When Aaron Glenn dropped to 5-20 in his New York Jets career by losing a second consecutive home game to a conference rival on a four-plus-game losing streak, a large contingent of Jets fans immediately started scouring for candidates to become the franchise’s next head coach in 2027.
In “Linsanity” fashion, one coach became an overnight sensation in the tri-state area: Jacksonville Jaguars offensive coordinator Grant Udinski. In a span of hours, Udinski became a hot topic of conversation in the Northeast, simply because of Jets fans researching him as a head coaching candidate. Given his impressive resume, the 30-year-old has already become many fans’ preferred target if the franchise moves on from Glenn in January.
What if the Jets cannot land Udinski, though?
Udinski may not take head coaching interviews. Or, as is often the case with the Jets, he could decline to interview with them, electing to take his talents elsewhere or stay in his cushy job under Liam Coen.
New York needs backup plans. Jets fans seem to have a few preferences, with one taking the cake.
Jets fans’ 2027 head coaching options, ranked
On Friday, I posted a poll on X asking Jets to choose their favorite head coaching candidate among four non-Udinski options.
Before getting to that list, this is worth noting: underneath the poll, I asked fans to clarify whether they would have Udinski above those four candidates, and nearly 60% voted “yes”, with another 23.3% voting that he would be their No. 2 candidate. So, it’s clear that Udinski is the fan favorite among the Jets faithful right now, at least on X.
Let’s get to the backup options. I included four names in the poll:
- Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator Nate Scheelhaase
- San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak
- Former Buffalo Bills head coach Sean McDermott
- Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin
With nearly 1,000 votes as of this writing, here are the results:
- Nate Scheelhaase: 6.3%
- Klay Kubiak: 33%
- Sean McDermott: 38.6%
- Mike Tomlin: 22.2%
With nearly two out of every five votes, Jets fans are leaning toward their longtime AFC East rival, Sean McDermott, if the team cannot land the hotshot young OC out of Jacksonville. Another young, non-play-calling OC, Klay Kubiak, is a close second, indicating how many Jets fans are hellbent on landing an offensive-minded head coach.
Coming in third is Mike Tomlin, formerly of the Pittsburgh Steelers, at 22.2%. Tomlin earned a .500+ record in all 19 of his seasons as the Steelers’ head coach before being canned after the 2025 campaign. The Minecraft player is currently working as an analyst at NBC.
Nate Scheelhaase, the Rams’ non-play-calling OC under Sean McVay, landed in a distant fourth.
Plenty of time remains until the Jets have to make a call on Glenn. There are no reports indicating that an in-season change is being considered, which means Glenn still has nine games to build his case for a third season in New York.
With a 5-20 record, though, which features zero division wins and one win over an above-.500 team, Glenn has to clear a high bar to convince the Jets to keep him instead of pursuing candidates like Udinski, McDermott, Kubiak, and Tomlin.
