The Jets have been looking for a new coach for almost two weeks. When they find it, someone assumes it.
On Thursday, the Jets completed a second interview with the Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. He is the second candidate they have personally interviewed in New Jersey. They interviewed 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh Tuesday night and Wednesday.
Both Saleh and Smith left and went for interviews with other teams. Both have caught the attention of almost every team looking for a coach. The Jets get to the point where they have to decide if they want to be the team to attack first for one of those most sought after candidates or if they expect it.
“As for when we’ll have a new coach, it’s a broad and deep search,” Jets president and president Christopher Johnson said Jan. 4 at the start of that search. “We will take our time, this is a process and we want to do it well. It is clear that we are not the only team looking for a new coach, time is always essential, but we will do well ”.
This is where the Jets and other teams find themselves. A coach search is always a balance between acting quickly to outdo other teams in front of a candidate, but also doing a thorough search. This has been complicated this year by COVID-19 restrictions. The Jets interviewed nine candidates, but all interviews were done virtually. Teams will not choose a coach and vice versa, without meeting in person. But team candidates in the postseason can’t interview each other in person until their teams are eliminated from the playoffs.
That allowed the Jets to lead Saleh (whose 49ers missed the playoffs) and Smith (whose Titans were eliminated on Sunday) for the second interviews this week. They didn’t feel strong enough to try to close one of them during their visits, but will they jump if any of them are hired by another team? Will they have the patience to wait for an in-person interview if Eric Bieniemy, the Bills ’offensive coordinator, or Brian Daboll, the Bills’ offensive coordinator, advance to the Super Bowl? That would mean waiting until Feb. 8 to meet with them. They could do another virtual interview with them during the week before the Super Bowl, but they sure wouldn’t hire anyone with whom they didn’t meet in person.
The danger of waiting so long is that any coach hired in February may have difficulty assembling his staff. Most coaching positions will then be filled and it can be difficult to attract assistant coaches.
The first coaching was done on Thursday, as the Jaguars and Urban Meyer reached an agreement. But Meyer never seemed to be a true candidate anywhere other than in Jacksonville. The domino will begin to fall when one of the other six openings is filled.
Saleh and Smith are the two most popular names right now. Saleh has interviewed all the teams that have an opening except the jeans. He left the Jets on Wednesday and went to Florida to meet with the Eagles. The NFL Network reported that it also has a second interview with the Chargers.
Smith has interviewed all the teams except the Texans, who have expressed interest in talking to him. He had a second interview with the Falcons before coming to New Jersey on Wednesday. After finishing Thursday with the Jets, Smith was scheduled to fly to Florida to meet with the Eagles for the first time. He will also have a second interview with the Lions on Friday.
If one of these two is started by another team, it will be interesting to see if the Jets move to the other. That means they have both of them at the top of the list, which can be assumed, as they were interviewed the week before anyone else.
Or the Jets can wait to see who they lose this weekend to see who they could take next week for an interview. Daboll, Bieniemy, Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, and Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn (a former Jets player) have been virtually interviewed by the Jets and have playoff games this weekend.