“Are you crying? Are you crying? Are you crying?! There’s no crying. There’s no crying in football!”
Well, that is unless you’re Josh McCown.
The former New York Jets quarterback and current Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach has been known to shed a tear or two. And by no means should anybody view that as a negative—especially Woody Johnson as it relates to his ongoing search for the team’s next head coach.
Though the idea is littered with a large number of reasonable questions and caveats, Woody and the Jets would be foolish to automatically dismiss the idea of McCown as the next head coach—despite his crying ways.
The leadership prerequisite is authenticity
For instance, McCown emotionally broke down following his final appearance as an NFL quarterback. After being forced into action for the Philadelphia Eagles—taking over for an injured Carson Wentz—McCown reflected on the finality of that season, and perhaps his playing career, after the Seattle Seahawks’ 17-9 victory ended the Birds’ season.
What about the time he allowed his emotions to get the best of him while leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers much earlier in his career? After starting 1-8 in the 2014 season, McCown harped on the disastrous start while wearing tears on his sleeve.
Of course, the example Jets fans best remember happened seven seasons ago.
After breaking his hand in a 23-0 loss to the Denver Broncos in 2017, McCown would miss the remainder of the season—one that saw him post a career-high in touchdown passes (18) and passing yards (2,926). Though he may not have actually shed a tear, his emotions were transparently showcased.
It turns out that, yes, indeed, there is crying in football. More importantly, there’s crying in leadership.
Strangely, I’ve heard a Jets fan or two criticizing McCown’s emotional tendencies when speaking to the media, in that, a man who sheds tears in this nature isn’t the right type of leader the Jets need as a football team and/or organization. How one comes to this conclusion is beyond befuddling in my world.
The man many consider to be the greatest leader in the history of sports just might be the greatest crybaby on the face of the Earth. (And make no mistake: I use “crybaby” in the most affectionate way possible here.)
New York Rangers legend Mark Messier can’t function as a human whenever nostalgia hits him. Seriously.
Whether it was his last NHL game in March 2004, his retirement night at Madison Square Garden two years later, or any one of the number of 1994 ceremonies, the captain cannot help but break down in tears—no matter how hard he tries to get through things with a dry face.
As former Rangers head coach Mike Keenan later revealed (well after it happened, around two decades later), Messier even cried during the most pivotal moment for his team during the 1994 Stanley Cup run: the Eastern Conference Final against the hated New Jersey Devils.
“He came into my office in that series that we’re talking about—and you’ve already described Mark, the emotional Mark—saying that, you know, we really want to get this done, and we’ve really maxed out our preparation here.” Keenan said on WFAN’s “Boomer & Carton” show in 2014. “And, of course, then he starts crying in my office. I said, ‘Mark, don’t worry. We’ll get it done.’
“Again, (it was) an emotional moment just between the captain and myself,” he added. “(Messier) needed some support right there because I think he was feeling a little bit of the pressures, the demands, (and) the expectations. That’s a story nobody’s heard before.”
The Messiah’s tears preceded his legendary hat trick in Game 6 of the ECF, ultimately propelling them to the team’s first Stanley Cup in 54 years.
I guess there’s crying in football and hockey. Put that in your non-alcoholic beverage and drink it, Mr. Jimmy Dugan (or Mr. Tom Hanks, for the layman).
An emotional individual doesn’t just possess the capacity to become a tremendous leader; that person is also a genuine human. Drawing that specific conclusion is a critical piece to the puzzle because genuineness or authenticity represents the starting point when searching for the best possible leader.
It is by no means the only thing that matters; it’s merely the prerequisite that all phenomenal leaders must clearly possess.
Think about it from a player’s perspective. A football team’s worst-possible situation occurs when the leader’s voice is no longer impactful. Imagine a head coach railing about this or that when the majority of players are slyly looking at one another with their horsecrap meters busting at level red.
I don’t care if it’s high school, college, or the fellas who play for pay: These guys can see right through the coaches who try to be something they aren’t.
McCown’s default factory settings resemble that of the real deal. It’s impossible for him not to be the genuine article, no matter the situation.
Speaking objectively, there are some concerns. While I’m confident McCown would be an excellent leader and that his vision for the Jets would fit the modern game better than any coach Woody ever had, I’m not sure if he’s mean enough.
