Practically twenty years earlier than he coached alongside Aaron Glenn, Tanner Engstrand teamed up with Darren Mougey.
All three males will likely be collectively now in key roles for this new period of the Jets, as Glenn employed Engstrand to be his offensive coordinator, the crew introduced Friday night.
Mougey, the newly employed common supervisor, met Engstrand in 2004, when each had been backup quarterbacks at San Diego State. The starter on the time was Kevin O’Connell — now the pinnacle coach of the Vikings.
For Glenn — a first-time head coach with a defensive background — offensive coordinator is his most vital employees rent.
So, it is smart that he would entrust the job to a well-known face reminiscent of Engstrand, who was an offensive assistant who labored with tight ends and ascended to passing recreation coordinator for the Lions throughout the 4 years that Glenn was the crew’s defensive coordinator.
The Jets had been rebuffed by their first alternative for offensive coordinator, SNY reported: Rams tight ends coach and cross recreation coordinator Nick Caley let or not it’s recognized that he was not within the job.
Caley is on the identical Rams’ employees as former Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, who was pushed out the door after two seasons (2021-22) and blamed for quarterback Zach Wilson’s lack of growth.
Wilson’s profession remained a disappointment after LaFleur’s exit and the quarterback’s commerce to the Broncos.
Engstrand’s solely offensive coordinator expertise got here in 2020, when he was with the XFL’s DC Defenders underneath longtime NFL quarterbacks coach Pep Hamilton.
Engstrand solely had been a university soccer assistant earlier than going to the XFL and had been with the Lions ever since that one-year stint.
The Jets solely can hope that Engstrand, 42, is ready to come near replicating the success he was simply uncovered to in Detroit.
The Lions led the NFL in scoring (33.2 factors per recreation) and ranked second in whole offense (409.5 yards per recreation).
Engstrand’s job ought to get simpler if Mougey and Glenn determine to maintain 41-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers — and Rodgers shares the sentiment to return and be receptive to studying a brand new offense.
If the Jets start trying to find a quarterback, then Engstrand’s prospect analysis expertise will likely be essential.
The lingering query with Engstrand is why he grew to become accessible to Glenn.
The Lions misplaced offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who grew to become head coach of the Bears and opted to pluck 28-year-old Decan Doyle from the Broncos to be his offensive coordinator as a substitute of taking Engstrand with him.
To interchange Johnson, the Lions selected to go exterior the constructing and rent John Morton as their offensive coordinator as a substitute of elevating Engstrand.
Morton, who was with the Broncos in 2023, was the Jets offensive coordinator underneath Todd Bowles in 2017.
When it grew to become clear that Engstrand doubtless could be Jets-bound, the Lions moved shortly to rent former Stanford head coach David Shaw into Engstrand’s title (passing recreation coordinator).
The Jets started filling out elements of their defensive employees underneath coordinator Steve Wilks, too.
Glenn received’t be the one former NFL participant on employees.
Aaron Curry (4 seasons) would be the linebackers coach and Chris Harris (eight seasons) would be the cross recreation coordinator and defensive backs coach, per experiences.
Curry, who as soon as signed a six-year, $60 million contract as a rookie drafted No. 4 total in 2009, coached inside linebackers for the Steelers final season.
Harris interviewed for the defensive coordinator place earlier than Wilks was employed, in accordance with ESPN. When he didn’t get that job, Harris settled for a really comparable function to what he had with the Titans during the last two seasons.
The Jets additionally made official the beforehand reported addition of particular groups coordinator Chris Banjo.
