Shortly after they capped off a 4-12 campaign, the New York Jets announced Todd Bowles will not return to the team in 2019.
The New York Jets will not retain head coach Todd Bowles for the 2019 season.
The team made the announcement in a Sunday night statement, hours after the conclusion of their 2018 campaign.
“I would like to thank Coach Bowles for his dedication to the New York Jets for the last four years,” Jets Chairman/CEO Christopher Johnson says in the statement. “After carefully evaluating the situation, I have concluded that this is the right direction for the organization to take. I would like to wish Todd, (Bowles’ wife) Taneka and their family only the best.”
General manager Mike Maccagnan is expected to stay, as the statement concludes with the promise of “Maccagnan will work closely with Johnson on the search for a new head coach”.
Bowles’ four-year term ends with a 24-40 mark, his win tally ranking eighth in team history. He took over the job from Rex Ryan in 2015 and opened with a 10-5 start. A playoff trip, however, was not to be, as the Jets lost a win or go home scenario against the Buffalo Bills in the final week of the season. Since then, the Jets amassed a 14-34 record, the third-worst mark in the NFL in that span. That includes a 4-12 season concluded on Sunday afternoon in New England, where the Jets dropped a 38-3 decision to the New England Patriots.
Bowles had been mum in commenting on his job as the season went on. Several defensive players stood up for Bowles, himself a former NFL defender, as speculation increased.
After an eight-year playing career, primarily with the Washington Redskins, Bowles’ first NFL coaching job came with the Jets in 2000, where he served as the secondary coach. He would go on to spend over a decade as an assistant coach with five different teams. That stretch culminated with defensive coordinator duties in Arizona, where he earned Assistant Coach of the Year honors from the Associated Press and Pro Football Writers’ Association.
Bowles owns an overall mark of 26-41 as a head coach, having served an interim head in Miami in 2011.
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