Does McCown have it in him to be the absolute jerk football coaches sometimes need to be? It’s all Skittles and sunshine when playing the quarterback coach role, as being the friendly and positive dude can last for some time. The head coach, however, cannot always showcase a sunny disposition.
By no means am I claiming McCown would fall short in this area, but it’s critical to ponder, nonetheless.
What about experience?
Hey, the Jets fan who feels the urge to fight back while playing the experience card has every right to do so. Experience undoubtedly matters in the coaching game.
After playing 18 seasons in the league for 12 different teams, McCown has spent just two seasons as a quarterbacks coach. He first joined the Carolina Panthers in 2023 and then hopped aboard Kevin O’Connell’s impressive 14-win Minnesota Vikings, where old friend Sam Darnold led the offense.
Despite the Vikings’ crash-and-burn end to the season, Darnold’s 4,319 yards and 35 touchdowns marked a mega-career year for the former Jet, who once played with McCown (holding down the starting quarterback role in 2018 with McCown as the veteran backup).
Which man deserves the most credit for Darnold’s epic season is up for debate and something nobody outside of the Minnesota locker room could confidently assess, but it’s known with certainty that both Kevin O’Connell and Josh McCown had a hand in the shocking turnaround.
Interestingly, before joining the Panthers in 2023, McCown coached high school ball. The Eagles allowed him to fly to Charlotte, NC, to coach Myers Park High School—where his sons Owen and Aidan played—while he held down the backup quarterback position for the team.
That year, he somehow found a way to still back up Carson Wentz in Philadelphia while attending Monday practices, game-planning with the Myers Park team, and, of course, being present for games on Friday night.
Interestingly, this is a similar setup to my personal life as a coach on the 2024 NYSPHSAA Class B state champion Port Jervis, NY, team, where I attend some practices, game plan virtually through Hudl, and hold down the “eye in the sky” role, on the headset, while owning and operating Jets X-Factor. In other words, if you’re not impressed with McCown’s dedication to coaching, please find some happiness in your life in an alarming hurry.
That’s not all. In 2020, McCown coached his sons yet again, but this time in a full-time capacity, as an assistant coach, at Rusk High School in Rusk, TX. Owen McCown is now a quarterback at UTSA, whereas Aidan McCown is aligning the pigskin for the Lamar Cardinals (an FBC school, formerly Division 1-AA, located in Beaumont, TX).
This is all to say that, sure, McCown’s lack of NFL experience is an uncontroversial item to raise, but are we sure such dedication witnessed over the last five years doesn’t help wash it away?
Besides, the Houston Texans all-but-hired McCown as head coach in 2022, just three years after retiring. That was until the NFL stepped in per the ongoing racial discrimination controversies the organization was dealing with at the time.
Forward-thinking: Leadership recognizes leadership
No matter how legitimate the complaints about lack of experience are, an NFL franchise is often rewarded for gutsy forward-thinking.
Imagine the Philadelphia Eagles refusing to hire Andy Reid in 1999 because he had not yet been an offensive coordinator in the league. Reid, who is now considered one of the greatest football coaches of all time, held no position higher than quarterbacks coach before his Eagles stint.
He entered the NFL coaching ranks in 1992 as an assistant coach and tight ends coach under Mike Holmgren in Green Bay. The Packers eventually promoted him to Brett Favre’s quarterbacks coach in 1997, yet held that role for just two seasons before his big break in Philly.
Imagine a world where the Pittsburgh Steelers never considered Mike Tomlin back in 2007. According to the story bandied about the many years, Tomlin wasn’t high on Pittsburgh’s list at the time. Yet, he blew them away in the interview.
The Steelers were so impressed that they hired him despite his just one season of experience as a defensive coordinator (previously having spent five seasons in Tampa as the Bucs’ defensive backs coach).
Imagine this current football land if the Baltimore Ravens automatically rejected John Harbaugh’s candidacy since he was but a mere “special teams guy,” or if the Seattle Seahawks thought it was too silly that Pete Carroll could have any professional football success post-USC collegiate greatness.
As the extremely complicated P.T. Barnum once said, “Fortune always favors the brave and never helps a man who does not help himself.”
Automatically dismissing Josh McCown due to experience is akin to never allowing your organization to move ahead of the curve. It would equal that of always following the leader, as opposed to leading the followers—while never pouncing on the next great thing before the entire league is wise to it.
