The one quality the NY Jets must prioritize in their head coach search

There are tons of different qualities you can look for in a leader and a head coach. This isn't a one-size-fits-all business. Every organization needs something different depending on its context. Some great coaches may not fit certain franchises because it isn't what they need at the time.

With all that being said, the current NY Jets need a very specific trait in their next head coach. A good "X's and O's" guy won't cut it. An experienced professional alone won't cut it. No, unfortunately, the Jets need so much more than that in their next hire.

The Jets need someone who has a special knack for making others naturally follow him. They need someone undaunted by decades of past failure — someone who can take control of a sinking ship and keep it afloat despite all odds. The Jets don't need a good football coach.

They need someone transformative.

I'll use one example to show what direction they should be avoiding. One of the names currently floated around the Jets is Mike McCarthy. I'm not here to tell you Mike McCarthy isn't a very good coach who can have — and has had — a lot of success in different places. But Mike McCarthy isn't the type to reinfuse a dead culture.

He proved to be very good at maintaining an already sound infrastructure in Green Bay, and he was able to produce a high winning percentage with a very talented roster in Dallas. But he never had to inspire change — definitely not to the extent that the Jets need.

If Andy Reid decided to retire tomorrow, McCarthy might be a good fit to take over in Kansas City, but he can't be trusted with rescuing the fleeting hopes of hundreds of thousands of Jets fans. In fact, almost none of the potential hires on the market possess the sheer magnetism that the franchise needs in 2025.

That being the case, I'm not here to tell you I know who should be the Jets' next head coach. The right head coach may not even be out there right now, and I might have to write the exact same piece in three years when the franchise fires Aaron Glenn or Arthur Smith and has to try to find that perfect fit again.

But what I am here to tell you is the Jets aren't winning a Super Bowl anytime soon with a lot of the candidates they are interviewing. It will take more than a brilliant football mind. When you think about it, what has failed the Jets isn't even the football of it all.

I think everyone can unanimously agree that the front office put together an incredibly potent roster on the field over the past two seasons. They also have had some massively successful drafts in recent years. As far as the coaching goes, I don't think anyone would argue that Robert Saleh doesn't know how to coach football, or even Jeff Ulbrich for that matter.

What has failed the Jets has been leadership. Whether it's Christopher Johnson, Woody Johnson, or even Brick Johnson, the culture from the front office on down has been an abject travesty.

Success can't come from a couple of good years of solid roster construction and good coaching alone. There needs to be organizational and uniform direction that trickles all the way to the lowest level employee.

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The NY Jets must hire a transformative head coach

Though I don't propose to have the surefire solution to the Jets' coaching dilemma, I will posit an example from past years — an example that is actually still technically an option today.

The last time the Jets had any semblance of culture, and as a result success, was under one of their current interviewees. Rex Ryan took over in 2009 and almost immediately turned the entire ship around. Coming off the heels of a disappointing Brett Favre and Eric Mangini lead season, Ryan breathed new life into the walls of Florham Park.

Fans were bought in. Players were bought in. Executives were bought in. Ball boys and concession sellers were bought in. He was the very definition of transformative, and he proved he could do it in New York for this franchise.

It's not as though we are just talking about locker-room "feel-good" success. The Jets were a legitimate powerhouse on the field that got to back-to-back AFC championship games with a subpar quarterback as a result of such a culture shift. Sure, there were some new players, but the biggest change was really the atmosphere.

The guy also really knows how to coach, for the record.

But the point of all of this isn't to say that the Jets should hire Rex Ryan. Maybe he doesn't have the same charm or charisma. It's possible Ryan isn't the best version of what I'm describing right now. Who knows? The point is, whoever is the right choice for the job, is someone who has all those qualities that rebuilds franchises from the ground up.

It doesn't seem as though anyone the Jets are seriously looking at has what I'm describing. Maybe that's because they aren't on the market right now or maybe it's because they are but aren't interested in the Jets. That would make sense. Anyone with a high stock right now likely has little to no interest in entertaining an offer from New York.

But if fans think that the team is going to win a Super Bowl without that type of leader, they are mistaken. The Jets don't need stable. They don't need safe. They don't need sensible. They need a creative visionary who can resurrect a dead football team. They need someone transformative.

Anything else will mean more losses, no real success, and another head coaching hire just a few years from now.

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