New Jets GM John Idzik joined Rex Ryan and a number of scouts Monday at Fairhope Municipal Stadium for the South practice as Senior Bowl Week kicked off here in Mobile, Alabama. Idzik arrived in town Sunday night, went to dinner with members of his staff and has hit the ground running with meetings.
Before Monday's practice, I ran into former Jets defensive line coach Dan Quinn. A rising star in the coaching ranks, Quinn coordinated a pair of Top 10 defenses at the University of Florida the past two seasons and was just hired by the Seattle Seahawks to fill their defensive coordinator vacancy. It is a Pacific Northwest return for Quinn, who coached the 'Hawks defensive line in 2009 and '10 when Idzik was the vice president of football administration in Seattle.
"You are getting a good man," Quinn told me of Idzik. "You will be in good hands."
Idzik is a respected executive in the football community. When I was fortunate enough to get my start in the National Football League back in 2000, Idzik was the director of football administration for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He will join me in our "Jets Talk LIVE" studios at 3:00 PM Thursday back in Florham Park and we exchanged greetings yesterday.
"It's come full circle," he said. There will be a lot of draft content coming from here this week and in the weeks ahead. We spoke to a number of the top prospects last night and we will speak to a number of Jets talent evaluators as the week progresses.
