When the New York Jets returned from their Week 5 trip from London, owner Woody Johnson decided it was time for a shift in the organization. Following the Jets' Week 5 loss to the Vikings, the team announced they fired coach Robert Saleh. Defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich has been named the interim head coach.
Since 2000, there have been 12 instances where an interim head coach has shed the 'interim' tag and transitioned to 'head coach' with their respective teams. This season, the Las Vegas Raiders' Antonio Pierce became the first interim coach in seven years to be named head coach.
With Saleh's firing coming just five games into the 2024 regular season, Ulbrich has ample time to prove himself to the organization. Most notably, Bill Belichick is not listed among the possible candidates. Defensive coaches have been at a disadvantage throughout the NFL hiring cycles. Just 16 of the last 42 head coaching hires have been defensive coaches, while 27 have been offensive. This is over the previous six offseasons.
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Detroit's highly coveted offensive coordinator, Ben Johnson, is the current leader in the Jets' next head coach odds. The 38-year-old was arguably the hottest name in the head coaching market last offseason. Since he became the play-caller, the Detroit Lions have been a top-five offense by nearly all metrics. Johnson has turned down multiple opportunities to stay with Detroit in hopes of winning a Super Bowl with the Lions.
Slowik might not be a household name in the public eye, but he is well-known around the league. He is the play-caller behind C.J. Stroud's ascension with the Houston Texans. He hails from the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree after spending six seasons as an assistant with the 49ers. Last offseason, he interviewed with five teams before signing an extension to stay in Houston.
Some would say Vrabel is currently the best head coaching candidate available. The Jets organization could benefit from his old-school approach, which earned him plenty of respect and success during his time with the Titans. He went 54-45 as the Titans' head coach. Vrabel is taking a season away from the game on the sidelines, but is currently a personnel consultant with the Cleveland Browns organization.
Ulbrich has been the Jets' defensive coordinator since joining the organization in 2021 as a member of Saleh's coaching staff. Over the last two seasons, the Jets have finished fourth (2022) and third (2023) overall in total defense. In 2023, the Jets allowed a league-low 4.6 yards per play. Since 2021, the Jets defense has allowed the second-lowest yards per game in the NFL.
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The former Arizona Cardinals head coach is quickly climbing the head coaching candidate ranks again in the NFL with the Washington Commanders. He's done an outstanding job coaching Jayden Daniels to begin 2024. As an offensive coordinator, he has proven terrific with dynamic quarterbacks who can throw and run. Aaron Rodgers doesn't fit that mold at this stage in his career, so the quarterback situation would likely need to be different in New York to make this hiring make sense.
Surprisingly, the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator has not been given a head coaching opportunity to this point in his career. Glenn was interviewed for head coaching roles in the previous four offseasons but has yet to be chosen. He is a widely respected voice around the league and will be a top candidate next offseason.
Not far down the board is another product of Kyle Shanahan's coaching tree. One of the quietest coaching moves in 2024 came when the New Orleans Saints let go of longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, who had been with the team since 2006. New Orleans hired Klint Kubiak, son of Gary Kubiak, to be their new OC. Klint was a passing game specialist for the 49ers before taking the Saints job.
His zone-running scheme, which his father revolutionized, is ideal for a modern-day offense. It increases the use of play-action passing, which most offenses benefit from. Derek Carr leads the NFL in play-action this season.
The man who just coached a Minnesota Vikings defense that intercepted Aaron Rodgers three times in London is listed as a possible replacement for Saleh. Flores is in his second season as Minnesota's defensive coordinator and has his unit clicking on all cylinders to start 2024. His stint as a head coach in Miami went poorly, but he's highly regarded as one of the best defensive coaches in the league. He went 24-25 during his time with the Dolphins. His aggressive play-calling style would be an exciting feature added to the Jets' terrific young defense.
The head coach of the Georgia Bulldogs is the most surprising name on this list. He led Georgia to back-to-back College Football Playoff national championships (2021, 2022). He has led the program to an outstanding 94-16 record since his hiring in 2015. Last summer, he was asked about his interest in coaching in the NFL, and his response didn't leave much to the imagination for NFL fans. He said, “I don’t right now. I never say never to anything, but it’s not something that I’m passionate about. I love the relationship with the college kids, and it’s been fun doing it here at the alma mater. It’s something you want to do for a long time and you want to have a lot of success.”
Monken has stacked successful seasons together for a half dozen years. He is an older candidate than others listed but recently coached Lamar Jackson to his second MVP award. He was the offensive coordinator for Georgia during their most recent national championships in 2021 and 2022. He is a well-respected offensive mind around the league and has the Baltimore Ravens offense off to another strong start in 2024.
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