The Jets wanted to hire Baylor coach Matt Rhule. But the Jets also didn’t want to let Rhule hire his own offensive coordinator. And that was a dealbreaker for Rhule.
“At the end of the day, I’m never going to be in an arranged marriage,” Rhule told KRZI-AM in Waco, Texas on Thursday, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “I’m never going to subcontract jobs to the offense and defense. I always want to hire people that believe in what I believe, that are going to do things our way, that are going to believe in process, that are going to be part of a program. I truly believe that programs win.”
Per Mehta, the Jets wanted Rhule to hire former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Todd Monken. Rhule wanted to hire his own guy. And so it all fell apart.
The Jets instead hired former Dolphins coach Adam Gase.
More surprising than the outcome is the willingness of Rhule to be so candid about it. Not that long ago, college coaches kept secret any NFL aspirations, since that can create recruiting challenges -- especially when rival coaches use a potential jump to the pro level against them. For Rhule, the cat is out of the bag, and he’s doing nothing to act like it isn’t.