The Jets haven’t fired Adam Gase, yet, but his days are numbered as long as the team keeps losing.
Fortunately, the 0-9 Jets might not have less competition in their inevitable search than initially expected.
Right now, only the Falcons and Texans are technically in the market for a new head coach after firing Dan Quinn and Bill O’Brien, respectively, earlier this season. But the Texans like interim head coach Romeo Crennel,
so much they might name him their full-time coach before starting a search, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
This would – potentially – leave the Falcons as the only other team in need of a new coach, and interim Raheem Morris is 3-1 since taking over for Quinn on Oct. 12. Other teams like the Jaguars, Lions and Cowboys could fire their head coaches as well after poor seasons, but the odds of the Jets landing a top-tier candidate would significantly improve if the Texans’ job was off the board.
Joe Douglas will have a lot to work with when marketing his team to potential hires.
The Jets have a plethora of draft picks – four in the first round of the next two drafts, including a likely top-five pick this year – at least $80 million in cap space and young players like Mekhi Becton, Denzel Mims, Quinnen Williams and Sam Darnold – unless the Jets draft a quarterback in the first round. That’s a solid core to work with for someone looking for a team on the rise, especially when the alternatives are cap-strapped teams, like the Texans and Falcons, and middling teams, like the Lions and the Jaguars.
Despite the Texans’ money and draft pick woes, Houston probably has the best opening because they have a top-10 quarterback in Deshaun Watson who is under contract until 2025. There is a lot of work to do on that team, but not having to worry about a quarterback is huge for any new coach. So if Houston retains Crennel instead of dipping its foot into the coaching pool, it would level the playing field for the Jets.
Suitors for the Jets include Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bienemy, Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady. It’s impossible to know how interested any potential candidate is without knowing what other jobs are available, but the opportunity to mold a team is there especially after Douglas stripped the Jets of most of their unnecessary baggage and contracts and flipped them for cap space and picks.
First things first, though: The Jets have to fire Gase before they officially start their head coaching search. Until that happens, the Jets are stuck with the team – and the coach – they currently have as they continue towards oblivion in the 2020 season.