By Glenn Naughton<\/p>\n
It’s the worst kept secret in the NFL. \u00a0The New York Jets are in search of a brand new Head Coach and Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn<\/strong> is sitting firmly atop their wish list.\u00a0Countless reports have linked Quinn, a New Jersey native, to the\u00a0Jets vacancy.\u00a0\u00a0Team owner Woody Johnson is so set on hiring Quinn that he was\u00a0reportedly ready to fly out<\/a> to Seattle in the event of a Seahawks loss\u00a0to the Carolina Panthers this past weekend.\u00a0 As it turns out, \u00a0Johnson had to cool his jets as Seattle avoided\u00a0the upset at home and will head to the NFC Championship game to face the Green Bay Packers.\u00a0 This of course means Gang Green will continue waiting for Seattle’s season to come to a close, at which point they can officially make Quinn an offer.<\/p>\n If Quinn doesn’t work out, or if the Jets are\u00a0concerned about the high level of interest from other organizations\u00a0<\/a>for his services, they could look to hire another hot candidate, Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles who they’re bringing in for a second interview<\/a>\u00a0as they jockey for position with the Atlanta Falcons.<\/p>\n Johnson is one week away from the fifteen year anniversary of his purchasing Jets for $635 million in 2000.\u00a0 This will be his fifth attempt at finding a head coach who can deliver a championship to long-suffering Jets fans, some of whom just had a special anniversary of their own.\u00a0 It was 46 years ago this week, January 12th, 1969 to be exact, that a Jets head coach delivered the Lombardi Trophy to the Jets faithful.\u00a0 Will head coach number five deliver championship number two?\u00a0 While that remains to be seen, this hunt for a head coach has\u00a0one notable difference from Johnson’s\u00a0prior attempts, and it’s one that Jets fans should be happy about.<\/p>\n For the first time during\u00a0his tenure, it appears that Johnson and the Jets will be pursuing a head coach that is highly thought of and\/or being pursued by other teams.\u00a0 In no way does this guarantee success, but Jets fans should take some solace in the fact that the Jets’\u00a0 next head coach isn’t likely to be another “head scratcher”.<\/p>\n When Johnson purchased the Jets in 2000, the team was being guided by Hall of Fame Head Coach Bill Parcells.\u00a0 With Parcells’ future role with the organization unclear, Johnson had a fallback option with then-defensive coordinator Bill Belichick<\/strong> under contract to succeed Parcells in the event of his departure.\u00a0 When Parcells did step aside, Belichick did take over, for one day.<\/p>\n Belichick’s unexpected and rapid exit left the Jets in a state of flux.\u00a0 Parcells, who had moved from the sideline to the front-office vowed to fix the problem.\u00a0 His solution was the promotion of linebackers coach Al Groh to the Head Coach <\/a><\/strong>position.\u00a0\u00a0Parcells and Groh had worked together since the late 80’s with the Giants and later with the Patriots, but Groh was never known to be a candidate elsewhere.\u00a0\u00a0His only head coaching experience was a stint at Wake Forest from 1981-1986, but Parcells wanted continuity within the organization and convinced Johnson to elevate Groh.\u00a0 Eventually Groh\u00a0would leave to coach at the University of Virginia, his alma mater, after just one season at the helm for the Jets.\u00a0 Groh’s Jets posted a 9-7\u00a0record after a late-season collapse, and went\u00a0 home\u00a0without a playoff berth.<\/p>\n By the time Johnson was looking for Groh’s replacement, he would be doing so with a new General Manager.\u00a0 Terry Bradway<\/strong> was\u00a0 hired<\/a> away from the front-office of the Kansas City Chiefs and would pair with Johnson in the coaching search.\u00a0 Few big-name candidates were brought in, and in the end the Jets hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive-backs coach Herm Edwards<\/strong>.\u00a0 For the second time in as many tries, Johnson deferred to his GM and hired a defense-oriented position coach with no NFL head coaching experience.\u00a0 Many fans were stunned by the move, but were also swayed by Edwards’ enthusiasm.\u00a0\u00a0He was a high-energy optimist who had worked with Bradway in Kansas City several years earlier.\u00a0 He would spend a total of five seasons on the Jets sideline, and compiled a record of 39-41 (.488)\u00a0with a 2-3 record in the post-season.<\/p>\n After years of coming up short, and too often at the hands of the New England Patriots, Johnson went poaching.\u00a0 In search of head coach number three, the Jets looked north and hired 35 year-old Eric Mangini<\/strong> away from Bill Belichick’s Patriots.\u00a0 What Mangini lacked in personality, he was said to\u00a0 make up for in football acumen.\u00a0 A detail-oriented disciplinarian who had just one year of experience as a defensive coordinator was thought to be a respected up and comer, but the Jets hoped he was ready now.\u00a0 As it turned out, he wasn’t.\u00a0 In three seasons Mangini finished with a 23-25 (.479) record and managed to make the post-season just once.\u00a0 That appearance would be against\u00a0 his old team as the Jets traveled to New England to take on the Patriots and were trounced 37-16.\u00a0 In his final season with the\u00a0Jets, Mangini was armed with Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre but even that wasn’t enough.\u00a0 Another Jets late season collapse sent them packing early, and\u00a0Mangini, Johnson’s third hire did the same.\u00a0 Mangini still garners praise from some of his former players, as former Jet Pete Kendall<\/a><\/strong> did in an interview earlier this season with JetNation.com, but despite that, he compiled a 10-22 record with the Cleveland Browns after his departure from New York and has yet to land another head coaching job.<\/p>\n As was the case when the Jets replaced the high-energy Edwards with the monotone Mangini, Woody Johnson went polar-opposite once again, naming Ravens defensive coordinator Rex Ryan<\/strong> his new head coach.\u00a0\u00a0Woody did so\u00a0despite Ryan being passed over for the same position by his own team who chose John Harbaugh over the boisterous Ryan.\u00a0\u00a0The initial success Ryan\u00a0experienced\u00a0in New York had many thinking Johnson finally got his man.\u00a0 Back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship game in years one and two, combined with more post-season wins than any coach in Jets history had Johnson and the Jets on cloud nine.\u00a0 The euphoria however, eventually wore off.\u00a0 Four consecutive seasons without a playoff berth and Ryan’s inability to grow as a head coach or field a competent offense\u00a0led to his dismissal at the conclusion of this season and leaves the Jets where they are today.<\/p>\n Johnson is heavily engaged in a search for a new leader, but he’s doing so in a manner that may require a great deal of persuasion, and an even\u00a0greater amount of money.\u00a0 Woody Johnson, in a bidding war for a highly sought after head coach?\u00a0 It would be a first for the owner, but should undoubtedly be welcomed by Jets fans.<\/p>\n