The Mike Tannenbaum Appreciation Thread:

[David Harris]

Mike Tannenbaum gave us everything he had.

Indefatigable, innovative, smart, aggressive, bold.

This forum is a bit big and anonymous to withhold easy digs and snipes that are sure to come at the simple target of a man let go but I'd like to think that, as usual, the silent majority is reasonable and appreciates a hard day's work.

His problems were clear, he liked shiny things and was more of a business man than a talent evaluator.

I really enjoyed Mike at the helm during the drafts and off-season. Bill Belicheck wasn't a genius until Tom Brady, Bill Pollian wasn't the wise one until Peyton Manning and Sean Payton wasn't brilliant until Drew Brees put up 40 a game. No one is smart (or safe) unless you hit on a QB and Tannenbaum missed on his QB and this ultimately cost him his job. He surrounded the kid with too many distractions and not enough talent or support. In his usual grand style, he shot for the stars but came up short.

But the Jets have been largely successful and relevant for a decade and Mike was a big part of that and deserves carrots along with his sticks.

[crossfire]

I appreciate the nice speech he gave when he was fired.

Thanks Mike.

[Beerfish]

He made a huge blunder in keeping that ass clown 'tone' and signing him to a massive deal we can't get out from under.

He idiotically signed Sanchez to an extension and put us in a horrible spot.

His drafting strategy of always trading up and trading picks for vets left us with zero depth and zero development players.

He made a few good moves but his disdain for late round picks hurt the team.

His blunders have hurt us more than his good moves have helped and thus he is out and that is the nature of the business.

[BrickHouse]

Beerfish, yes he made his share of mistakes but he also got little credit when we were winning playoff games on the road against some of the elite teams in the NFL. I think once he gets a second chance at it he will be much better at his craft as usually GM need years of on the job experience to be great.

[JoeJam Football]

I remember Mike getting grilled by Francesca a month or 2 ago and Tannenbaum was still in denial. I just loved his interviews that revealed absolutely nothing after 30 questions or so. I always hoped he was smart enough to be doing the right thing and making the right moves but its quite apparent that he was in way over his head but I guess he did OK for being in way over his head. Good luck Mike. You will get a decent accountant job somewhere.

[David Harris]

Originally Posted by Beerfish

He made a huge blunder in keeping that ass clown 'tone' and signing him to a massive deal we can't get out from under.

He idiotically signed Sanchez to an extension and put us in a horrible spot.

His drafting strategy of always trading up and trading picks for vets left us with zero depth and zero development players.

He made a few good moves but his disdain for late round picks hurt the team.

His blunders have hurt us more than his good moves have helped and thus he is out and that is the nature of the business.

Santonio Holmes is a cancer and that new contract was disastrous. Mike didn't have the player evaluation skills, he relied on his scouts and Rex literally ran in his room asking to get Santonio when the Steelers wisely decided to get rid of him. Huge mistake by Tanny.

Late round picks are more often crap than not. His big FA signings, Calvin Pace, Alan Faneca, Bart Scott had a lot more to do with the lack of depth than 5th and 6th round picks - we couldn't afford depth.

But in a single day Tannenbaum signed Calvin Pace, Damien Woody and Alan Faneca!!! That was epic!!! Turned the fortunes of the franchise around and made us relevant and a desired destination.

EDIT: And a couple days later traded a 3rd and 5th for Kris Jenkins - who was a force, a short lived and fragile force but Tannenbaum gave us some exciting times and put the pieces in place for a couple years of legit title runs.

[McGinley]

[TheOne]

Funny the thread was created by "David Harris"
Dh is a solid player. But making him the highest paid MLB?!?
A mistake that is overlooked bc of the other numerous bigger mistakes

[Cleansweep2013]

Originally Posted by David Harris

Santonio Holmes is a cancer and that new contract was disastrous. Mike didn't have the player evaluation skills, he relied on his scouts and Rex literally ran in his room asking to get Santonio when the Steelers wisely decided to get rid of him. Huge mistake by Tanny.

Late round picks are more often crap than not. His big FA signings, Calvin Pace, Alan Faneca, Bart Scott had a lot more to do with the lack of depth than 5th and 6th round picks - we couldn't afford depth.

But in a single day Tannenbaum signed Calvin Pace, Damien Woody and Alan Faneca!!! That was epic!!! Turned the fortunes of the franchise around and made us relevant and a desired destination.

EDIT: And a couple days later traded a 3rd and 5th for Kris Jenkins - who was a force, a short lived and fragile force but Tannenbaum gave us some exciting times and put the pieces in place for a couple years of legit title runs.

it was a great trade! we got tone for a 5th rounder and he was a big part is getting us to the afc championship again.. Tanny gave a 4th for tebow who was not used.. Tone was worth a 5th even just for a year rental.. The contract was a disaster! as was wayne hunter, ect.. and then sanchez.. Laundry signing was the only steal the jets got in past few years, but ofcourse it was just a 1 year deal so wasnt a big deal..

