With Jets Offensive Staff, Familiar Faces Can Bring Familiar Failings
Shortly after Robert Saleh was introduced as the Jets new Head Coach in January 2021, he began the process of filling out his staff. With Saleh’s positive experience as the Defensive Coordinator for San Francisco, he knew what to look for when reviewing candidates for that particular Jets gig, finally settling on Jeff Ulbrich. For special teams, it was a relatively easy decision to stick with Brant Boyer. I think it’s fair to say that, with the exception of a few hiccups, both of those units generally performed at the league standard during Saleh’s tenure.
Unfortunately, the process for Saleh’s choice to lead his club’s offense was not so adequate. Such a heavy responsibility was placed on the slim shoulders of Mike LaFleur, the brother of Green Bay HC and Saleh’s good friend Matt LaFleur. To say Mike LaFleur was inexperienced was sugarcoating it; he had never called plays at any level.
LaFleur, of course, flailed at his job while failing to develop a No. 2 overall pick in quarterback Zach Wilson during his two seasons in New York. Saleh’s reign never had a chance to get off the ground.
The LaFleur misstep led the organization to believe that the team was only a QB away from glory. Hence, the Aaron Rodgers/Nathaniel Hackett gamble.
Two more losing seasons later and the Jets are back at Square One, with a new General Manager/Head Coach combination in Darren Mougey and Aaron Glenn (with QB TBD). All the chatter from Monday was about how they “won the press conference”, with Glenn, who worked his way up the ladder to Detroit’s Defensive Coordinator position, in particular riling up the fan base with his emotional responses.
Just a word of caution here: Saleh also gave a good first impression. He had a likable persona with a warm backstory with regard to how his brother’s escape from the World Trade Center on 9/11 changed his life. You know, a stark contrast to his predecessor Adam Gase, who came across as a googly-eyed psychotic.
And like Saleh, Glenn’s reported initial picks for Defensive Coordinator (Steve Wilks) and Special Teams Coordinator (Chris Banjo) have received positive reviews. Wilks has a wealth of NFL experience while Banjo is a Mike Westhoff disciple who assisted with Denver’s elite return and coverage units that ranked fourth in DVOA and third in ProFootballFocus.com’s grading system. Though Banjo may have been coached by Glenn when he was a New Orleans defensive back and is well-known by former Broncos Assistant GM Mougey, no one is crying, “Favoritism!” here like when LaFleur was tabbed.
Once again, however, the plot as to who will run the offense hast been more skittish. Most NFL analysts believe the Jets are in negotiations with Tanner Engstrand, a Lions assistant since 2020, to be their coordinator.
This might be problematic. Understand that it was Ben Johnson who called the plays for the high-powered and creative Detroit offense for the last three seasons. And when Johnson bolted to take the Chicago HC job ten days ago, he left Engstrand behind rather than having s guy he knows well administer the room on his new club the way LaFleur currently assists the Rams for HC Sean McVay.
Nor did the Lions immediately promote Engstrand to OC upon Johnson’s departure, choosing to go outside the organization with John Morton, another Denver poaching who also happened to have been the Jets’ OC in 2017. In the meantime, Detroit has reportedly already named Engstrand’s replacement as the team’s passing game coordinator. David Shaw, the former Stanford HC, worked with Morton in Denver last season.
Is anyone noticing this progression of events? Are any of these things red flags to Glenn, or is he just looking for familiar faces to staff his offense? Reports indicate that the Jets have also hired Detroit tight ends coach Steve Heiden as their offensive line coach. The cheerleaders in the Jets media point to the solid blocking delivered by the Lions’ tight ends the last two seasons, but as fans of this tortured franchise know, the offensive line is a different animal, one where coaching of things like fundamentals and opponent tendencies had been lacking for quite some time.
Don’t look for the new GM to override Glenn’s OC pick. Mougey and Engstrand were college teammates.
Who you know over what you know seems to be the Jets go-to move. “It’s a small world” is a cliché, but the Jets somehow make the NFL staffing world smaller, while failing to learn from past mistakes.