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This could be considered the elephant in the room by some.
This is from long-time NFL insider Jason LaCanfora of Sports Boom:
“(Frank) Reich will be coaching that team by December,” one NFL head coach said.
Who is the coach who said that? I have no idea.
Does that coach even exist? I have no idea.
I don’t know LaCanfora, but I do know a lot of people are making up a little stuff these days.
So I’ve been red-pilled, to borrow a reference from “The Matrix.”
In that movie, if you take the red pill, it “causes someone to recognize a reality previously concealed from them.” The definition is from Merriam-Webster.
I’m not looking to single out LaCanfora, but it’s just so hard for me to buy into a lot of this unnamed coach or executive stuff these days.
To me, it’s a major leap of faith by other reporters to 100 percent buy-in to the veracity of somebody else’s quote from unnamed people.
We have no idea who it is or whether it’s sometimes made up.
How would we be able to check one way or another?
LaCanfora also quoted “a top personnel exec” who said, “Reich is the perfect in-house guy to have as the interim head coach, if you need him.”
But whether you buy into the legitimacy of these quotes or not, the premise of each quote is certainly something worth delving into.
It’s likely that the concept of Reich taking over for Glenn, if the Jets get off to a terrible start over the first half of next season, let’s say 1-7, is something that has been brought up at the dinner table by Jets fans.
Of course it has.
So, in a way, while Glenn’s hiring of Reich to run his offense was a praiseworthy move, some might consider it a risky one.
The two-time NFL head coach (with Indianapolis and Carolina), and former interim Stanford coach certainly has head coaching chops.
But I can assure you, knowing Reich a little and knowing other people who know him well, taking this job wasn’t a Machiavellian move by the classy veteran coach, where he was looking ahead to possibly taking over for a coach some consider on the hot seat.
Reich has too much dignity and integrity to scheme like that.
And also, while people write this all the time, who says Glenn is on the hot seat? The only people who can put him on the hot seat are Woody, Ira, and Hymie, and there is no evidence they have put him there.
It is assumed that Glenn makes somewhere in the $10-11 million-a-year range, and he’s only entering his second year of a reported five-year contract.
Do you really think Woody and his two right-hand men would want to eat that kind of money, paying off, let’s say, the last 3.5 years of Glenn’s deal if he were fired mid-season?
Probably not.
Also, my gut tells me, based on their off-season additions via trades and free agency, and four picks in the top 44 coming up, they will, at the very least, linger around .500 this year, and that should be just fine for Glenn’s job security, if you do indeed think he’s on shaky ground.
Their defense, which was a disaster last year, should be much better based on the talent added in the off-season so far, and with perhaps 2-3 of those premium draft picks. People always talk in sports about the importance of being strong up the middle. Well, with two outstanding run defenders added at DT (T’Vondre Smith and David Onyemata), a veteran green-dot linebacker to lead the defense (Demario Davis), and the addition of a ball-hawking safety (Minkah Fitzpatrick), they will be better up the middle. And also, their defense will have much better depth than last year, for rotational purposes and in case of injuries.
Also, QB Geno Smith showed during his three years starting in Seattle (2022-24) that he can keep you around .500 or a little better.
But I thought this was a good time to address this theory that Reich might be the head coach in waiting.
You never know what might happen, but I don’t think the Jets politburo is looking to fire Glenn anytime soon, and I don’t think Reich is coming in with a Brutus mindset.
March 26, 2026
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