The New York Jets are expected to promote quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates to the role of offensive coordinator, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Bates joined the Jets for the 2017 season under former offensive coordinator John Morton, who lasted just one season at the position before getting fired on Wednesday.
Originally, it was believed that Morton was fired because Todd Haley suddenly became available after he was axed by the Pittsburgh Steelers following their shocking loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Divisional Round.
But with Haley being pursued hard by the Cleveland Browns, per Mary Kay Cabot of Cleveland.com, the Jets look as though they’ll be staying in-house with the promotion of Bates.
Bates has basically come out of nowhere to get this job. This season with the Jets was his first year back coaching in the NFL since 2012 when he was the quarterbacks coach of the Chicago Bears. The 41-year-old didn’t spend much time in football during that time away from the NFL sidelines as he instead hiked the Rocky Mountains.
Breaking into the NFL in 2002, Bates was an offensive quality control and assistant quarterbacks coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before joining the Jets in 2005 as their quarterbacks coach. Within a year though, he was off to the Denver Broncos before spending 2009 with USC as its assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach.
In 2010, he was brought on as the Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator where his unit struggled to find any success. Winning a weak NFC West division with a 7-9 record with Matt Hasselbeck and Charlie Whitehurst under center, Bates’ offense was ranked 23rd in points scored and 28th in total yards gained.
The Jets have some promising offensive pieces, mainly in the backfield as Bilal Powell continued to show flashes of becoming a productive every-down back by averaging 4.3 yards per carry. But the quarterback situation is still very much up in the air as Josh McCown — who performed admirably as New York’s starter in 2017 — is likely nothing more than a placeholder for the Jets’ next talent expected to become their franchise quarterback. Obviously, it depends on what they can do either in the draft or in free agency, as there are a few candidates that could be available on the market.
