The Best New York Jets Coaches of All Time
Updated September 15, 2023 5.1K votes 668 voters
Over 600 Ranker voters have come together to rank this list of The Best New York Jets Coaches of All Time
There have been many New York Jets coaches since the team got its start, but who is truly the best New York Jets coach of all time? With Todd Bowles stepping in to fill Rex Ryan's shoes, 2015-2016 should be an interesting season for New York. Upvote your favorites on this list of New York Jets coaches, and downvote any that you believe brought the team down.
Rex Ryan served as the Jets coach from 2009-2014, leading the team to two AFC Championship games with rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez. They never made it to the Super Bowl under Ryan, but had a decent few years of being a contender in the NFL.
The Jets won their only Super Bowl under coach Weeb Ewbank. They were victorious in Super Bowl III, the game where Joe Namath famously guaranteed that the Jets would win.
Who is the greatest New York Jets coach of all time? Let us know by upvoting for your favorite head coaches below that you believe really made an impact on the franchise.Most divisive: Lou Holtz
Ranked by
- 1Richmond, Wayne Township, Indiana245 votesWilbur Charles "Weeb" Ewbank (May 6, 1907 – November 17, 1998) was an American professional football coach. He led the Baltimore Colts to NFL championships in 1958 and 1959 and the New York Jets to victory in Super Bowl III in 1969. He is the only coach to win a championship in both the National Football League (NFL) and American Football League (AFL). Ewbank grew up in Indiana and attended Miami University in Ohio, where he was a multi-sport star who led his baseball, basketball and football teams to state championships. He immediately began a coaching career after graduating, working at Ohio high schools between 1928 and 1943, when he entered the U.S. Navy during World War II. While in the military, Ewbank was an assistant to Paul Brown on a service football team at Naval Station Great Lakes outside of Chicago. Ewbank was discharged in 1945 and coached college sports for three years before reuniting with Brown as an assistant with the Cleveland Browns, a professional team in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). The Browns won all four AAFC championships. They joined the NFL with the leagues merger in 1950, winning the championship that year. Ewbank left the Browns in 1954 to become head coach of the Colts, a young NFL team that had struggled in its first season. In 1956, Ewbank brought in quarterback Johnny Unitas, who quickly became a star and helped lead a potent offense that included wide receiver Raymond Berry and fullback Alan Ameche to an NFL championship in 1958. The Colts repeated as champions in 1959, but the team's performance slipped and Ewbank was fired in 1963. He was soon picked up by the Jets, another struggling team in the AFL. While his first few years were unsuccessful, Ewbank helped build the Jets into a contender after signing quarterback Joe Namath in 1965. The Jets won the AFL championship in 1968 and went on to win Super Bowl III. Ewbank, who was known as a mild-mannered coach who favored simple but well-executed strategies, retired after the 1973 season and settled in Oxford, Ohio. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1978. He died in Oxford on November 17, 1998, the 30th anniversary of the "Heidi Game".
- 2Ardmore, Oklahoma255 votesRex Ashley Ryan (born December 13, 1962) is a former American football coach and current ESPN analyst. Ryan was formerly the head coach of the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL), and also held various coaching positions with eight other NFL and college teams. Ryan is the son of former head coach Buddy Ryan and is the fraternal twin brother of Rob Ryan. From a young age, Ryan aspired to follow in his father's footsteps and become a professional football coach. After spending the majority of his youth in Canada, Ryan returned to the United States as a teenager where he attended college at Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Upon graduating, Ryan spent the next 22 years serving as an assistant coach on different teams at both the college and professional level. At the behest of their head coach Brian Billick, Ryan joined the Baltimore Ravens in 1999 and spent nine years there. In 2005, he became the defensive coordinator, and later was promoted to be the team's assistant head coach in 2008. Ryan later accepted a contract offer from the Jets for their vacant head coaching position for the 2009 season. During his tenure, Ryan became well known throughout the league for his outspoken manner, boisterous attitude, and initial success with the Jets. In his first two seasons as the Jets' head coach, he led the team to back-to-back AFC Championship Game appearances. Ryan's subsequent tenure was a period of struggles, as the Jets were unable to finish with a record above a .500 winning percentage. After a career worst 4–12 record at the conclusion of the 2014 season, Ryan was fired as the team's head coach. Shortly after his firing from the Jets, Ryan was hired to be the Bills' head coach, where he lasted two years with the team before being fired at the end of the 2016 season.
