Why coaching the Senior Bowl is such a huge opportunity for the Jets staff

Robert Saleh, New York Jets coaches have a huge opportunity at the Senior Bowl

The New York Jets are not in the playoffs, but their coaches won’t have to wait long to get back on the field as the Jets’ staff is set to be one of the two running the 2022 Reese’s Senior Bowl.

Normally, the Senior Bowl is coached by the two teams with the worst records the previous year with returning coaches. By these rules, the Jets would have been out of the running, but uncertainty elsewhere in the league has blessed the Jets with a massive opportunity.

The Jaguars, owners of the league’s worst record and the top pick in the NFL draft, were ineligible after firing former coach Urban Meyer mid-season. The Lions were next in line, and since Lions’ coach Dan Campbell will be entering his second year, Campbell’s staff will be on the sidelines in Mobile, Ala.

The Texans, owners of the league’s third-worst record, have currently not made any official statements on coach David Culley’s job status. If Culley were obviously returning for another year in Houston, the Texans would be joining the Lions down south. However, Culley’s murky future led Senior Bowl Head Jim Nagy and his staff to bypass the Texans, and instead invite Robert Saleh and the Jets to coach in their place.

New York’s brain trust getting hands-on experience with a bevy of upcoming draft prospects before anyone else in the league is an incalculable advantage.

The 2022 Senior Bowl class stands to be one of the most talented in recent memory, as the class is loaded with quality players who will hear their names called throughout draft weekend. Multiple surefire first-round picks like Utah’s Devin Lloyd and Cincinnati’s Myjai Sanders will be in attendance.

The Jets currently own five of the top 70 picks in the 2022 draft, and their time in Mobile will certainly be used to identify who those five picks will end up being.

The Oklahoma Drill Podcast is back to break down the first major Jets news of 2022, New York’s impending trip south to coach the Senior Bowl. After the Senior Bowl news, the crew wraps up 2021 by giving out their end-of-season awards, and finishes with their favorite moment of the year.

The Jets didn’t end 2021 the way anyone in or outside of the building had planned, but exciting youth and plenty of offseason capital are reasons for hope for the future. The 2022 offseason is shaping up to be one of New York’s most pivotal in years, and starting it off in Mobile will only give them a leg up on the competition.