The Jets have been looking for a new head coach for almost two weeks. When they will find one is anyone’s guess.
On Thursday, the Jets completed a second interview with Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. He is the second candidate they personally interviewed in New Jersey. They interviewed 49ers defense coordinator Robert Saleh on Tuesday evening and Wednesday.
Both Saleh and Smith left and began looking for interviews with other teams. They both have caught the attention of almost all teams looking for a coach. The Jets get to the point where they have to decide whether to be the team to strike first for one of these in-demand candidates or wait it out.
“As for when we will have a new coach, this is a broad and deep quest,” said Jets CEO and Chairman Christopher Johnson on Jan. 4 at the start of this quest. “We are going to take our time, this is a process and we want to do it right. Obviously we are not the only team looking for a new coach, time is always of the essence, but we are going to get it right. “
That’s the tricky place where the Jets and the other teams are. A coaching quest is always a balance between acting quickly to beat other teams for a candidate, but also a thorough quest. This has been made more difficult this year by the COVID-19 restrictions. The Jets interviewed nine candidates, but all interviews were conducted virtually. Teams do not choose a coach and vice versa without meeting in person. But candidates for post-season teams cannot interview in person until their teams are eliminated from the playoffs.
That enabled the Jets to bring in Saleh (whose 49ers missed the playoffs) and Smith (whose Titans were eliminated on Sunday) for second interviews this week. They didn’t feel strong enough to try to lock up one of them on their visits, but will they jump if one of them is hired by another team? Will they have the patience to wait for an in-person interview if Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy or Bill’s Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll advances to the Super Bowl? That would mean you have to wait until February 8 to meet them. They could do another virtual interview with them during the week off before the Super Bowl, but they certainly wouldn’t hire anyone they hadn’t met in person first.
The danger of waiting so long is that any coach hired in February may struggle to put their staff together. Most coaching spots are already filled and it can be difficult to attract assistant coaches.
The first coaching recruitment took place on Thursday, as the Jaguars and Urban Meyer reached an agreement. But Meyer didn’t seem to be a real candidate anywhere else but Jacksonville. The dominoes don’t really start to fall until one of the other six openings is filled.
Saleh and Smith are the two hottest names right now. Saleh has interviewed with every team that has an opening except the Texans. He left the Jets on Wednesday and went to Florida to interview the Eagles. The NFL Network reported that he is also having a second interview with the Chargers.
Smith has interviewed with every team except the Texans, who have expressed an interest in talking to him. He had a second interview with the Falcons before coming to New Jersey on Wednesday. After finishing with the Jets on Thursday, Smith would fly to Florida to meet the Eagles for the first time. He also has a second interview with the Lions on Friday.
If either of those is picked by another team, it will be interesting to see if the Jets move on the other. That assumes they both have those two high on their list, which one can assume given that they were both ahead of anyone else for interviews this week.
Or the Jets might be waiting to see who loses this weekend to see who they can bring in for an interview next week. Daboll, Bieniemy, Ram’s defensive coordinator Brandon Staley and Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn (a former Jets player) have all interviewed virtually with the Jets and have playoff games this weekend.