Is Carolina Panthers OC Joe Brady a good fit for the Jets?
By Dean Jones
Joe Brady’s interview with the New York Jets went extremely well, per reports.
The Carolina Panthers are bracing themselves for another big loss to their coaching staff. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has generated a significant amount of interest from teams looking for a new head coach and one organization, in particular, is reportedly enamored with the prospect of bringing him on board.
After interviewing with the New York Jets on Friday, he came across well, as has been the case throughout most of the process with other teams.
Brady is one of the brightest young minds in the NFL and despite having just one year of play-calling experience at the next level, it appears that teams are willing to take a chance on what he can bring to their franchise.
All this is bad news for the Panthers, who were counting on Brady to take their offense to even greater heights in 2021. There is little doubt that the former LSU passing coordinator had a huge say in Carolina pulling the trigger on signing Teddy Bridgewater, so for him to walk away after one year and leave them stuck with an inconsistent presence under center is going to take some getting over.
Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell is reportedly not going to interview for the Jets job, which is another thing working in Brady’s favor.
The Carolina Panthers need to act quickly if Joe Brady departs.
It is just a rumor at this point.
But the fact Brady is generating so much buzz means the Panthers need to come up with a contingency plan, and quickly, to ensure momentum continues to build after an encouraging 2020 season overall under head coach Matt Rhule.
Learning a completely new offense takes time, so the quicker Brady’s replacement is secured in this particular scenario, the better.
The Panthers need some stability ahead of what is sure to be another important and disrupted offseason period due to COVID-19 health concerns. But considering they’ve already lost two assistants to better jobs at the college level, the prospect of parting ways with their offensive coordinator is a grim one.
As for Brady, if he does get the Jets job it will give him the chance to work with the No. 2 overall selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, which is expected to be either Justin Fields or Trevor Lawrence.
This is an enticing proposition considering that the Clemson star is widely regarded as the best prospect at the position to enter the league since Andrew Luck and although there is much work to be done to turn around the Jets’ fortunes, they do have some nice young pieces to build around that would be ultra-enhanced by any of these two recruits.
This is something the Panthers probably didn’t expect after just one season. Brady still has a lot of learning to do and although it’s going to be a baptism of fire, this is an opportunity that might not come along again.