One of the few hires that New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn seemed to get right in 2025 was on the offensive line.

Steve Heiden, a former tight ends coach whom Glenn hired to coach his offensive line, helped turn the Jets’ big-heavy unit into one of the NFL’s more respected units. Young stars like Olu Fashanu, Joe Tippmann, and Armand Membou all played well under Heiden’s leadership.

For as strong a start as Heiden had, though, the best offensive line coach in modern NFL history has now become available. Jeff Stoutland stepped down as offensive line coach of the Philadelphia Eagles on Wednesday.

Now, all 31 other teams around the league need to be on the phone to see what it would take to bring “Stoutland University” to their team.

Upgrade potential

It doesn’t matter how good the Jets’ offensive line was with Steve Heiden running the show in 2025. When you have a chance to upgrade with an all-time great like Stoutland, you have to do it.

His record in Philadelphia shows exactly that — and it’s a significant reason why every team around the league should be in on him.

Stoutland has coached 10 All-Pros throughout his decade-long career with the Eagles. He helped turn late-round offensive linemen like Jason Kelce and Jordan Mailata into the best at their position. Top draft picks like Lane Johnson, Landon Dickerson, and Cam Jurgens all have become the best in the sport as well.

Two Super Bowl titles, a third appearance, multiple division titles, and All-Pros at every position tell the story. The Eagles won’t be the same without Stoutland.

That is their problem, though. The organization wanted to shift its offensive scheme away from what Stoutland did well as a coach, and it led him to choose to find leadership elsewhere.

The possibilities

The Jets should not feel the need to stick to one scheme or another, especially now that Frank Reich is running the offense. New York is one of the rare teams with their offensive line already established.

Plus, although Reich and Stoutland might not have any direct coaching connections, they do share a connection in Nick Sirianni.

Sirianni coached under Reich with the then-San Diego Chargers in 2014-15. When Reich took the Indianapolis Colts’ head coaching job in 2018, Sirianni went with him, serving as the team’s offensive coordinator for three seasons (2018-2020).

Perhaps the Reich-Sirianni connection could be a pathway here?

Bringing in a coach like Stoutland can transform what they already have, getting them from good to the best line in the league.

So what if that means moving on from a quality coach in Heiden? The Jets have already done that this offseason across their staff. Bringing Stoutland University to Florham Park is simply too great an opportunity to pass up.