Here are some noteworthy sidebars on five of the new offensive coaches hired by head coach Aaron Glenn and the Jets in recent days.
Frank Reich: Positioning Receivers for the Catch
Offensive coordinator Frank Reich's comeback abilities as a player are legendary, earning him the status from some as "the best backup QB in football." He showed it at Maryland when he led the Terps from 31-0 down at the half to 42-40 over Miami in 1984, then again in the '92 NFL playoffs when he reversed the Bills' 35-3 deficit into, at the time, the greatest comeback in pro postseason history in the 41-38 OT AFC Wild Card win over the Oilers.
Reich almost executed a fantastic finish as the Jets' 1996 QB against his old team from Buffalo, leading the then-winless Green & White on a touchdown drive to a 22-22 tie after the two-minute warning. The TD pass went to none other than fan favorite Wayne Chrebet, who said this at the time about his diving 21-yard over-the-middle, on-the-goal-line connection:
"It was the best-thrown ball I've ever caught. I don't care whether I've been playing on the street or at the YMCA or at Hofstra. He put it in a position for me to catch it. I just closed my eyes and the ball ended up in my hands."
Reich hasn't thrown a pass in a game in a while, but as the new OC, he'll still be in charge of getting Jets QBs' best-thrown balls into the hands of Garrett Wilson and the receivers in 2026, a mere three decades after Chrebet's catch.
Bill Musgrave: Coaching Up QBs a Long Time
Quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave has much knowledge to pass on to the Jets QBs from the vast storehouse of knowledge he's acquired in his long career in football. As a QB himself, Musgrave had outstanding tenures at his Colorado high school and at the University of Oregon.
A career NFL backup before heading into coaching, he holds one distinction in Super Bowl history: He's tied for the best completion percentage in a Super Bowl. He completed his only pass for 6 yards in relief of Steve Young in the 49ers' rout of the Chargers in SB XXIX. (Among the 10 others he's tied with at 100% accuracy is Reich, who went 1-for-1 for 11 yards for Buffalo vs. Washington in SB XXVI.)
As a coach, Musgrave has an impressive résumé that features six stops as an NFL offensive coordinator, with two more as an OC at major colleges. And the Jets will be his ninth gig as a quarterbacks coach, with eight coming in the pros.
Musgrave mentioned one of his mantras last season as Cleveland's QBs coach when asked about backup reps at practices: "As quarterbacks, we don't count the plays. We make the plays count."
Alfredo Roberts: Tight Ends All the Way
TEs coach Alfredo Roberts has been all about tight ends all his life. He was a top TE at his Miami high school, at "the U" in his college career, and as an eighth-round draft pick in 1988 by Kansas City. He's been the TEs coach for an NFL team on six occasions before coming to the Jets, with the only time stepping away from that position coming in 2017 when he was brought to the Los Angeles Chargers as running backs coach by Anthony Lynn, the former Jets assistant HC and RBs coach from 2009-14. Which brings us to ...
Seth Ryan: It's a Family Affair
Rex and Seth Ryan. Rex, who hired Lynn as his Jets RBs coach, told the Detroit Free Press in 2021 that he was happy that son Seth chose to follow in his footsteps as an NFL coach. "God willing," Rex said, "the greatest thing would be that he be a third-generation head coach." Seth isn't there yet along with his dad, former HC of the Jets and Bills, and grandpa Buddy, HC of the Eagles and Cardinals, but he's getting closer in stepping up to Jets pass game coordinator and becoming the third generation of Ryans to serve as Green & White coaches.
Seth, the Jets passing game coordinator, wanted to leave college early to test his skills in the NFL. But he stayed at Clemson one more year, and good thing he did as he contributed to the Tigers' National Championship team in early '17. But his approach toward playing — and coaching — at the next level never changed.
"I wanted to play against the best," Seth said. "I wanted to be as best as I could as a player so that would help me as I tried to go into the next level. I wanted to learn from the best."
Thomas Merkle: The More You Can Do
Thomas Merkle, a record-setting QB at Kenyon College, joins the Jets' QB room as coaching assistant/assistant QBs coach. He's used to the plethora of titles. At Stanford, from 2020-25 he wore a number of hats, including as a graduate assistant, a quality control analyst, an offensive line assistant in '20, a specialist with the wideouts and gunners in '21, and ultimately last season as QBs coach. Over his six seasons on The Farm, he also supervised practice drills and provided scouting reports to position groups.
And to bring this piece back to its beginning, Merkle worked last season with Reich, who started the year as interim head coach and finished it as a senior adviser for the Stanford football program. The "old QB" recognized young talent when he worked with it.
