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One to Groh on Jets to promote linebackers coach to head coach
Posted: Monday January 24, 2000 01:03 AM
NEW YORK (AP) -- Al Groh, one of the more nondescript assistant coaches in the NFL, is about to take over a high-profile job. The New York Jets are set to announce Groh as their new head coach on Monday. Although he will replace one of the coaching icons of pro football, Bill Parcells, Groh doesn't seem concerned. "I feel very ready for this if were to happen," he told the New York Post. "I don't minimize the size of the job. I'm not trying to make it sound as if I would be taking over at some small high school, but I don't see this as that big a deal." But it will bring to an end three weeks of uncertainty for the franchise. Since the season ended on Jan. 3, the Jets saw:
And now comes the expected elevation of Groh, recommended by Parcells. Groh, the team's linebackers coach, is a former defensive coordinator under Parcells, and wouldn't deviate much from the approach his boss has taken. "It's confirmed by the results," Groh told the newspaper from Mobile, Ala., where he was scouting players in the Senior Bowl. "The system of putting a team together, running a team, the whole thing as it's been spearheaded by Bill is one of the most successful operations in the history of the league. "To be in three different Super Bowls, to resurrect two programs, with New England and the Jets, obviously it works. And all of us that have been in it feel very confident in implementing it if given our own opportunity." Groh is an expert in the Parcells system, which features an aggressive defense with multiple designs, usually run out of a 3-4. He worked under Parcells in 1989 and 1990 with the Giants, winning a Super Bowl. He reunited with Parcells in New England in 1993 as defensive coordinator, but then stepped down to linebackers coach again when Belichick, who spent five years as head coach in Cleveland, joined the Patriots. When both Parcells and Belichick left for the Jets in 1997, Groh came, too. Three years later, he is about to get his first head coaching position since leading Wake Forest from 1981-86. Would Groh feel overshadowed because Parcells is remaining as the organization's football chief? "Some players might say Al is a puppet for Bill," the Daily News reported, quoting a source close to the team. But another disagreed. "Bill will do everything he can to launch Al on a successful cruise," that source said. "If the cruise goes as anticipated, Bill can back off and let it be Al's ship." The Jets also are concerned with continuity, and promoting Groh might keep much of the staff intact. But New York already lost another coach. Romeo Crennel, defensive line coach the past three seasons, accepted an offer Sunday to become the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns.
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