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New York Jets’ Coaching Search Continues After Poor Interview by a Candidate

By Nick Ziegler

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Dec 21, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Buffalo Bills coach

Doug Marrone

reacts against the Oakland Raiders at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Bills 26-24. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets coaching search, like other teams, is still ongoing this offseason. After Buffalo Bills’ head coach Doug Marrone left his job in Western New York, many thought he could be the front-runner to become the Jets’ new head coach.

That could be a thing of the past now, because according to CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora, the interview with Marrone in New York did not go well.

Marrone, who led the Bills to a 9-7 record, their first winning record in 10 years, has seemed to think that he is a slam dunk for any coaching job available, including the Jets. But, he may be the only who who thinks that, as Marrone has never made the playoffs in the NFL. He also only has one winning season under his belt, and is not far and away a better candidate than some of the coordinators available.

The Jets will be interviewing one of the more promising young coordinators in the NFL on Wednesday in the Arizona Cardinals’ defensive coordinator Todd Bowles. The Cardinals lost an ugly game to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Wild Card Round, but their defense all season, despite injuries, has been good.

Bowles has led the Cardinals’ defense to a lot of success in the last two seasons, as they have been a top 10 defense both years. Bowles does have a bit of head coaching experience, as he coached the Dolphins for three games in 2011, and went 2-1.

Joining Bowles on Wednesday will be the offensive coordinator of the San Diego Chargers, Frank Reich. Reich, who was a backup QB for the New York Jets in 1996, is now the OC for the Chargers, who ranked 18th in the NFL in total yards this past season, but were one dimensional after injuries to running backs Danny Woodhead, and Ryan Mathews.

Quite possibly the best head coaching candidate available is the Seattle Seahawks’ DC Dan Quinn. The Seahawks once again had the best defense in the NFL, allowing more than 500 yards less this season than anyone else, and gave up a league-low 15.9 PPG.

New York certainly has a talented defense for Quinn to step in and takeover, but the Jets’ secondary is nothing compared to the talented Legion of Boom that features Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, and Kam Chancellor that Quinn would be leaving behind.

Defense hasn’t been a problem for the Jets with Rex Ryan as the head coach, but one of the major criticisms of Ryan was that the Jets’ offense wasn’t good. If Quinn is brought aboard it could very well be a lateral move by the Jets, as his offensive knowledge is an unknown.

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One of the offensive-minded coaches the Jets are going to be interviewing will be Baltimore Ravens’ OC Gary Kubiak. Under Kubiak, the Ravens’ offense ranked 12th in the NFL in total yards, and eighth in PPG at 25.6.

Kubiak was the coach of the Houston Texans for eight years, compiling a 61-64 record in those eight seasons. The Texans made the playoffs two of those eight years, as Kubiak has a 2-2 record in the postseason.

He will however not be interviewing with any teams until after the Ravens are eliminated from the playoffs, which could be Saturday against the New England Patriots.

The Jets’ coaching search seems to be a lot further along than their hunt for a new general manager to replace John Idzik. Generally it is not a good idea to hire a coach if there is no GM in place, but that seems like exactly what the Jets are doing, which could be a major mistake no matter what coach they bring in.

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