January 7, 2025

The Jets have reached out to 12 coaches to fill their head coaching vacancy and here is how I would rank each coach.

My top guys:

1. Mike Vrabel

The top guy on my list is the top guy on most fans' lists, former Titans HC Mike Vrabel. Vrabel had a strong 54-45 record in his 6 seasons with the Titans and had 3 playoff appearances. Vrabel would bring a culture that is lacking in the Jets facility right now.

2. Brian Flores

The second coach is Brian Flores. Flores has put together some very strong defenses across his coaching career. He has also brought a winning culture and 2 winning seasons in the 3 seasons he was Dolphins head coach from 2019-2021. 

Would be pleased if they were hired:

3. Aaron Glenn

Another great name on the list is Aaron Glenn the DC in Detroit. At his time as Lions defensive coordinator, he took one of the worst defenses in the NFL in his first two years (2021, 2022)  to one of the league's best in the past 2 years (2023, 2024). But this hire would remind me of something like the hiring of Robert Saleh, a defensive coach who is well respected throughout the league which does scare me away.

4. Joe Brady

A young offensive-minded coach seems to be the perfect head coach to hire in this day and age in the NFL and Joe Brady checks those boxes. Joe Brady has been the OC and play caller for the Bills which has been one of if not the best offenses in the league since he took over for OC in November of 2023. As the Bills offensive coordinator he has a 19-5 regular season record.

Now we are getting to the tier of coaches I would not be happy if the Jets were hired.

5. Bobby Slowik

Bobby Slowik was a hot name back in the 2024 coaching cycle after a great year with the Texans, helping CJ Stroud become OROY and lead the Texans to the playoffs. But this coaching cycle he is not as strong as a name because of the regression that the Texans offense had this past season.

6. Rex Ryan

The Rex Ryan hire seems good on the surface, The former Jets HC, had success with him, a good defensive-minded coach with, a good culture and he loves the Jets. But other than the 2 years he made the AFC Championship game he had no success at all as head coach. Success from 15 years ago is not going to translate to success in modern pro-offense football.

7. Ron Rivera

The next guy Ron Rivera is like Rex Ryan but less exciting. Rivera was the Panthers coach for 9 years and Washington coach for 4 years, where he found some success by making the playoffs 5 times. Like Rex Ryan, Rivera was not successful in modern football, his best year came in 2015 when the Panthers went 15-1, lost in the Super Bowl, and had MVP Cam Newton on that team.

8. Vance Joseph

Interviewing Vance Joseph fits sort of what the Jets are looking for, an experienced head coach but there is a difference between experienced with good results and experienced with bad results and Vance Joseph is experienced with bad results. As Head Coach of the Broncos he was 11-21 from 2017-2018, from there he was the Cardinals DC before leaving in 2022 to become the DC for the Broncos. The Broncos do have a very good defense this year but still I would not bring in Vance Joseph.

9. Josh McCown

A familiar and interesting name is former Jets QB Josh McCown. Josh McCown's NFL career consisted of playing for a total of 12 NFL teams, but as a coach, he was the Panther QB coach in 2023 and the Vikings QB coach in 2024. McCown knows how the NFL works and how to work an offense down to a tee and I think he will be a good coach in the league one day but he is not ready to be HC, maybe OC but not HC.

Should not bring these guys in let alone bring them in for an interview:

10. Arthur Smith

Arthur Smith had a couple of good years as Titans OC but when he became the Falcons HC he was not good at all, finishing 7-10 each of his 3 years. After getting fired he became the Steelers OC and this year in his first year Smith’s offense is what is getting credited for setting the Steelers back, being ranked 23rd in the NFL.

11. Matt Nagy

Matt Nagy is just like Arthur Smith but worse, a mediocre head coach. Matt Nagy spent his entire coaching career under Andy Reid and when he left for the Bears HC job he did not succeed. In Chicago, he had a 34-31 record, a 0-2 postseason record, and put together some of the worst offenses in the NFL despite being an offense playcaller. After getting fired he went back to coaching under Andy Reid as Chiefs OC, and he is having success but he is not doing anything, he is not the play caller he just went back to be un Reid again to make his resume look nice when it is not.

12. Brian Greise

The last guy I have is Brian Greise, the QB Coach for the 49ers. Greise does seem like he would be a good coach in the league one day but right now he is unqualified and not ready to become a head coach. Other than that QB Coach Greise does not have any coaching experience at all.