- 3Temple, Texas130 votesSamuel Adrian Baugh (March 17, 1914 – December 17, 2008) was an American football player and coach. During his college and professional careers, he most notably played quarterback, but also played as a defensive back and punter. He played college football for the Horned Frogs at Texas Christian University, where he was a two-time All-American. He then played in the National Football League (NFL) for the Washington Redskins from 1937 to 1952. After his playing career, he served as a coach for Hardin–Simmons University, the New York Titans and the Houston Oilers. Baugh led the Washington Redskins to winning the NFL Championship in 1937 and 1942 and was named NFL Player of the Year by the Washington D.C. Touchdown Club in 1947 and 1948 for his play. In both of his Player of the Year seasons, he led the league in completions, attempts, completion percentage, and yards. In 1947, he also led the league in passing touchdowns, interception percentage and passer rating.Primarily known for his passing prowess, Baugh led the league in completion percentage seven times, passing yards four times, and an NFL record six times in passer rating, among other statistics. However, he was also known for his versatility—having the ability to play at a high level as a punter as well as a defensive back. Throughout his career, he led the league in yards per punt five times, as well as yardage in 1943, a year in which he also led the league in defensive interceptions, with 11. His yards per punt of 51.4 during the 1940 season still stands as an NFL record as of 2018.Baugh was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the 17-member charter class of 1963 and was also selected to the NFL 75th Anniversary All-Time Team in 1994.
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Bill Parcells
Englewood, New Jersey241 votesDuane Charles "Bill" Parcells (born August 22, 1941), also known as "The Big Tuna", is an American former football coach who was a head coach in the National Football League (NFL) for 19 seasons. He rose to prominence as the head coach of the New York Giants, whom he led to two Super Bowl titles. Parcells later served as the head coach of the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Dallas Cowboys. Throughout his career, he coached teams that were in a period of decline and turned them into postseason contenders. He is the only coach in NFL history to lead four teams to the playoffs and three teams to a conference championship game. When Parcells became the head coach of the Giants in 1983, he took over a franchise that had qualified for the postseason only once (1981) in the past decade and had only one winning record in their last 10 seasons. Parcells brought new success to the team and within four years, guided them to their first Super Bowl win. His tenure with the Giants spanned eight seasons and concluded with a second championship victory in Super Bowl XXV. After the Super Bowl win, Parcells retired as a coach in 1991. In 1993, Parcells came out of retirement to become the head coach of the Patriots, another struggling franchise at the time. Once again, Parcells changed the fortunes for the team and led them to an appearance in Super Bowl XXXI during his fourth season as their coach, although the game ended in defeat for the Patriots. Amid conflicts with Patriots owner Robert Kraft, he left the franchise after their Super Bowl loss and became the head coach of the Jets for the next season. Under Parcells, the Jets went from having only one victory in the previous season to obtaining a winning record, and they reached the 1998 AFC Championship Game in his second year with the team. After three seasons as the Jets' head coach, Parcells retired for a second time in 1999, but came back to football in 2003 to become the head coach of the Cowboys. He coached the Cowboys for four seasons and helped them qualify for the playoffs twice, although the team was eliminated in the first round each time. Following the team's loss in a 2006 NFC Wild Card game, Parcells retired from coaching for good in 2007. Since his final retirement from coaching, Parcells currently serves as an NFL analyst for ESPN and since 2014, has been an unofficial consultant for the Cleveland Browns. He was also the Vice President of Football Operations with the Miami Dolphins, a position he held from 2008 to 2010. In 2013, Parcells was voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.His life story, "Parcells: A Football Life" was co-authored by Bill Parcells and writer Nunyo Demasio, a former Washington Post reporter. The collaboration was released by Penguin Random House in late 2014, and soon became a New York Times bestseller. - 5Plains, Texas116 votesClyde Douglas "Bulldog" Turner (March 10, 1919 – October 30, 1998) was an American football player and coach. He was elected, as a player, to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1960 and the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1966. He was also selected in 1969 to the NFL 1940s All-Decade Team. Turner played college football as a center at Hardin–Simmons University from 1937 to 1939 and was selected as an All-American in 1939. After being selected by the Chicago Bears in the first round of the 1940 NFL Draft, he played professional football for the Bears, principally as a center on offense and linebacker on defense, for 13 years from 1940 to 1952. He was selected as a first-team All-Pro eight times (1940–1944, 1946–1948) and was a member of Bears teams that won NFL championships in 1940, 1941, 1943, and 1946. After his playing career was over, Turner held assistant coaching positions with Baylor University (1953) and the Chicago Bears (1954–1957). He was the head coach of the New York Titans of the American Football League (AFL) during the 1962 AFL season.
- 6Swoyersville, Pennsylvania186 votesWalter Edward Michaels (October 16, 1929 – July 10, 2019) was a professional American football player and coach who was best remembered for his six-year tenure as head coach of the NFL's New York Jets from 1977 to 1982. In 1977, Michaels was inducted into the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame and, in 1997 he was inducted into the National Polish American Sports Hall of Fame.
