Two Philadelphia Eagles assistant coaches are among top contenders to become the next OC of the New York Jets
When the New York Jets parted ways with offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur, most people assumed the Jets would target a seasoned veteran play-caller to replace him. However, based on the names that have surfaced as potential candidates for the job, it doesn’t seem like the Jets will limit their search to veterans.
Two names on the Jets’ radar are junior offensive line coaches who have never played in the NFL: Kevin Patullo and Brian Johnson.
Patullo, 41, is in his second season as the Eagles’ passing game coordinator. According to Tom Pelissero, he has previously conducted interviews with the Jets.
the #jets interviewed #Eagle Passing play coordinator Kevin Patullo for her job as offensive coordinator on Friday, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 14, 2023
Johnson, 35, is the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach. While Johnson has not yet conducted an interview with the Jets (as far as the public knows), he has been mentioned by Ian Rapoport as a “strong candidate” for the Jets offensive coordinator position.
A few strong candidates for #jets OC position although it will be a wide ranging search and other names will come up:
— #patriots TE coach Nick Caley
— #Eagle QB coach Brian Johnson
– Former #colts OC Marcus Brady— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 13, 2023
Patullo is no stranger to Florham Park. He was the Jets quarterbacks coach from 2015-2016.
Between his New York and Philadelphia tenures, Patullo was an assistant at Texas A&M and the Colts. Patullo was a senior offensive analyst for Texas A&M in 2017 before spending three seasons in Indianapolis working under Colt’s offensive coordinator Nick Sirianni. In the first two of those seasons (2018-19), Patullo served as wide receivers coach and in the third (2020) as a passing specialist. When Sirianni was hired as Philadelphia head coach, Patullo succeeded him.
Johnson joined the NFL as quarterbacks coach for the Eagles in 2021 after spending 11 seasons as quarterbacks coach in college and working at four different schools (Utah, Mississippi State, Houston, Florida). Johnson simultaneously served as offensive coordinator in Utah (2012-13), Houston (2017), and Florida (2020).
Should the Jets bypass experience in the OC position and instead go for the moon with one of these younger, higher-ranked candidates?
To find out, we brought Eagles film analyst Shane Haff on the Cool Your Jets podcast to tell us all about Philadelphia’s offensive plan and give us some idea of the philosophies that Patullo or Johnson could transfer to the Jets if they were hired.