Jets need to avoid potential trap before hiring one of the hottest coaching candidates
This is a part of a series where I take a look at potential coaching hires for the New York Jets for the 2025 season. The 2024 New York Jets season will go down as one of the biggest failures in sports history. From the hype to the talent to ultimately, the embarrassment. The New […]
This is a part of a series where I take a look at potential coaching hires for the New York Jets for the 2025 season.
The 2024 New York Jets season will go down as one of the biggest failures in sports history. From the hype to the talent to ultimately, the embarrassment. The New York Jets began to spiral early in the season, and Woody Johnson fired then head coach Robert Saleh and promoted defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich to the top spot in hopes of generating a spark for the team. That spark did not come.
So, with the Jets all but set for a rebuild and a new regime taking over, I thought I could spend the second half of the season looking at potential coaching candidates for gang green in 2025. It’s not like there will be plenty of good football to discuss on these pages.
So, with that in mind let’s get to our next candidate: Todd Monken.
There will be a lot of debate over the next few months on if the Jets should go with a defensive minded head coach, or an offensive minded head coach. The argument for the offensive minded guy is that the Jets will likely have a young quarterback on the team next season, and the Jets have seen defensive coaches drop the ball with developing a young QB.
The argument for a defensive head coach is the Jets have been terrible at choosing offensive coaches. I mean, the last two offensive head coaches the Jets hired were Adam Gase and Rich Kotite. I’ll give you a second to finish vomiting and/or crying.
Currently, Monken is the offensive coordinator for one of the best offenses in the NFL, the Baltimore Ravens. Before that, Monken was the offensive coordinator at the University of Georgia under Kirby Smart.
He also had stints with Baker Mayfield with the Cleveland Browns under Freddie Kitchens, and Jameis Winston with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under head coach Dirk Koetter. Those years in the pros were less than stellar, although a lot of the failures could be attributed to other factors other than Monken.
The fact is though that he had young quarterbacks under his tutelage twice in Winston and Mayfield and neither lived up to the hype of their draft standings (both were taken first overall) while under Monken. Mayfield has gone on to find a lot of success with the Bucs and Winston is still Winston-ing.
AtoZSports’ Rob Gregson thinks Monken’s QB issues are behind him after two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. “Monken was the orchestrater behind Lamar Jackson’s second MVP award last season, helping him become a more defined passer. And this year? He’s taken a makeshift offensive line and a running back that many thought was over the hill in Derrick Henry, and put together one of the best rushing attacks in the league. Henry is on pace to set career highs in yards from scrimmage and TDs as he already has over 1500 total yards and 15 TDs with over a month of games left. If anyone can get the most of the talent on the offensive side of the ball, it’s going to be Monken.”
Travis May, who writes for the Bulldogs on AtoZ had this to say about Monken:
“Todd Monken might not be the first name that NFL fans think of for hot head coaching candidates, but he should be right there near the top of everyone's list. In his first and only FBS head coaching stint Monken completely turned around a broken Southern Miss program. When he joined they were coming off an 0-12 (yes, completely winless) 2012 season. By his third year at the helm Southern Miss made it to the Conference USA Championship Game, finishing 9-5 after a bowl loss to Washington. Monken loves to lean into a creative run game, with a variety of quick screens to playmakers in space, sprinkled with strategic deep shots. He would bring fun, balance, and a proven offensive track record with him wherever he lands as an NFL head coach.”
As for Monken, he knows his name is being thrown around as a head coaching candidate at this point of the season, but he says he really isn’t paying attention to it.
I have previously written about Rex Ryan and Ben Johnson while looking at potential head coaching candidates for the Jets in 2025, but this feels like the first true possibility to become a reality. Monken is a good enough coach to get a head coaching job, while not being as sought after to refuse the Jets job.
This would be an average hire in my opinion. He is a longtime head coach whose stock is on the rise thanks to having John Harbaugh as his boss and Lamar Jackson as his quarterback. It wouldn’t be a home run hire if the Jets were to sign Monken, but it also wouldn’t be a disaster like some of the other names being floated around.
Whether the Jets go with an offensive head coach or a defensive head coach, they will need a steady hand on the offensive side of the ball to guide a young quarterback, so they don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Is Monken that steady hand? Looks a little shaky to me.
