With the masses focused on Bill Cowher and Mike Shanahan, the Jets have quietly reached out to another Super Bowl winning head coach. Adam Schefter reports that the team plans to interview Brian Billick this week and that he is a “viable candidate” for the job.
They may have competition for Billick’s services from the Detroit Lions, who have also contacted Billick in regard to their opening. Nine of the last 11 Super Bowl winning coaches were fired from their previous job, which could make Billick doubly interesting to teams looking for coaches. Billick was fired from the Ravens, of course, and joins Cowher as the coaches in that time frame who won in their first job.
Another reason for interest in Billick is that he’s still owed almost $10 million from the Ravens. Billick may come at a bit of a discount because of that money. Finally, Billick worked with Ozzie Newsome in Baltimore and, unlike Cowher and Shanahan, may be comfortable working with an established personnel man.