Daily News' Manish Mehta On WFAN: Jets Prefer To Promote Bates To Offensive Coordinator
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Three days after getting into a heated exchanged with WFAN's Joe Benigno, Daily News Jets beat writer Manish Mehta joined Joe & Evan again Thursday to discuss the Jets' offensive coordinator opening.
On Wednesday, the team fired John Morton after just one season as the play caller.
Why didn't he work out?
"If you watched every game, he was very pass reliant." Mehta said. " ... I think he got a little bit too cute. I think the influence that (Saints coach) Sean Payton has had on him maybe carried over a little bit too much. He wasn't working with Drew Brees and some of the weapons that New Orleans has, and I think that factored into it. Ultimately, I don't think he was ever all in on establishing a consistent run element to the offense, and that rubbed some people the wrong way."
As for whom the Jets might turn to next, Mehta said their preference is to promote quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates.
"This is a guy who does have prior play-calling experience, a year under Mike Shanahan in Denver and then a year under Pete Carroll in Seattle," Mehta said. "So he's not a guy who's going to be a first-timer like John Morton was.
"If you promote Jeremy Bates, there is one quarterback that makes a lot of sense given Bates' background with Mike Shanahan in Denver, and that quarterback is Kirk Cousins," Mehta added. "And I think if you can get Bates to be your offensive coordinator, Cousins to be your starting quarterback in 2018, then you've got something."
Mehta discussed a couple of other potential candidates for the Jets' offensive coordinator job. One is Eagles quarterbacks coach John DeFilippo, whom the Jets expressed interest in last year before Philadelphia denied them permission to interview him. DeFilippo is currently a candidate for the Arizona Cardinals' head coaching job.
"There's no guarantee that he's going to be your offensive coordinator in 2019," Mehta said. "He could very well be a head coach somewhere in 2019. So if you're (Jets coach) Todd Bowles, you do have to ask yourself this question: You're going now on your third offensive coordinator in four years, do you really want a fourth offensive coordinator in five years if DeFilippo leaves?"
Of Todd Haley, who parted ways with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Wednesday, Mehta said: "I don't see that happening. I know it's a really easy link to make because they (Haley and Bowles) were on the same Dallas staff under (Bill) Parcells. They were actually on the same Jets staff back in 2000, when Bowles was the secondary coach and Haley was the wide receivers coach. So that's an easy link to make. I'm not saying that's not going to happen. The vibe that I get from the people I've spoken to is that it's probably not going to happen."
And of Mike McCoy, the former San Diego Chargers head coach who was fired as the Denver Broncos offensive coordinator in November, Mehta said: "He runs a pretty complicated offense. I don't know what kind of quarterback he would want to."
To listen to the interview, click on the audio player above.
