The first Monday after the culmination of the NFL season is one of infamy. It is called “Black Monday” because it is usually the day when a few head coaches across the league lose their jobs after disappointing seasons. The 2025 season saw three coaches fired midseason. The Tennessee Titans fired Brian Callahan, the New York Giants fired Brian Daboll, and the Atlanta Falcons fired Raheem Morris in the middle of the final Sunday Night Football of the regular season. The dominoes continued to fall on “Black Monday” as the Cleveland Browns fired longtime coach Kevin Stefanski, the Las Vegas Raiders fired legendary coach Pete Carroll, and the Arizona Cardinals fired Jonathan Gannon. As for the New York Jets, they seem to be sticking with Aaron Glenn. However, they need a defensive coordinator after firing Steve Wilks. The recent head coach firings have paved the way for two potential candidates for the Jets’ DC position.
Jets DC Candidate #1: Raheem Morris
Morris has had a long career as a coach, spanning all the way back to 1998 as a Graduate Assistant at Hofstra. He has had a very diverse career as well, holding positions such as wide receivers coach, defensive backs coach, offensive and defensive passing game coordinator, and defensive coordinator. He is also a former head coach, most recently with the Falcons as mentioned earlier. His one stint as a DC was from 2021 to 2023 with the Los Angeles Rams. In LA, his defenses allowed 21.3 PPG (2021), 22.6 PPG (2022), and 22.3 PPG (2023). For comparison purposes, the Jets allowed 29.6 PPG this season. His profile is very similar to that of former Jets defensive coordinator Steve Wilks as well. They are both well-travelled and are former head coaches.
Morris also played a part in the defensive renaissance in Atlanta this season. Granted, he wasn’t calling the plays, that distinction goes to Jeff Ulbrich. However, he still coached the team. The Falcons allowed 23.6 PPG (19th), 200.4 passing YPG (13th), and 126.2 rush YPG (24th). The rankings don’t reflect it, but this was a good unit this season. Where they excelled in was sacks and takeaways. The Falcons were 2nd in the league in sacks with 57. The Jets, for context, had 26. They were 7th in the league in takeaways as well with 23. Once again, for context, the Jets had an NFL record-low 4 takeaways including and NFL record 0 interceptions. This should be a no-brainer interview for the Jets vacant DC job.
Jets DC Candidate #2: Jonathan Gannon
Another former defensive coordinator that got fired from their head coaching job is Jonathan Gannon. He isn’t as experienced as Morris, but he was a very successful defensive coordinator in the NFL in his one stint. That one stint came with the Philadelphia Eagles from 2021-2022. During his tenure in Philly, the Eagles made the playoffs both years. His defense allowed 23.1 PPG in 2021 and an impressive 19.8 PPG in 2022. They went to the Super Bowl in 2022, losing to the Chiefs. He was then immediately hired by the Cardinals to be their head coach. His defenses were up-and-down in Arizona as they allowed 26.8 PPG in 2023, improved to 22.3 PPG in 2024, and then plummeted to 28.7 PPG in 2025 leading to his termination. However, a lot of the Cardinals defensive struggles this year were due to incredibly bad injury luck.
Gannon could also help fix the takeaways issue. In his 5 year stretch as the defensive backs coach for the Colts and the defensive coordinator for the Eagles, his defenses forced 23 or more takeaways in 4 of those seasons. The only season this didn’t happen was in 2021, when the Eagles created only 16 turnovers. Keep in mind, the Jets only forced 4 takeaways during the 2025 season. Once again, this should be a no-brainer interview for the Jets’ vacant DC job.
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