The New York Jets have added Tony Sparano Jr. as an offensive assistant and named Eric Smith as a seasonal intern. The announcement was just made by Eric Allen on Twitter.
The Jets have promoted Tony Sparano Jr. to Offensive Assistant + hired former S Eric Smith as a Seasonal Intern. pic.twitter.com/LfWDSew6Ff
— Eric Allen (@eallenjets) February 10, 2014
Sparano Jr. was brought in by his father as a coaching intern, but he stayed with the organization after his Dad was fired. Here is the story from last year when Sparano Jr. was originally retained.
When Rex Ryan fired Tony Sparano as offensive coordinator in January, he knew he would have to have an uncomfortable conversation — not with Sparano, but with his son, Tony Sparano Jr.
Sparano Jr. had served under his father with the 2012 Jets as a coaching intern. Now, Ryan was firing Sparano Sr., but he wanted Sparano Jr. to stay with the Jets.
“I’m not going to lie, there was some awkwardness,” Ryan said recently, “but I knew I wanted to keep him.”
The conversation was a success, and Sparano Jr. stayed with the Jets despite his father’s dismissal. The 26-year-old is one of the few reminders around the 2013 Jets of his father’s one year as the team’s offensive coordinator.
Here is a thread on Tony Sparano Jr. from the JetNation forums.
