5 head coaching candidates for Jets after firing Adam Gase

1. Jets’ head coaching candidates: Don “Wink” Martindale

One factor to consider with the Jets’ head coaching vacancy is their history of hiring defensive-minded head coaches. Prior to hiring Gase in 2019, New York had gone with defensive-oriented coaches in each of their last seven coaching changes, a run that began with Bill Parcells in 1997 and concluded with Todd Bowles in 2015.

The Johnsons have presided over most of those hires and it wouldn’t be shocking to see them go back to their comfort zone of getting a defensive-minded coach like Wink Martindale, who has done a tremendous job running Baltimore’s defense over the past several years. Martindale took over as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator in 2018 and Baltimore has produced a top-10 defense in each of the last three years, including the league’s no. 1 unit in 2018.

League officials have considered Martindale to be a prime head coaching candidate for the past few years and he has drawn favorable comparisons to Rex Ryan, who was a former Ravens’ defensive coordinator before being hired by the Jets in 2009. Ryan’s teams had the most successful run for New York in the past decade so it wouldn’t be shocking to see the Johnsons go back to the future with this hire.

Douglas also has ties to Martindale from his days in Baltimore’s front office so this could be a strong fit on paper as they could form a tremendous partnership, something New York hasn’t assembled between its GM and coach since Mike Tannenbaum was allowed to hire Ryan in 2009. Martindale would need to figure out a good offensive staff to help settle the quarterback situation but hiring him could go a long way towards bringing the Jets closer to respectability sooner rather than later.