01/30 — Of the many New York-New England ties mentioned this week, the saddest one had to do with the passing of Mike Holovak.

Both Super Bowl head coaches, Tom Coughlin and Bill Belichick, were asked about Holovak, who died Sunday at the age of 88, and both had memories — Coughlin because he, like Holovak, was a head coach at Boston College, Belichick because he is, as Holovak was, a highly successful head coach of the Patriots.

Jets fans of a certain age also remember Holovak for a few other reasons. Rich Cimini, the Daily News Jets beatwriter, recalled in a recent blog that he was the man in charge of "the best draft in team history" in 1977.

Here are some of the key selections Holovak made as the Jets' director of college scouting in the two drafts he ran. In 1976:

And here are 1977's top choices:

He also brought in Bruce Harper as a rookie free agent in '77. Quite a personnel haul.

Holovak also was a Jets head coach. For one game. It was the end of the '76 season and Lou Holtz decided, after 13 games as the Jets' coach, that the pro game wasn't for him. So Holovak took over for the 14th and final game. The game was noteworthy not for the score — the Bengals crushed the Jets, 42-3, at Shea Stadium — but for the passing of an era — it was Joe Namath's final game as a Jet.

Holovak wanted to get the coach's job permanently, but the Jets went with Walt Michaels and Holovak, who had been with the Jets for six seasons, left to serve as a distinguished front office man for the Raiders, 49ers and Oilers.

He was an NFL great, and if there is a blessing in his passing, it is that we can remember his achievements during the league's most visible week of the year.