NY Jets add former NFL tight end Jake Moreland to Robert Saleh’s staff

The NY Jets have reportedly added yet another coach to Robert Saleh’s growing staff in the form of former NFL fullback/tight end Jake Moreland.

As reported by Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports, Moreland is expected to join the Jets as Saleh’s assistant offensive line coach after leaving his position at Western Michigan.

Moreland has served as Western Michigan’s co-offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the past four seasons and even worked with the tight ends this past season.

He’s been coaching at the collegiate level since 2003, but this will be his first NFL coaching job. That said, it won’t be his first stint in the NFL.

Jake Moreland actually played for the NY Jets back in 2000

Moreland played fullback and tight end at Western Michigan and graduated in 2000 only to go undrafted in the 2000 NFL Draft. He would soon find himself picked up by none other than the Jets who signed him as an undrafted free agent.

The Milwaukee native would go on to play seven games with the Jets in 2000 even making a start. However, he was primarily used as a fullback/blocking tight end and didn’t record a statistic.

He was picked up by the Cleveland Browns the following year where he played four games, hauling in three catches for 15 yards. Shortly after that he retired and took on a coaching job at Division-III Elmhurst as the school’s tight ends coach.

Moreland’s first prominent coaching job came when he returned to his alma mater to be the team’s tight ends coach and offensive assistant in 2005. He would remain in that role until 2011 before he left to go to Air Force.

After a few years away at Air Force and one year with Syracuse, he returned to Western Michigan in 2017 which is where he’s been ever since.

While it’s difficult to gauge the impact he will have with the Jets, he does have a pretty strong track record of developing quality players in college.

Western Michigan doesn’t produce a ton of NFL talent, but perhaps the most notable player to come out of WMU in recent years is Carolina Panthers star tackle Taylor Moton.

Moton is expected to get paid a hefty sum this offseason and the former second-round pick spent time under Moreland prior to being drafted. The same is true for future third-round pick Chukwuma Okorafor who started 15 games for the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2020.

Two of the last four Western Michigan Broncos selected in the NFL Draft have been offensive tackles. That certainly bodes well for Moreland’s resume.

He will serve under John Benton who joined the Jets in the offseason as their new offensive line coach.

Saleh’s staff continues to take shape as the weeks go on. And Jake Moreland is the latest name to join the organization.