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How big has it been?
On January 5, when Joe Douglas addressed the media, he said the team was going to “cast a very wide net” in their search for a new head coach.
“I think we’re looking for a person that’s going to have outstanding vision of what they want the identity of this team to be moving forward, and then what’s the detailed plan on how they want to achieve this identity, someone that’s a great communicator, a great manager,” said Douglas. “We’re going to cast a very wide net, we’re not going to look at just offense, just defense, special teams, we’re going to look at everybody.”
Don’t take this the wrong way, they could end up with a heck of a coach, but some might argue that net hasn’t been “very wide” so far.
The Jets have completed interviews with Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy, Bengals’ former head coach Marvin Lewis, Panthers’ OC Joe Brady, Bills’ OC Brian Daboll, Colts’ DC Matt Eberflus, Rams’ DC Brandon Staley, 49ers DC Robert Saleh, Titans’ OC Arthur Smith and Saints’ secondary coach Aaron Glenn.
Bienemy, Brady, Dabol, Eberflus, Staley, Saleh and Smith are the hot coordinators the media and coaching agents always talk about, and have all interviewed with other teams that have openings. These were the expected interviews.
As for Lewis and Glenn they don’t seem to be front runner types for this job. I think Lewis is a solid coach, but how are they going to sell the former Bengals coach to their fan base? Glenn is a secondary coach who is probably a few years away from head coaching consideration.
I have to be honest, I though the net was going to be a little wider, including some college head coaches. Unless it was done clandestinely, not sure if the Jets have interviewed a college head coach. They requested an interview with Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, but it never came to bare because he doesn’t want to leave the Cyclones.
Was there another college coach interview? Not that anybody in the media is aware of. However, it’s possible Douglas talked to a college coach on the QT. Some of these college coaches are very coy when it comes to NFL interest, because if you interview with an NFL team, it could hurt recruiting. Recruits could de-committ questioning how long the coach is going to be around.
So it’s possible Douglas talked to a college coach secretly.
Look, I’m not looking to be critical, because they could end up with a heck of a coach, but I’m just saying that “wide net” might not describe this search so far, with a bunch of the expected boilerplate hot coordinators, along with Glenn and Lewis mixed in.
How about talking to a great special team’s coach, like KC’s Dave Toub., Not sure a ST’s coach has been talked to.
Maybe part of this is financial, and the Jets aren’t looking to do what Jacksonville is about to do with Urban Meyer at about $10 million-a-year. The Jets took a bath financially this year with no fans in attendance at MetLife Stadium. They are also on the hook with Adam Gase for two more years at $5 million perm they also had to pay off Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan.
It’s more cost-effective to hire NFL assistant coaches than a super-star college coach.
And remember Saleh left town on Wednesday without a deal, so who knows what happened there.
So perhaps the Jets don’t want to go crazy with a mega-deal for their new coach, coming off 2020, a terrible financial year for them (and a lot of other people).
January 14, 2021
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