Josh McCown is the No. 1 ‘person’ (not necessarily head coach)
Although Josh McCown isn’t my No. 1 head coach candidate, he should be Woody Johnson’s No. 1 individual candidate. Identifying and hiring potential leaders boils down to recognizing the characteristics that allow the possibility of growth not only within that individual himself but also for those surrounding him.
As it currently stands, Aaron Glenn is still my preferred head coaching candidate.
If all things are equal, I’d much rather have an offensive guy steering the ship at the top. Look no further than the Los Angeles Rams’ 27-9 thrashing of the Vikings in the wild-card round.
Brian Flores, another candidate who remains in my top three Jets head coaching candidates, was torched by Sean McVay to open the game. Much like O’Connell, McVay understands the modern game better than anybody.
Instead of trying to establish an “identity” or “physicality” early in the game, he did what great offensive minds do in today’s brand of football: take what the other team is providing.
The Rams dialed up nine passes in their first 10 plays. Furthermore, McVay’s offense passed the ball 17 times in its first 19 plays and triggered 21 passes to just 4 rushes in the first half.
Why? Well, it’s simple: That’s what Brian Flores did not want.
ESPN color commentator Troy Aikman even alluded to it on the broadcast: Minnesota loves blitzing on early downs. This pressures offenses into third-and-long situations, especially those that remain stubborn to “managing the chains” and/or trying to establish a run-first identity.
McVay understood there would be plenty of time to rush the ball after jumping out to a big lead, and that’s exactly what happened.
When have the Jets employed a head coach who truly understood how the game is played today? Which former Jets coach fully bought into how drastically different this game is from that of your father’s NFL?
My answer is quite simple: never and none.
This new NFL, the offensive and pass-happy brand of football we now know, took time to arrive at this point. Bill Belichick’s playoff strategies that assaulted Marvin Marrison and Reggie Wayne in the mid-2000s ultimately led to an emphasis on illegal contact and defensive holding penalties. The NFL began drastically changing in the early 2010s, with each passing year bringing us to this moment.
Some coaches have adapted, whereas many remain stubborn to the old ways and/or are unwilling to adapt. Robert Saleh, Todd Bowles (before running into Tom Brady and Bruce Arians), and Rex Ryan easily belong in the latter category.
Although I like Flores as a leader, with his hardened ways bringing the Jets the accountability they desperately need, I’m concerned about his willingness to push the offensive envelope. As Miami Dolphins head coach, he put a lot of game-planning on tape that requires answers to troubling questions.
Glenn could raise concerns in this area as well, but I feel much more comfortable that he understands today’s game better. Working under Dan Campbell and alongside Ben Johnson must have rubbed off on him to a large degree. (The same can be said for Flores via O’Connell, but much more problematic questions remain based on his previous head-coaching stint.)
McCown fits the modern NFL perfectly, even if we have no play-calling evidence to point to.
Still, here’s the wishlist as it currently stands on Tuesday, Jan. 14, 2025 (ranking from most desirable to least per the upper-tier situations):
- HC: Aaron Glenn, OC: Josh McCown
- HC: Brian Flores, OC: Josh McCown
- HC: Josh McCown
Aaron Glenn, head coach, and Josh McCown, offensive coordinator, are my leaders in the clubhouse, which means the former Jets cornerback is the top head-coaching candidate. Is that pairing even possible? After all, it feels like the Flores-McCown pairing is much more likely, considering their current employment.
In short, when analyzing the possibilities, it admittedly becomes tricky.
Perhaps Mike McCarthy or even Pete Carroll will join the mix in the coming days, but for now, no news of Jets interest keeps them absent.
What I know for sure is the Jets must analyze things on a human level, first and foremost. Glenn and Flores both provide confidence in the leadership bucket, whereas the former has a slight edge over the latter in the innovation (and/or conforming with the modern offensive league) bucket.
McCown, the underdog, is as genuine as they come, which signals potential greatness in the leadership department. Considering his near-quarter-century NFL journey to today, he seemingly has the offensive side of the ball and proper team vision qualities in his arsenal.
Even if Aaron Glenn is still my top head coaching candidate, Woody Johnson would be extremely wise to consider Josh McCown for the position. At the very least, he should be the New York Jets’ No. 1 individual candidate—on a human and leadership level—for a job on the coaching staff.
If that happens, who knows? Perhaps Woody and the Jets would have stumbled upon the next great thing in this league—well before every organization has already come to that identical conclusion.
