Jets' reported head coaching interview list proves just how unserious they are

The New York Jets have officially kicked off their search for their next head coach, but if the interview list is any indication, fans really shouldn't get their hopes up.

According to Jaclyn Hendricks of the New York Post, the list includes a couple of notable, popular head coacing candidates in Bills offensive coordinator Joe Brady and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn, as well as Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has shown an ability to run a solid team that contends for postseason berths during his time as Dolphins head coach. Former Titans head coach Mike Vrabel has also interviewed for the job, which should be no surprise.

Vikings quarterback coach Josh McCown is a surprising name, but you can sort of see the logic there. McCown just oversaw Sam Darnold's blossoming into a fully functional NFL quarterback, so while he's not a full-fledged offensive coordinator, he clearly knows how to get the most out of a previously distressed asset.

But then things get...weird. Former Commanders head coach Ron Rivera sort of makes sense if you squint hard enough; Rivera's a respected, veteran coach who has taken a team to a Super Bowl before. But Rivera also hasn't coached a team with a winning record since 2017, likes to have a substantial amount of roster control, and hasn't developed a single quarterback prospect not named Cam Newton in his career (and you can make a pretty convincing case that Newton was such a singular talent that he was virtually impossible to screw up).

But while Rivera makes some semblance of sense, the rest of this list is a baffling collection of failed head coaches,

Falcons fans remember the Arthur Smith tenure as an infuriating time in which the coach was often too smart for his own good, outthinking himself into not using his team's best players. This genius offensive philosophy led Atlanta to three straight 7-10 seasons, and Smith is currently steering the middest of mid possible offenses, as the Steelers rank 16th in points scored and 23rd in yards, with a passing game that ranks 27th in the league. Not exactly a high-flying offensive outfit, and certainly not the level of performance you want to see from an offensive coordinator looking for his next gig.

Things get so, so much worse from there. Chiefs offensive coordinator Matt Nagy also has head coaching experience, and had just one losing season in four with the Bears before being fired. But ask Bears fans about those seasons, ask them about the experience of having Nagy coach the team, and how they felt. Oh, and be sure to comfort them when they start crying, because they will start crying.

Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph also has head coaching experience, but much like Nagy and Smith, Joseph's tenure as the head man in Denver was...less than ideal. He guided the Broncos to their first back-to-back losing seasons since 1971 and 1972, going 5-11 and 6-10 (and not a particularly close thing in either season; they dropped 10 of their last 12 in 2017 and had two separate four-game losing streaks in 2018).

But the most baffling name linked to this job is a former Jets head coach: Rex Ryan. If you don't think too hard about it, Ryan almost makes sense; he lead the Jets on their deepest playoff run since 1998, getting to back-to-back conference title games, which is, depressingly, the longest sustained run of postseason success the Jets have ever had in their history. He's also spent the last few months actively campaigning to get the job, and remains a popular, well-liked figure in many media circles. So why wouldn't you want to go back to that? Why not give your ex a call after all those good times you had together?

Well, mostly because those good memories are overshadowing the rest of the Rex Ryan experience in New York. After two straight winning seasons and two straight AFC Championship runs, Ryan failed to win more than eight games in any of his remaining four seasons in New York or either of his seasons in Buffalo. Neither the Jets nor the Bills made the playoffs in any of Ryan's last seasons with the teams. That's a six year playoff drought between two separate franchises, four with the Jets and two with the Bills.

If that's not bad enough, Ryan has been fully out of coaching since being fired by the Bills before the end of the 2016 season. He hasn't been an assistant coach, he hasn't been coaching high school ball, he's been hanging out on ESPN sets and spoofing Between Two Ferns. Do you really think this is going to work? Ask the Raiders how their ancient retread of Jon Gruden went; last I checked they were still trying to clean up the mess he made, still don't have a quarterback, or any wide receivers of any note anywhere on the roster.

All of this begs the question: what are we doing here? There's no rhyme or reason to Johnson's interview choices at this point; they run the gamut from highly inexperienced quarterbacks coach to promising assistant coaches (although Slowik's stock took a pretty big hit as the Texans' offense struggled with consistency this season), a collection of retreads whose fan bases chased them out of town with pitchforks, and Rex goddamned Ryan. And as previously stated, Ryan sees himself as the frontrunner for the job.

Are we doing this? Are we really going to bring back retreads and flops? Does Woody Johnson actually, truly care about building a winning team? Because man, when you're trotting Rex Ryan out there, and Matt Nagy out there, and Vance Joseph out there, it really doesn't feel like it.

In other words, strap in Jets fans, because the new regime figures to bring nothing but more misery and pain.

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Jets' reported head coaching interview list proves just how unserious they are about winning

By Sam Westmoreland | Jan 6, 2025