With the news of Adam Gase parting ways with the NY Jets, the head coaching job is vacant. The Jets have a laundry list of candidates that have been linked to the vacant job. General Manager, Joe Douglas will lead the search for a new coach. I can speak for most Jets fans when I say this, I fully trust Joe Douglas with anything he does. He has such a great background, comes from many successful organizations, he has been apart of the process of drafting HOFers and future HOFs and has worked under Ozzie Newsome, Ryan Pace, and Howie Roseman. They have requested multiple coordinators for interviews, and in this series I will do profiles and my personal thoughts on these coordinators and coaches linked to the NYJ open spot. My rating will be based off of these four categories: Experience, Reputation/Actual Talent, CEO, and Celebrity status. Let’s start with Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator, Matt Eberflus.

Colts’ DC Matt Eberflus:

Matt Eberflus is a 50 year old man from Toledo, Ohio. He played high school ball for Whitmer High School and led his team to a state semifinals. He then joined Toledo as a walk-on for college and was the starting linebacker for three years. He was coached by Dan Simrell, Nick Saban and Gary Pinkel. Coaches call him a very intense player and, “made himself great.” He started his coaching career after college in Toledo as a student assistant coach in 1992, then Graduate assistant (1993), recruiting coordinator and OLB coach (1994-95), and DB coach (1999-2000). He then got his first defensive coordinator job at Missouri (2001-08). In his time at Missouri, the lowest yards he gave up per play was in 2004-05 (4.5 yards), most was 5.1 yards in 2003-04. He then joined the Browns as their LB coach from 2009-10, joined Dallas as their LB coach in 2011-15, and was Dallas’ LB coach and passing game coordinator in 2016-17. Now, he has been the defensive coordinator for the Colts since 2018-present. Keep in mind that he inherited a 30th ranked defense. He had coached the Colts to be the 10th ranked defense in 2018-19, 18th ranked in 2019-20, and 10th ranked in 2020-21. His defense was ranked 10th in points allowed (pretty good), 8th in yards allowed (good), 18th in passing yards allowed (not bad) and ranked 2nd in rushing yards allowed (elite). He runs a 3-4 defense.

Personal thoughts: He is a great defensive candidate but there are better candidates available. I love the way he develops his players. He took Pierre Desir (prev. waived by 3 teams), Anthony Walker (nearly released), and Kenny Moore II (UDFA) under his wing and made them the great players they were during their time in Indy. His story is extremely impressive and I wouldn’t be mad if we hired him. GM Joe and Eberflus haven’t publicly worked together in the NFL, so chances are they may have not met each other. Eberflus has a very talented run defense and a nice pass defense. He’s a journey man and has been working his butt off for a head coaching opportunity for YEARS! The guy has all the experience you want a coach to have. He started coaching since he was 22! He has real dedication and is a character in the locker room. He’s an intense guy and seems like a CEO type personality. I wouldn’t be mad with this hire.

Experience: 9/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩
Reputation/Actual Talent: 8/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩
CEO: 7/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩
Celebrity: 5/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩✩✩
Overall: 29/40 (B+) ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

Rams’ DC Brandon Staley:

Brandon Staley is a 38 year old man from Perry, Ohio. He started his coaching career with Northern Illinois at age 24 in 2006-08 as a graduate assistant. He then went to the University of St. Thomas and served as the DL coach and special teams coach in 2009. He got his first defensive coordinator gig in 2010-11 with Hutchinson CC. In 2010, Hutchinson CC finished 10-2 and was second in their division. Then, in 2011 they finished second again and went 9-3. The only other previous times Hutchinson CC finished with 10 wins was in 1947, 1948, 1969, and 1995. The year before Staley joined their crew, they went 7-4. He was an upgrade. He then went to Tennessee as a graduate assistant in 2012. Then joined John Carroll University for another Defensive coordinator/Secondary coaching gig in 2013. They finished 9-2 that season. The year after he joined James Madison in 2014 as the DC and LB coach. Their team finished 9-4 after going 6-6 the previous season, upgrade. He returned to John Carroll University for the same job in 2015-16 and finished 8-2 and 12-2, impressive. He was then recruited to the Bears in 2017-18 to be the OLB coach, the defense ranked 9th and 1st. Then, he went to the Denver Broncos in 2019 for the OLB job, they ranked 10th. Now, he’s finally the Rams’ DC. He has been given Aaron Donald and Jalen Ramsey. His defense was ranked 1st in league defense (the best), 1st in points allowed (the best), 1st in yards allowed (the best), 1st in passing yards allowed (the best) and ranked 3rd in rushing yards allowed (elite). He runs a 3-4 defense.

Personal thoughts: I think that Staley is a phenomenal coordinator and makes a huge impact everywhere he goes. He has been everywhere when it comes to coaching. From what I hear is that he’s like a football junkie, he genuinely loves the sport. He’s very talented, not too sure if he’s a CEO but he’s definitely not a top name celebrity coach. My main concern/question is can he repeat that success that he had in Chicago, Denver and LA without the likes of Khalil Mack, Roquan Smith, Von Miller, Bradley Chubb, Aaron Donald, Michael Brockers, and Jalen Ramsey. The Jets certainly DO NOT have a player like any of those guys, not yet at least. We have Quinnen but he’s still developing and he’s no “Aaron Donald,” he doesn’t have to be either, he’s Quinnen Williams (which is perfect). Another criticism I have is, I think it’s too early for Staley. He’s only 38 and he just got his first defensive coordinator job in the NFL. It wouldn’t be smart for him to take the job now, I still believe he’s a little unproven due to the fact he has beasts on that defense and he won’t have those beasts in NY. He did take a 17th ranked defense to number one, which is impressive but I think he should continue to develop and become experienced like Patrick Graham is doing currently with the Giants. I wouldn’t be all over this hire, I think it’s too early for Staley.

Experience: 7/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩
Reputation/Actual Talent: 7/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩
CEO: 6/10 ✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩✩
Celebrity: 4/10 ✭✭✭✭✩✩✩✩✩✩
Overall: 24/40 (C) ✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✭✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩✩

Thanks for reading everybody. This has been Jose Calderon III with FiveBoroughDispatch, have a great day; everybody!