The New York Jets have hired Steve Scarnecchia, son of former Patriots’ offensive line coach Dante, as Robert Saleh’s chief of staff.
The New York Jets have added another coach to Robert Saleh‘s staff. Steve Scarnecchia will join the organization as Saleh’s chief of staff, per the Jets official website and first pointed out by the New York Post’s Brian Costello.
Scarnecchia, the son of longtime New England Patriots offensive line coach Dante Scarnecchia, served as Dan Quinn’s assistant head coach for the last six years with the Atlanta Falcons.
Perhaps the most notable aspect about the Jets’ new chief of staff is his Spygate history.
Scarnecchia was fired by the Denver Broncos in 2010 after an NFL investigation uncovered a bit of dirt. The league learned that the team’s video operations director illegally filmed a San Francisco 49ers walkthrough in London.
The Broncos head coach at the time was Josh McDaniels, a man with considerable ties to Bill Belichick and the Patriots. The team and McDaniels were each fined $50,000 for not reporting the incident.
Unfortunately, this wasn’t Scarnecchia’s first rodeo.
Scarnecchia was with the Jets in 2007 when Eric Mangini blew the lid off the Patriots’ first Spygate scandal. Whether or not he had anything to do with the uncovering is a mystery.
But as one thing led to another, the Patriots’ early 2000 teams accused of illegally taping opponents initially connected Scarnecchia with Spygate, as he was a video assistant with New England at the time.
The Patriots and Belichick were fined $500,000 and docked a first-round pick.
Scarnecchia served as Syracuse University’s director of football operations prior to his gig in Atlanta. He is one of several coaches the New York Jets have hired, a list that includes new defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich.
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