NY Jets having dinner with Titans OC Arthur Smith tonight

The NY Jets are reportedly having dinner with Arthur Smith Wednesday night.

The NY Jets are continuing their search for a head coach after failing to reach a deal with San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh earlier in the day. Next up, Arthur Smith.

The Jets are reportedly set to have dinner with the Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator on Wednesday night marking the second in-person meeting that Smith will have today.

Smith had his second interview with the Atlanta Falcons, a team many consider the favorite to land him, earlier in the day before flying out to New Jersey to meet with the Jets’ brass.

Per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, once he finishes his meeting with the Jets, Smith will meet with the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday and then the Detroit Lions on Friday.

Evidently, Smith is a hot name on the coaching market. In fact, he’s the only candidate to have interviewed with or had his name requested for an interview by all seven teams searching for a new head coach this offseason.

The Jets met with the aforementioned Saleh last night and into this morning with multiple reports indicating that the two sides were nearing a deal. However, by the time the afternoon had arrived, no deal had been reached and Saleh was off to meet with the Eagles.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini was quick to note the Jets’ interest in Smith indicating that he was right up there with Saleh as one of their most highly-coveted targets. And it’s easy to see why.

The NY Jets were impressed by Arthur Smith’s time in Tennessee

Smith has been with the Titans organization in some capacity since 2011, but it wasn’t until he took over as the team’s offensive coordinator in 2019 that his career finally started to take off.

The 38-year-old helped revolutionize the Titans’ offense helping turn a once-stagnant unit into one of the best in the league. He helped make Derrick Henry the best running back in football and essentially saved the career of Ryan Tannehill.

The Titans’ rushing attack has become arguably the NFL’s best and his work with Tannehill should not be understated. That said, there will be questions about his ability to lead and be more than just a coordinator.

Those are the questions the Jets will look to answer as they meet with Smith for the second time on Wednesday night.

The Jets still reportedly plan to interview other candidates in person in the near future with the likes of Matt Eberflus, Marvin Lewis, and Joe Brady perhaps next-in-line — seeing as they won’t be participating in the postseason.

The Jets couldn’t strike a deal with Saleh. Perhaps things will be different, however, with Smith.