[David Harris]

Originally Posted by TheOne

Funny the thread was created by "David Harris"
Dh is a solid player. But making him the highest paid MLB?!?
A mistake that is overlooked bc of the other numerous bigger mistakes

Ummm...I can explain...

[Supeli Malamala]

Originally Posted by David Harris

Mike Tannenbaum gave us everything he had.

Indefatigable, innovative, smart, aggressive, bold.

This forum is a bit big and anonymous to withhold easy digs and snipes that are sure to come at the simple target of a man let go but I'd like to think that, as usual, the silent majority is reasonable and appreciates a hard day's work.

His problems were clear, he liked shiny things and was more of a business man than a talent evaluator.

I really enjoyed Mike at the helm during the drafts and off-season. Bill Belicheck wasn't a genius until Tom Brady, Bill Pollian wasn't the wise one until Peyton Manning and Sean Payton wasn't brilliant until Drew Brees put up 40 a game. No one is smart (or safe) unless you hit on a QB and Tannenbaum missed on his QB and this ultimately cost him his job. He surrounded the kid with too many distractions and not enough talent or support. In his usual grand style, he shot for the stars but came up short.

But the Jets have been largely successful and relevant for a decade and Mike was a big part of that and deserves carrots along with his sticks.

Bill Polian was a "genius" before Manning. He won 2 Grey Cups in the Canadian Football League. He was in Buffalo for 4 consecutive Super Bowl Appearances. He went to the NFC Championship game with Carolina in its 2nd year. Different QBs... yes Kelly is a HOF, but Reich won its franchises biggest game. Nevertheless, Tanny did a good job, but the business ate him up at the end

[Redlichtie]

Originally Posted by David Harris

Mike Tannenbaum gave us everything he had.

Indefatigable, innovative, smart, aggressive, bold.

This forum is a bit big and anonymous to withhold easy digs and snipes that are sure to come at the simple target of a man let go but I'd like to think that, as usual, the silent majority is reasonable and appreciates a hard day's work.

His problems were clear, he liked shiny things and was more of a business man than a talent evaluator.

I really enjoyed Mike at the helm during the drafts and off-season. Bill Belicheck wasn't a genius until Tom Brady, Bill Pollian wasn't the wise one until Peyton Manning and Sean Payton wasn't brilliant until Drew Brees put up 40 a game. No one is smart (or safe) unless you hit on a QB and Tannenbaum missed on his QB and this ultimately cost him his job. He surrounded the kid with too many distractions and not enough talent or support. In his usual grand style, he shot for the stars but came up short.

But the Jets have been largely successful and relevant for a decade and Mike was a big part of that and deserves carrots along with his sticks.

Really nice thread DH and I'll join you in recognising the great job Mike T did here over the last 15 years...people have short memories.A few years ago there was uproar on Jets message boards when Tampa Bay made a play for our young hotshot front office exec,who had been responsible for some of the most innovative cap work the NFL had seen since free agency & salary cap merged to become the new reality.
The unanimous view was it would be a disaster if we lost this guy to Tampa Bay,who wanted him to be their GM(Bradway was ours at the time)or anywhere else for that matter and it was clear he was a future front office star.....'promote this beast' was the common theme.Well like the 'joke' franchise we supposedly are we managed to ward off the TB interest,eventually promote the young exec to GM and a period of more success than failure was the result,that young exec was responsible for,in my view,the most exciting decade to be Jet fan.Hingdsight is a great thing and it's easy to trash every move that didn't end in a Super Bowl but Tannenbaum made us relevant again as a franchise(following on from Parcells,who truly began the turnaround from joke franchise to contender)Anyone who believes we are living through the worst days to be a Jet didn't live through the Mike Hickey years from the late 80's to mid 90's...anyone who thinks we don't have any talent on our roster never saw Vance Joseph line up to start at cb on MNF.

Tanny may have played a bit fast and loose with draft picks but god damn it we were fun,from the Favre and Aso pursuits to the Edwards and Holmes pick-ups to the euphoria that was the Sanchez trade on draft day(remember how little we gave up)the guy was true to his mantra that he'd look under every rock,leave no stone unturned and man it was entertaining in the process.And lets to not forget that Tanny was responsible for the double draft trade that netted Revis and your good self(by the way the crap you've been getting here this season has been lolworthy....lots of good times,guy gave it his best shot and I wish him well.

