CULVER CITY, Calif. -- It's unlikely Santonio Holmes shed a tear when the New York Jets parted with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer in January.
Holmes surely held Schottenheimer at least partly accountable for his career-worst production in 2011. And let's not forget Schottenheimer benched Holmes in that "one game" against the Miami Dolphins.
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Holmes said he's excited about the arrival of Tony Sparano, who replaces Schottenheimer after nearly four seasons as head coach of the Dolphins.
"He wants to see everybody on the same page and he brings the head-coaching mentality to the offensive side of the ball, which is something very different," Holmes said on Monday in an interview with Around The League. "Unless you've experienced it and know what it's like to have a head coach as a coordinator, it's hard to explain."
I asked if he could at least attempt to articulate the difference. Holmes initially backed off at that point, saying he doesn't know how Sparano will be different from Schottenheimer because Sparano hasn't called a play yet. Then he continued.
"It makes things a lot easier. It makes communication easier. Makes the play-calling easier," he said. "Players see things differently, because a head coach has to deal with offense, defense, special teams. But when you only have one guy who deals with a group of guys, now you see the difference in how they react to situations."
This isn't an attack on Schottenheimer, but it's not hard to read between the lines, either.
