Surprising Big Ten coach interviews for Jets head coach job

Oct 2, 2022; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Jets helmets on the sidelines against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the second quarter at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

A surprising Big Ten coach has interviewed for the New York Jets’ head coach job.

The Jets announced on Friday that they have completed an interview with Mike Locksley. That’s a surprise considering Locksley went 4-8 this season as the head coach of Maryland. But Locksley has done well with the Terps overall.

Locksley was the head coach at New Mexico from 2009-2011 and went 2-26. He was fired during the 2011 season and later went to Maryland for his second stint there. He served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach of the Terps, and became their interim head coach during the 2015 season.

After 2015, Locksley began working for Nick Saban at Alabama in the 2016 as an offensive analayst. He worked his way up to offensive coordinator in the 2018 season and was then hired by Maryland as their head coach. Locksley, who is in his third coaching stint at Maryland, had a rough 3-9 start to his Terps career in 2019. But he had winning seasons from 2021-2023 and won bowl games in all three years before falling off this season.

Though Locksley has done well at Maryland on the whole, it’s surprising for a 4-win college coach to get an NFL interview.

The Jets let Robert Saleh go as their head coach during the season. They have interviewed Aaron Glenn, Matt Nagy, and Rex Ryan, in addition to Locksley, for their vacancy. The team is also interviewing general manager candidates.