[intelligentjetsfan]

Tannenbaum is a nice person ( I met him multiple times) and he was a hard worker by all accounts. Ultimately he was promoted to a position that he was not qualified for. How do you promote someone to an nfl gm position without having any experience at talent evaluation?

So I do not wish to demonize a good man instead I wish him well. But the facts are this; he was not qualified to evaluate talent and his most recent contracts were horrific and set the franchise back. The Jets accomplished some nice feats on his watch and he deserves some of the credit. But in a division where you are competing against one of the best run organizations in sports, you simply cannot have someone who is vastly under qualified at one of the most important positions on the team.

[Redlichtie]

Originally Posted by JoeJam Football

I remember Mike getting grilled by Francesca a month or 2 ago and Tannenbaum was still in denial. I just loved his interviews that revealed absolutely nothing after 30 questions or so. I always hoped he was smart enough to be doing the right thing and making the right moves but its quite apparent that he was in way over his head but I guess he did OK for being in way over his head. Good luck Mike. You will get a decent accountant job somewhere.

You couldn't' be more wrong if you tried,the reason you got nothing from those interviews is precisely because he was so smart that he could negotiate 30 minutes of trap-setting and hostility and emerge having given nothing away,perhaps you need to be smart to understand that.It's one thing to be out of your depth running an NFL franchise it's quite another to be in way over your head on a message board.

[Greentide]

Unfavorably. Had no business becoming Jets GM, lacked the needed football acumen. IMO he always relied heavily on the HC to assist with player evals on free agents/drafting, which led to Rex helping him screw up the roster. A GM needs to make those decisions and be competent in doing so.

[124]

He did an OK job. There were some great moves as well as some baffling moves. Ultimately the Sanchez contract and Tim Tebow trade are what drew him in.

[Mainejet]

Originally Posted by David Harris

Mike Tannenbaum gave us everything he had.

Indefatigable, innovative, smart, aggressive, bold.

This forum is a bit big and anonymous to withhold easy digs and snipes that are sure to come at the simple target of a man let go but I'd like to think that, as usual, the silent majority is reasonable and appreciates a hard day's work.

His problems were clear, he liked shiny things and was more of a business man than a talent evaluator.

I really enjoyed Mike at the helm during the drafts and off-season. Bill Belicheck wasn't a genius until Tom Brady, Bill Pollian wasn't the wise one until Peyton Manning and Sean Payton wasn't brilliant until Drew Brees put up 40 a game. No one is smart (or safe) unless you hit on a QB and Tannenbaum missed on his QB and this ultimately cost him his job. He surrounded the kid with too many distractions and not enough talent or support. In his usual grand style, he shot for the stars but came up short.

But the Jets have been largely successful and relevant for a decade and Mike was a big part of that and deserves carrots along with his sticks.

His early picks were pretty much great.

Mangold, Brick, Leon, Revis, Harris...

It's hard to get much better than that and it was the basis for the SB runs the team made in 2009 and 2010.

[LIJetsFan]

Agreed.

If it wasn't for the Sanchez extension and the Hunter contract he'd still be here and noone would be complaining. The fact is Hunter ruined the 2011 season and Sanchez has ruined the 2012 season and will ruin the 2013 season. All else was forgivable but those two moved cost him his job. All of us, fans, media, and I'd wager many players & coaches were dumbfounded with both of these at their times. Tanny should have know better and I just can't imagine what he was thinkng at the time. If he did these just for cap reasons then he lost sign of his priorities. That can be tolerated occasionally but not when it costs 3 seasons.

OTOH like to OP says he did many great things for this franchise and I will always be thankful to him for that.

(BTW, and I can't believe I'm saying this but at this point after Sparano I've reconsidered and the jury is still out on Shotty)

[DDNYjets]

Like many people within the Jets organization, Tanny was in over his head at his position. He was a solid cap guy early in his career but even that reputation has tarnished on him. In hindsight, he never should have been made a GM just like Bradway. Tanny and Rex were a toxic combo. Tanny, a GM that relies heavily on input from his staff and coaches and Rex, a HC who would take as much latitude as you will give him. At the end of the day, this is all an indictment on ownership.

I wish him well. But I would be surprised if he ever got a shot at being a GM again. I think he can end up at one of these consulting firms.

[sec.101row23]

The problem I have with giving Tanny a lot of credit and blame for personnel decisions is that by many accounts he deferred to his coaches and scouts a lot to make those decisions as he was not really good at talent evaluations. His "expertise" was the cap and salary negotiations and given some of the contracts he gave out and the state of the Jets cap right now, his firing is definitely warranted. Throw in the fact that he never really seemed like he was a very good leader and had control of the organization, I was glad Woody did the right thing and removed him from the organization all together.