The New York Jets interviewed Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, and Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley for their head coach position on Friday. This brings the total number of coaching candidates to 15. The Jets have also interviewed 15 candidates for their general manager role.
Flores, who is 43 years old, has been leading Minnesota’s defense for the past two seasons. Before that, he was the senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2022. He was Miami’s head coach for three seasons, finishing with a 24-25 record and no playoff appearances before being fired.
In February 2022, Flores filed a lawsuit against the NFL, the Dolphins, the Giants, and the Denver Broncos, accusing them of discriminatory hiring practices for leadership positions. Flores, who is Black, has continued his pursuit of a head coach position, but he also enjoys his time with the Vikings. He said it would take the right situation for him and his family to leave.
Flores mentioned he would consider any requests from teams wanting to hire him as a head coach this offseason. The Jets, Chicago Bears, and Jacksonville Jaguars are all expected to interview him for their open positions. He said he’s looking for an environment where there is a good “vibe, energy, and connection,” which would create a winning atmosphere.
New York has already interviewed several other candidates for the head coach position, including Aaron Glenn, Vance Joseph, Mike Locksley, Matt Nagy, Ron Rivera, Darren Rizzi, Rex Ryan, Bobby Slowik, Arthur Smith, Steve Spagnuolo, Jeff Ulbrich, and Mike Vrabel, who has since been hired by New England.
Flores, originally from New York, began his NFL career with New England’s scouting department, where he worked for four years. He joined Bill Belichick’s coaching staff in 2008 as a special teams assistant and took on various roles during his 11 years there, including safeties coach (2012-2015) and linebackers coach (2016-2018) before moving to Miami.
Hafley, from New Jersey, just completed his first season as the Packers’ defensive coordinator, leading a unit that ranked fifth overall. Before joining Green Bay, the 45-year-old Hafley was the head coach at Boston College for four years.
The Eagles went 22-26 under his leadership and earned three bowl game invitations. Hafley had a prior stint as co-defensive coordinator and secondary coach at Ohio State and also worked as an assistant coach for the NFL teams in Tampa Bay, Cleveland, and San Francisco. His coaching career began in 2001 at Worcester Polytechnic before moving to Albany, Pittsburgh, and Rutgers.
McCown, also 45, spent this season coaching quarterbacks for the Vikings, including Sam Darnold, who had previously been his teammate with the Jets in 2018. McCown also held a similar role with the Carolina Panthers in 2023. As a player, McCown had a lengthy career, starting 76 games over 16 seasons in the NFL. He threw for 17,731 yards, 98 touchdowns, and 82 interceptions in 102 career games.
After starting 13 games for the Jets in 2017, McCown served as a backup and mentor to Darnold during Darnold’s rookie year. The two reunited in Minnesota this past season, where McCown helped Darnold achieve a career-high 4,319 passing yards, 35 touchdowns, and a 66.2% completion percentage.
The Jets are still in the process of evaluating candidates to find the right fit for their head coach position.
