New York Jets Coaching Staff Will Coach at Senior Bowl
The New York Jets will be coaching a Bowl game in February.
Ok, maybe not THAT Bowl game in the month of February, but the Senior Bowl in Mobil, Alabama on February 5. Head Coach Robert Saleh and his staff were chosen to coach the 2022 Reeses Senior Bowl opposite Detroit Lions Head Coach Dan Campbell and his staff.
“We are very thankful to Jim Nagy and his team for the chance to work with some of the best young players in the nation this week,” Saleh said. “The New York Jets are fired up for the opportunity to engage with these young men and be a part of everything at the Senior Bowl.”
NFL Coaching staffs at the senior bowl are determined based on draft order. If a team is going through a coaching change, that team is not selected to coach in the game. For example, the Jacksonville Jaguars, who own the first pick in the 2022 draft, would have been eligible, but because that franchise is looking for a new Head Coach and staff, they were eliminated. The Lions hold the number 2 pick in the draft. The Jets hold the fourth pick in the draft.
The Jets have not sent a coaching staff to run the Senior Bowl since 1979 when Walt Michaels was the Jets coach.
This is a tremendous opportunity for coaches to get a first hand look at the latest prospects both in practice and in meetings. The last time the Jets coached in this game in ’79 they came away with Mark Gastinaeu and Marty Lyons in the draft months later.
A more recent example, Saleh was on the San Francisco 49ers staff that coached in the Senior Bowl in 2019. They fell in love with Deebo Samuel at the Senior Bowl, and selected him in the second round of the 2019 draft. Samuel put up Pro Bowl worthy numbers this past season out in the Bay Area.
The Jets own nine picks in the 2022 NFL Draft including four in the top 38 in addition to a pair of fourth- and fifth-round picks.
