Things have not gone well for head coach Aaron Glenn during his first season with the New York Jets.
He is one of only nine coaches since 2000 to lose his first seven games, ESPN’s Rich Cimini revealed.
If the ownership group decides to fire Glenn this offseason, beat reporter Nick Faria of Jets X-Factor told me on “Boy Green Daily” who should be at the top of their wish list: Minnesota Vikings quarterback coach Josh McCown.
“The top guy on my list continuously is Josh McCown. What he has been able to do around the league, and everyone keeps saying that he is a future head coach. Everyone understands he has never called plays, he has never been a coordinator, but in a rare instance, he knows how to do all of it because he is a former NFL quarterback,” Faria told me.
“I am describing to you Josh McCown. I’m also describing Andy Reid. When Andy Reid was first hired, he wasn’t a coordinator, he didn’t call plays, [and] he had never been a head coach. None of that. The [Philadelphia] Eagles gave him the job and said, ‘Do it, figure it out.’ He figured it out, and to this day, he is one of the greatest coaches of all time. I’m not saying that is what becomes of Josh McCown, but I see a lot of similarities there. He knows how to develop quarterbacks. He knows how to call plays offensively because he is an actual NFL quarterback. McCown knows the Jets market really, really well. If the Jets are going to go back down the coaching well, I think McCown has to be at the top of the list,” Faria added.
Jets Hiring Another First-Time Head Coach Would Be Incredibly Risky
The Jets’ hiring of Aaron Glenn was not universally praised.
There was plenty of criticism from the peanut gallery because of his defensive background and never having done the job before.
McCown has an offensive background, which would be different than 99% of the previous Jets head coaches that have been hired this century.
Since Woody Johnson bought the team in 2000, he has only hired one head coach with an offensive background: Adam Gase in 2019. Across that same 25-year era, Mr. Johnson has only hired one head coach who had prior NFL head coaching experience, and that was also Adam Gase.
McCown is less experienced than your typical coaching candidate. This is only his third season coaching NFL football. McCown has served as a quarterbacks coach for the Carolina Panthers in 2023 and is currently in that same role with the Vikings over the last season and a half.
Longtime NFL’Er Has Unique Credentials for the Position
While McCown is relatively inexperienced from an official coaching resume perspective, he has a long history as a player.
McCown entered the league in 2002 as the No. 81 overall pick in the third round of the NFL draft. He spent 16 years in the pros for 12 NFL teams. That included a stint with the Jets for two seasons in 2017 and 2018.
Would the Jets Even Move on From Coach Glenn?
According to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic, the answer to that question is a resounding no.
“Let’s get this out of the way: Glenn is not getting fired. Not this season, and not in the offseason either. There are a few reasons for that, but let’s start with the most important one: Patience. Owner Woody Johnson, according to multiple team sources, has mostly stayed out of the way so far — he’s letting Glenn build the team, the culture, in his vision,” Rosenblatt revealed.
Beyond that, the Jets gave Glenn a five-year contract when he was hired. Rosenblatt said the Jets are paying Glenn “handsomely — multiple league sources say Glenn’s compensation is higher than that of Robert Saleh, who was reportedly making $5 million annually. If Johnson fired Glenn after this season, he would be paying him a significant salary for, reportedly, four more seasons to not coach the Jets.”
NFL One-and-Done History
36 head coaches have been fired after just one season since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, per the Pro Football Network .
Under Mr. Johnson’s ownership, he has never fired a head coach after just one season.
Brian Costello of the New York Post told Connor Hughes of SNY that “everything is on the table” if you go 0-17. No team in NFL history has ever finished a season with that record.
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