With Additions of Tony Sparano, Todd Haley, Are Jets Building Dream Team?

The New York Jets announced on Wednesday that they would be replacing offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer with former Miami Dolphins head coach Tony Sparano, and would also be interviewing former Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley to potentially to take command of the team's passing game.

The duo had been rumored to be shopping around their talents as a package deal, with the two being familiar with each other when they both worked as offensive assistants for the Dallas Cowboys in the early-to-mid 2000s.

If Haley is also hired, the moves represent a step in the right direction for a Jets offense that has regressed in 2011. The Jets finished the season 8-8—a far cry from the squad that reached the AFC championship game in both 2009 and 2010.

The hope is that with Sparano and Haley reworking the Jets offense, they'll become a Super Bowl contender once again. But it's not just their addition that is going to magically transform the team.

Sparano and Haley will have their work cut out for them, that's certain. The Jets finished 2011 averaging the 21st-most passing yards and 22nd-most rushing yards per game, and though the team's top running back, Shonn Greene, had a career-best year, it wasn't enough to elevate the Jets offense as a whole.

That's mainly because of quarterback Mark Sanchez. Sanchez showed little improvement in 2011, so much so that his teammates are now (anonymously) speaking ill of him to the media.

Sparano, and especially Haley, will need to work heavily with Sanchez to improve his passing skills, strengthen his arm and inspire him to work harder.

For a quarterback who was hoped to lead his team to victory, he's at best a game manager and at worst a major liability.

The fact that he was asked to throw 59 times in a single game this season shows how ill-managed the Jets offense was under Schottenheimer. If Sparano and Haley can both commit to reigning in Sanchez while also managing to improve his passing skills and ability to read defenses, a number of other pieces will fall into place.

However, the Jets have more issues than can't be fixed simply by a decorated offensive coaching staff. Wide receiver Santonio Holmes is clearly in need of an attitude adjustment and the team may ultimately rue the fact that they cannot part ways with him without taking a $7.5 million cap hit.

On defense, the team lacks a pass rush and are a mere shadow of the bruising squad they've been in recent years.

Adding Sparano and Haley doesn't now mean that the Jets are a team built to win. There are a number of other deficiencies that need addressing, including intangible ones that are going to take more than a coaching staff change to turn around.

They're on the right path, however. But to say that the Jets have re-entered the Super Bowl discussion in 2012 by making these moves would be premature.

That they were willing to change is a good first step, but how those changes play out will ultimately determine if the Jets will be contenders once again.