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The Jets have hired Frank Reich to be their offensive coordinator.
This is a slam dunk hire for the Jets for a couple of reasons.
First off, the guy is a very good offensive play-caller.
“He is unique in his ability to see the game for what it is right now and adapt when appropriate,” said Jets coach Aaron Glenn. “Frank understands offense and how to utilize the strengths of players.”
This is not a situation like last year, where the Jets hired Tanner Engstrand and projected/hoped that he could be a very good NFL play-caller. He had never called plays on the NFL level before.
Reich is settled science. He has proven time and time again that he’s a very good NFL play-caller.
As the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2016-17, Reich helped lead the team to a Super Bowl LII victory while working both with Carson Wentz and Nick Foles.
Reich had a five-year stint as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts (2018-22). During his time Indy, the Colts compiled a 40-33-1 mark in the regular season and made postseason trips in 2018 and 2020. While with the Colts, he called the offensive plays as well.
The Jets and their fans saw Reich’s elite play-calling twice while he coached the Colts, in two blowout wins for Indy, 36-7 on September 27, 2020, and a 45-30 victory on November 4, 2021.
So Reich comes into the building, and there is no gray area about his ability to succeed as an NFL play-caller.
Also, he’s a two-time NFL head coach, with Indianapolis and Carolina, who will be a tremendous help to Aaron Glenn.
One of the reasons Steve Wilks was hired as defensive coordinator last year was not only to run the defense, but Glenn liked that he was a former coach and could be a good sounding board for the first-time NFL head coach.
Obviously, that experiment on the defensive front didn’t work out. As for how much he helped Glenn as a first-time head coach, it is impossible for anyone to discern outside the building how much he helped the coach on that front, but considering how poorly the season went, the results speak for themselves.
Reich was a much more accomplished and experienced NFL head coach, with six years as a head coach, five years in Indy, and one in Carolina (and the interim coach at Stanford last year). Granted, he was fired after a 1-10 start in his first year in Carolina, but getting fired by the current owner in Carolina is not a black mark on your resume. He goes through coaches like toilet paper, and North Carolina-native Ben Johnson wanted nothing to do with that job. The owner and his wife scouted and picked 5-10 QB Bryce Young and Reich had to play the rookie before he was ready.
Reich will help Glenn a lot, not just as an offensive coordinator, but to help him take the next step as an NFL head coach.
Reich, a deeply religious man, has a terrific bedside manner and is the kind of guy who can be very helpful but not threatening.
In the latest issue of Jets Confidential Magazine, on sale now, we wrote about how the Jets struggled last season to win the chess match against opposing teams on game day. Football is often referred to as “chess on grass.”
In the article we mentioned on the first two drives of the New England-Jets game late in the season, the Jets dialed up deep passes down the left side line to Adonai Mitchell, who was being covered by one of the NFL’s best corners, the first pass was easily broken up by the defender, and the second one was picked (not by Gonzalez, but a safety who came over to the telegraphed pass). It’s not good chess on grass to look at Mitchell on Gonzalez and say, “Let’s go there, we have a matchup advantage.”
The Jets’ offense has a hard time sustaining drives all season and had a lot of presnap penalties.
That likely won’t happen with Reich running the show. Granted, we don’t know who the QB will be, but I can assure you, it will be more organized and efficient.
February 4, 2026
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