So the Miami Dolphins had their first win of the season at the Jets’ expense on Sunday afternoon at MetLife Stadium in a 28-25 victory.
Jets fans are not surprised. They expected it. They are too numb to their team’s ignominy to be outraged.
The Jets are likely going to extend the longest active postseasonless streak in North American professional sports to 16 seasons after another hopeless season ends. They are also going to post their 11th consecutive losing season. There’s no reason to think the Jets are turning their season around after what we saw in the first seven games of the season.
Beleaguered Jets head coach Aaron Glenn can’t sell hope or progress after seeing his team lose to a team that is tanking to get the No. 1 pick with the hope of drafting Texas quarterback Archie Manning. Even worse, there’s apathy from the fanbase.
All of this can’t be a good sign for Glenn’s job security. He will likely be fired on Black Monday.
The Jets can’t sell another first-time head coach after coaches such as Todd Bowles and Robert Saleh flopped. They need a head coach with gravitas. That would be Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell.
If the Vikings suffer another early playoff exit and consider a coaching change, the Jets should be ready to call. A general manager who inherits a head coach may eventually want his own choice. If that creates an opening in Minnesota, the Jets should explore it.
The Jets have three first-round picks in 2027 and could offer one or two for O’Connell. This would benefit both the Jets and Vikings. The Jets get an experienced head coach who could lead them, and the Vikings can build around first-round picks along with their own. The Jets could keep their own first-round pick for a quarterback and offer the selections acquired in the Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner trades.
Giving up first-round picks for a head coach would be costly. Those picks could help rebuild the roster, but the Jets also need a coach capable of turning young talent into a functioning team.
O’Connell may not be a great postseason coach, but he’s a fine regular-season coach. The Jets need to win regular-season games. They need a head coach who can build a foundation to get them there. They need a head coach who can keep their season relevant past Halloween. You can bet that he will make sure Garrett Wilson gets the ball if he is the Jets head coach, something the Jets have struggled to do under Glenn.
The bar is so low for this franchise that O’Connell would be a savior if he took the job and led them to a winning season. The Jets need to start somewhere.
With the Jets likely drafting a quarterback in the first round with their pick, it makes sense to hire O’Connell since he’s an offensive guy. He has gotten results from quarterbacks Kirk Cousins, Joshua Dobbs and Sam Darnold. Imagine what he could do with a quarterback with promise such as Miami’s Darian Mensah, Ole Miss’ Trinidad Chambliss or Notre Dame’s CJ Carr.
The biggest mistake the Jets made was pairing rookie quarterback Zach Wilson with a defensive coordinator turned head coach Saleh. When a team drafts a quarterback high in the first round, hiring an offensive-minded coach is a must to help the rookie navigate the highs and lows and understand the game. Saleh had no clue how to operate on offense, and it showed.
The Jets need to learn from it, and that’s why hiring O’Connell is a must this time around.
A coaching change with the Vikings could also put defensive coordinator Brian Flores’ future in question, giving the Jets another possibility to explore. He could join O’Connell in a package deal, allowing the Jets to pursue an established partnership rather than start anew.
Hiring Flores to operate the defense would be a boon for the Jets. If he can get results from castoffs like Blake Cashman, Eric Wilson, Andrew Van Ginkel, Jalen Redmond, Byron Murphy Jr., Isaiah Rodgers, and James Pierre, imagine what he can do with rookie David Bailey, Malachi Moore, Andre Cisco, Will McDonald IV and Harrison Phillips.
Flores has overseen a great Vikings defense in recent years. He can do the same here. With him overseeing the defense, O’Connell can focus on working with the young quarterback.
Hiring O’Connell and Flores would give players like Wilson reason to believe the Jets are heading in the right direction. Hiring this pair would get Jets fans invested in their team again.
The Jets need more than another firing. They need a plan for what comes next.
If O’Connell becomes available, they should be ready to pursue him—and bring Flores into the conversation.
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