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This guy is a very underrated candidate.
The Jets interviewed Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy today.
This is a candidate that makes sense on several levels.
He’s been a head coach before.
At this particular time in New York Jets history, they need to hire a guy with previous NFL head coaching experience.
After 14 years out of the playoffs, this isn’t the time for amateur hour, and a guy learning on the job next year. It’s just not.
Nagy went 34-31 in four seasons with the Bears and made the playoffs twice.
He got fired like many Bears coaches. They have been a somewhat dysfunctional organization over the last couple of decades, and it’s not an easy place to win there, so all things considered, going 34-31 and making the playoffs twice, is not a bad performance in Chicago.
He’s got great people skills, not just with his players, but the media.
Now, I know that the New York market isn’t as tough as it used to be, and I also don’t want to put too much into media relations when it comes to the next head coach – it should mainly be about football, but a guy like Mike Vrabel was downright nasty with the press in Tennessee.
Go to YouTube and look at some of the confrontations.
When Vrabel goes to New England, after using other team’s interest to drive up the asking price, you just watch how that goes with the Boston media.
Once again, I don’t give a rat’s ass about winning press conferences, but it’s probably best to avoid fighting with the media in press conferences. It’s just not necessary. It’s a distraction. Just go into the press conference room, do your 10 minutes answering questions, no matter how dumb they are, and get out of there.
Nagy has always respectful with the Chicago press, which is probably a little tougher than New York at this point, especially with the Bears. He did a great job in this regard.
But most importantly, he has been a head coach before, learned from his mistakes, and is ready for a second bite at the apple, perhaps in the Big Apple.
And he has learned so much from Andy Reid, probably the best coach in the NFL right now, winner of the last two Super Bowls. Nagy has gone to The Reid Graduate School of NFL Coaching twice – 2013-17 and 2022 to now. He has learned so much from the master, and going back after getting fired by Chicago, allowed him to take his experience with the Bears, and enhance his head coaching skillset even more, working with his Yoda for three more years, and correcting mistakes he made in Chi-Town.
If the Jets decide to bring back Aaron Rodgers, this is another reason they need to hire a head coach with prior head coaching experience. Rodgers doesn’t suffer incompetence well, and that is what you often see from first-time head coaches in their first year.
Also, Nagy played QB at Delaware. Rodgers would respect a guy who has walked a little bit in his shoes.
And obviously, that Chiefs offense is brilliant, and he would bring that to Florham Park.
I’m not endorsing any candidate here, but this guy is worth taking a serious look at. He checks many boxes.
January 9, 2025
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