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When it comes to coaching searches, people get too caught up in names pushed by NFL insiders, who are often doing the bidding for coaching agents.
Quid pro quo stuff.
Now, of course, some of the names being touted by insiders are legitimately great candidates, like the Giants’ new coach, John Harbaugh.
Or Sean Payton in Denver a couple of years ago, Jim Harbaugh in Los Angeles.
Those are slam dunk hires.
But it’s a shame when fans get upset when they hear that Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jessie Minter doesn’t want to interview with them, because the insiders are pushing him as the second coming.
That is what Cleveland fans are going through.
None of us has any idea if Minter will be a good head coach, so this idea that this news would upset fans is a little misguided.
It’s like last year when the Jets were looking for an offensive coordinator, and Connor Hughes announced that their top candidate was 49ers assistant Nick Caley, but he wasn’t interested in the job.
Caley took the Houston job instead. How’d that work out? The Texans’ offense was not very good this past season.
My point here is simple. If you miss out on a bona fide candidate, who has proven they can do the job they are interviewing for on a high level, like John Harbaugh, yes, fans should be disappointed.
But so much of the information you hear about candidates in the coaching carousel is driven by NFL insiders being spoon-fed stuff by sources, like coaching agents.
These insiders know squat about whether most of these assistants are good candidates or not. They’ve never seen them run a meeting, draw up X’s and O’s, break down film.
Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer tweeted earlier this week: “Jets interim DC Chris Harris interviewed for the team’s full-time defensive coordinator position yesterday. Harris has been widely seen as a rising star in coaching.”
Widely seen by whom?
Look, it could be true, but who is telling Breer that? An agent? There is no way he could have come to that conclusion by himself.
He’s never covered a team that Harris coached for?
There is a quid pro quo game that goes on this time of year when the coaching carousel is spinning fast, and it involves agents for coaches, using surrogates in the media, to promote their candidates.
They are also used to help drive up the price tag for these coaching candidates by writing stuff about other teams being very interested.
I’m not saying Breer is doing that with Harris. I have no idea. I’m just saying this goes on.
Here is the deal, people – you don’t need to get one of these hot media candidates for your head coach or coordinator jobs to get a great candidate.
You just have to know how to vet, research and interview candidates well (which a lot of teams aren’t good at).
For instance, in 2018, when James Madison University hired a somewhat obscure coach from 1-AA Elon University named Curt Cignetti, how’s that work out?
When the Giants promoted their linebacker coach Bill Parcells to head coach, how’d that work out?
The point here is don’t get too caught up in names, or get too disappointed if a Caley, Minter, or whoever turns you down.
There are plenty of really good coaching candidates out there; for whatever position you are looking to hire, you just need to do your research and find them.
Don’t get too caught up in the reporting of the quid pro quo insiders.
The Jets should be able to find a really good defensive coordinator, even if he’s not a big name, if they handle their search properly.
January 22, 2026
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