In their quest for a new head coach, the Jets are not wasting any time. The Jets announced Thursday night that Ron Rivera, a two-time NFL coach of the year winner and a longtime Panthers and Commanders coach, had finished an interview with the team.
This is the job’s first known interview. Although there is no sign that an interview has been set, former Jets coach Rex Ryan stated this week that he intends to speak with the Jets over their open position.
As Carolina’s coach from 2011 to 2019, Rivera guided the Panthers to the playoffs five times, including a trip to the Super Bowl at the end of the 2015 season, demonstrating his experience leading successful teams.
However, Rivera was fired late in the 2019 season after the Panthers had losing seasons in three of his final four years in Carolina. Rivera was named coach of the year after leading the team to a 15-1 regular season record that year and again after the Panthers went 12-4 in 2013.
In 2020, he took over the Commanders and guided them to a 7-9 record into the playoffs. However, he failed to guide Washington to a winning record in any of his four years, and he was sacked following the 2023 season. He has a 102-103-2 regular-season coaching record and a 3-4 postseason record.
In his second season, Rivera was a backup linebacker for the Bears, who won a Super Bowl in 1985. Before retiring in 1992, he played for Chicago for nine years, rising to the position of starter in the middle of his career.
After retiring, he worked as a television analyst, but he began his coaching career with the Bears in 1997 as a quality control coach. In 1999, he was promoted to linebackers coach for the Eagles, and before being hired by the Panthers in 2011, he served as defensive coordinator for the Bears and Chargers.
Although Rivera has a lot of expertise, would the Jets be wise to hire him? Most likely not, considering the intensive monitoring. At the end of the 2022 season, Rivera appeared to be unaware that his team could be eliminated from the playoffs until a reporter questioned him about it following a loss (they were eliminated later that day). Rivera also had to apologize for a number of other mistakes, including criticizing his new offensive coordinator Eric Beinemy in 2023.
Rivera shouldn’t be held entirely responsible for these errors. However, it appears like Rivera will have a difficult time in this position considering the extreme scrutiny the Jets are under and how important it will be for any new coach to overcome the perception of the Jets as a joke.
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The Jets are finishing the season with the longest ongoing skid in major North American professional sports—14 straight seasons without a postseason appearance.
Given that interim coach Jeff Ulbrich is getting the squad ready for Sunday’s season finale against the Dolphins and that the team has not indicated whether Rivera would be considered for the permanent position, the timing of his interview is more than a little awkward.
Naturally, considering Ulbrich’s 2-9 record since replacing Robert Saleh, who was abruptly fired after Week 5 of his fourth season with the team, that seems improbable.
According to the team’s website, owner Woody Johnson is in the lead in the hunt for a general manager and head coach after claiming he fired Saleh on his own. The Jets engaged The 33rd Team, a media firm founded by former general manager Mike Tannenbaum, last month to assist with candidate sourcing and interview coordination. With assistance from former Titans general manager Rick Spielman, who assisted Washington in its hunt for a coach and general manager following Rivera’s dismissal last offseason, Tannenbaum is spearheading that endeavor.
Louis Riddick, an ESPN analyst and general manager candidate, was interviewed by the Jets on Thursday. This was the team’s fourth interview for the position since firing Joe Douglas in November.
You can contact Andy Vasquez [email protected].
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