Denver | 107.4 | 17 | 92.8 | 27 | 115.8 | 12 | 119.2 | 12 |
| Detroit | 83.4 | 32 | 81.9 | 30 | 76.3 | 32 | 103.8 | 23 |
| Green Bay | 115.6 | 12 | 106.3 | 20 | 107.8 | 17 | 104.2 | 22 |
| Houston | 108.2 | 15 | 116.2 | 8 | 115.1 | 14 | 126.3 | 8 |
| Indianapolis | 89.9 | 29 | 101.8 | 23 | 103.8 | 22 | 107.4 | 20 |
| Jacksonville | 92.1 | 27 | 101.9 | 22 | 141.4 | 1 | 107.7 | 19 |
| Kansas City | 127.8 | 6 | 109.2 | 15 | 118.9 | 9 | 115.9 | 16 |
| LA Chargers | 84.9 | 31 | 94.4 | 26 | 99.7 | 24 | 117.1 | 15 |
| LA Rams | 122.2 | 7 | 78.2 | 31 | 122.1 | 8 | 139.4 | 3 |
| Miami | 93.5 | 23 | 114.0 | 9 | 86.8 | 29 | 108.6 | 18 |
| Minnesota | 138.2 | 4 | 75.3 | 32 | 122.3 | 7 | 93.3 | 30 |
| New England | 87.8 | 30 | 117.0 | 7 | 118.1 | 10 | 127.3 | 5 |
| New Orleans | 93.2 | 24 | 108.9 | 16 | 129.4 | 5 | 126.6 | 6 |
| NY Giants | 100.6 | 18 | 88.2 | 29 | 96.8 | 26 | 103.1 | 24 |
| NY Jets | 116.8 | 10 | 112.6 | 12 | 106.4 | 19 | 101.4 | 26 |
| Oakland | 91.1 | 28 | 120.1 | 6 | 97.1 | 25 | 101.8 | 25 |
| Philadelphia | 108.9 | 14 | 113.3 | 11 | 132.2 | 3 | 98.1 | 28 |
| Pittsburgh | 107.8 | 16 | 110.0 | 14 | 104.2 | 20 | 90.3 | 31 |
| San Fran | 96.5 | 21 | 126.2 | 4 | 103.9 | 21 | 118.9 | 13 |
| Seattle | 141.8 | 3 | 99.4 | 25 | 101.8 | 23 | 160.0 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay | 135.1 | 5 | 101.0 | 24 | 90.6 | 27 | 95.2 | 29 |
| Tennessee | 92.8 | 25 | 136.7 | 3 | 114.6 | 15 | 126.4 | 7 |
| Washington | 97.9 | 20 | 106.0 | 21 | 90.5 | 28 | 110.9 | 17 |
Fans of the move will point out that the team's best year came last season, with the addition of talented rookie Kerryon Johnson. And of course throughout Cooter's tenure, running backs were active part of the passing game, with Theo Riddick putting up big receiving numbers. So it's not like the Jets won't have viable fantasy prospects. They're a team mentioned as a possible suitor for LeVeon Bell.
Still, it seems like a strange hire: a running backs coach who hasn't held that position before and doesn't have a background of working with a good running game. Considering some of Gase's other hires also look suspect (bringing over Dowell Loggains from Miami to run his offense, as a for instance), it takes a leap of faith to have full confidence in these moves.
--Andy Richardson