New York Jets fans need to dig deeper when considering Marcus Brady as an OC candidate
Former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Marcus Brady interviewed for the New York Jets‘ offensive coordinator vacancy on Sunday.
Brady is a candidate that most Jets fans scoffed at when they saw he was in the running. “Why are we considering the guy who led Indy’s terrible offense and was fired mid-year?”
If you dig deeper, it becomes clear why Brady is actually a much more promising candidate for the Jets than many realize.
Yes, if you merely analyze him on the surface, Brady does not seem intriguing. The 43-year-old was promoted to the Colts’ offensive coordinator position in 2021 and got fired just 25 games into his tenure. Indy let him go after Week 8 of the 2022 season, while the team was 3-4-1 and scoring 16.1 points per game. Head coach Frank Reich was fired one week later.
Prior to becoming the Colts’ offensive coordinator, Brady joined Indy as an assistant quarterbacks coach in 2018 and was promoted to quarterbacks coach from 2019-20. Before coming to Indianapolis, Brady spent six years as an offensive coordinator in the Canadian Football League.
It doesn’t seem great. But there are legitimate reasons to believe in Brady.
Brady was not on the market for long. Three weeks after he was fired, he joined the Philadelphia Eagles as an offensive consultant. Brady reunited with Nick Sirianni and Kevin Patullo, each of whom he worked with in Indianapolis. Sirianni was the Colts’ offensive coordinator and Patullo was the Colts’ wide receivers coach and pass game coordinator. It says a lot about Brady’s reputation that he quickly latched onto another staff mid-season.
Many people in Indianapolis believe Brady was scapegoated. They thought he was a bright offensive mind who did an effective job of calling plays and getting receivers open but was hung out to dry by poor talent and poor execution. There are even reports of players in the locker room being upset that Brady was fired.
Lawrence Owen is one of those people. Lawrence, who hosts a podcast with current Colts starting safety Rodney McLeod, joined the Cool Your Jets Podcast to discuss Brady’s tenure with the Colts. He did a great job of breaking down Brady’s scheme, philosophies, play-calling tendencies, adaptability, strengths, weaknesses, and reputation in the locker room – including the reaction of Colts players when Brady was fired.
This is the sixth interview we have done in our series breaking down the Jets’ offensive coordinator candidates. All six guests provided honest and unbiased intel on the candidate in question, breaking down the good and the bad. The goal of these interviews is never to sell Jets fans on the candidate, but simply to provide a thorough overview so Jets fans can form their own educated opinions.
With that in mind, I feel comfortable saying that our interview with Lawrence sold me on the candidate more than any other interview. Take a listen and you will find out why Marcus Brady is an underrated option for the New York Jets.
