In the NFL, assistant coaches know that their continued employment with a team exists only as long as that team is winning. So it likely came as no surprise to Jets defensive line coach Kerry Locklin, when he and the Jets decided to part ways earlier today, in light of the team losing five out of their last six games.

A season that started out with so much promise has been flipped over entirely, and while Locklin was far from the main culprit, his departure from the club seemed pre-ordained after the Jets were thoroughly beaten by a Jaguars team that has struggled to win against much lesser opponents all season long.

Locklin has been long time friend of head coach Rex Ryan, but his relationship with Ryan only furthered the speculation in the always voracious New York media, and as such, Ryan decided the time was now for the two to say goodbye. The split was mutual according to the team, with Locklin leaving on his own terms, but it’s safe to say that his unit’s performance as of late was the root cause of his departure.

“It’s never just one thing. There were some disagreements. Let’s just put it that way. It was really more of, there’s some issues, some personal issues that have been behind us.” - New York head coach Rex Ryan

Firing a coach in the middle of a season, regardless of position, is not something that good teams typically do, and the Jets are no exception. That said, in this case it seems as though both sides agreed it would be best to end things now on their own terms, as opposed to continuing with the failed experiment and hoping it wouldn’t turn nasty in the public eye.

Either way, the Jets have to move forward from here, and while I’d like to say that this is the end of the dismissals in New York this season, if the team doesn’t shape up and start playing the kind of football as indicated by their level of talent, you can bet that Ryan is going to do what he has to do to maintain his grip on power. That would include releasing high profile players and coaches if necessary, although it won’t have to come to that if the starters are able to put together a decent winning streak in the near future.

As always, we’ll keep you posted…

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