Gang Green Nation
It’s Glenn’s most important staff hire.
The Jets have a new head coach, Aaron Glenn. Glenn comes with a defensive background, meaning his most important assistant coach hire will be the offensive coordinator. Candidates have begun to emerge for that role.
According to league sources, Klint Kubiak (Saints OC), Scott Turner (Raiders OC) and Nick Caley (Rams pass game coordinator) are on his shortlist of contenders for the job, among others; Caley is viewed as the favorite.
Caley is an intriguing candidate who has worked under Sean McVay the last two seasons. He was hired by the Rams as tight ends coach in 2023 and added the title of passing game coordinator the past season. It goes without saying, but in today’s NFL ties to McVay are considered the gold standard for offensive coaches. Prior to moving to the Rams, Caley was on the Patriots coaching staff. While Josh McDaniels was a colossal failure in both of his head coaching stints, he is a very good offensive mind. Of course your coaching tree only means so much, but Caley has experienced some interesting apprenticeships.
NFL insider Robert Mays offered a lot of insight into Caley recently on a podcast.
Another familiar name has been floated as a candidate.
Brunell had a long playing career, which included two seasons with the Jets’ as Mark Sanchez’s backup quarterback.
Brunell doesn’t have a ton of coaching experience. His only work on an NFL staff has been the last four years as Lions quarterbacks coach. I do think there is something to the idea, though, that a long career at quarterback is a good preparation to become a playcaller. The quarterback is essentially an extension of the coach on the field. He has to prepare the same way, studying tendencies and figuring out how to exploit a defense. Quarterbacks also take over a lot of the playcalling duties at the line of scrimmage.
There are sure to be plenty of other rumors about potential candidates in the days ahead.
