NY Jets: Could Bill Cowher really be the team’s next head coach?

The NY Jets have been tied to legendary NFL head coach Bill Cowher in recent days.

The NY Jets will be searching for a new head coach this offseason — one that will hopefully find much more success in New York than Adam Gase has. But could the legendary Bill Cowher be a real possibility?

That’s at least the belief of WFAN regular and former Jets quarterback, Boomer Esiason, who hinted on his morning show this past Monday that the Jets’ job might be appealing to Cowher.

Esiason was discussing the Jets with his co-host, Gregg Giannotti, when Giannotti said that Cowher would be perfect for the Jets, but that it would never happen.

Boomer seemed to disagree.

“All I know is that yesterday, he was showing me and Nate [Burleson] film of him coaching on the sideline where he was mic’ed up, and we looked at each other like, ‘hmm, what does that mean?’ Is he sending a message? I’ve worked with him for 14 years and I’ve never seen that.”

Cowher famously coached for 15 years in the NFL with the Pittsburgh Steelers from 1992-2006. That reign included a Super Bowl victory in 2005 and he finished with a 161-99-1 career record as a head coach, including the playoffs.

The man who Esiason described as a “really fit 63-year-old,” was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past February — well-deserved honor for arguably one of the greatest coaches of all-time.

But would Cowher seriously consider coming out of a near-15-year retirement to coach the Jets? Esiason sees it as a real possibility.

“He was saying to me yesterday, he’s the one that told me the Jets job is going to be really attractive, and they could hire whomever they want. And he told me he loves Joe Douglas.”

Bill Cowher might actually be interested in the NY Jets job

Esiason also added that Cowher’s wife is a big Jets fan who even refers to the team as “we.” Now, it’s unclear if the Jets job would be appealing enough to convince Cowher to leave the media world for a coaching job.

But landing the first overall pick and, in turn, Clemson quarterback Trevor Lawrence would certainly go a long way.

Of course, Cowher hasn’t coached since 2006. A move like this would be a serious risk, but the Raiders paved the way for this type of hiring when they coaxed Jon Gruden out of retirement a few years ago.

Gruden has his faults, but that move seems to have worked out quite well for the Raiders.

This would be the very definition of a splash hire — a Woody Johnson move through and through. But if the Jets want to make some headlines this offseason, Cowher would certainly do the trick.

That said, it’s likely nothing more than a pipedream at best.