The New York Jets might hire the coach many fans dub “Adam Gase 2.0” – at least, that’s what one reporter believes.
On Tuesday, ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano predicted the hires for each NFL head coach opening, and Jets fans will not be happy with who Graziano has landing in Florham Park.
Graziano predicted the Jets will hire Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator and former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith while missing out on two captivating candidates in Aaron Glenn and Brian Flores. The insider predicted Glenn will land in New Orleans with the Saints while Flores will land in Chicago with the Bears.
“I could certainly see the Jets ending up with Aaron Glenn or Brian Flores, but I’ve already predicted those guys to land elsewhere,” wrote Graziano. “Smith was a candidate of interest to Jets owner Woody Johnson back in 2021 when the team hired Saleh.
“But at the time, Johnson was serving as ambassador to the United Kingdom and was not directly involved in the search. The Jets also considered bringing in Smith and adding him to their offensive staff last year before the Steelers hired him as their coordinator.”
Graziano also compared this situation to the Jets hiring Adam Gase in 2019 due to their prior talks with Smith in 2021.
“In the past, Johnson has been known to lock in a bit on his personal favorites. Remember, he lost out to the Dolphins on Adam Gase in 2016, then hired Gase three years later after the Dolphins fired him,” Graziano concluded.
Smith is not a popular candidate among Jets fans, with some comparing him to the aforementioned Gase.
Smith served as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator in 2024. His unit struggled, ranking 19th in offensive DVOA and points per game (21.9) while averaging 317.2 yards per game (23rd). The Steelers started hot before stumbling to the finish line, finishing with under 18 points in five consecutive games to close the season, including a playoff loss to Baltimore.
Before his time with Pittsburgh, Smith spent three seasons (2021-23) serving as the Atlanta Falcons head coach, compiling a 21-30 record, going 7-10 in all three of his seasons in Atlanta.
Similar to Gase, Smith had prior talks with the Jets organization about the head coaching job in 2021 before hiring Robert Saleh. He is an offensive-minded coach with three years of head coaching experience. Considering these factors, he is certainly a candidate the Jets may be interested in hiring, to the chagrin of some fans.
