Frank Reich Continues Adding Stanford Connections to NY Jets—Are More on the Way?

Could this have a major impact on the QB position?

Aug 16, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; General view of a New York Jets helmet prior to the game against the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images | Rich Barnes-Imagn Images

When the 2025 season ended and the Stanford Cardinal hired a new permanent head coach in Tavita Pritchard, the expectation was that interim head coach Frank Reich would remain with the program in an advisory role, as originally intended. But only a couple of months later, Reich has left the Cardinal for a return to the NFL as the new offensive coordinator for the New York Jets.

And now, it appears that Reich is looking to bring some of that Stanford culture to the Big Apple. Earlier this week, the Jets announced that they have filled out their offensive staff, including the hiring of multiple coaches that were assistants under Reich at Stanford.

Former Cardinal quarterbacks coach Thomas Merkle, former offensive line coach Al Netter and former graduate assistant, Matthew Sargent were those that Reich is bringing with him to the NFL.

Merkle's time as the Cardinal quarterbacks coach may not have translated to results, but he played a key role in helping Ben Gulbranson and Elijah Brown develop beyond where they'd been. With the Jets, Merkle will serve as the assistant quarterbacks coach to head quarterbacks coach, Bill Musgrave.

Netter, the mastermind of Stanford's offensive line growth, takes the job of assistant offensive line coach with the Jets, where he will look to help revamp an offensive line unit that struggled mightily in 2025, leading to the Jets offense to being among the league's worst. Sargent will serve in an unspecified offensive assistant role.

Bringing Stanford assistants shows how much autonomy Reich is getting over the offensive coaching staff in New York, but it could also have some heavy implications on who the Jets get this offseason—particularly at quarterback.

Expected to make a change at the position, the Jets have some are already speculating a couple of names for the team to consider since Reich got the job. The most notable among those options is current Philadelphia Eagles backup and former Stanford Cardinal, Tanner McKee.

McKee, still under contract with the Eagles through the '26 season, could be the perfect quarterback for the Jets in multiple ways. One, he won't cost much in a trade since he has a relatively small sample size, despite showing flashes of his potential near the end of the Eagles' Super Bowl winning season in 2024.

A former sixth round pick, McKee has never been thought of as a guy who can start, but based on his showing during the latter half of the '24 season with Jalen Hurts unavailable, he could develop even more under Reich.

Knowing what it is like to play in the Stanford culture, starting for the Cardinal from 2021-22, McKee would be a fast learner in picking up Reich's scheme.

If the Jets were to get McKee, they would get a quarterback who knows what it's like and what it takes to win. Despite being the backup for the Eagles during their '24 playoff run that ended in a Super Bowl win, McKee was a part of that culture and was in the room each and every day for the preparations it took to hoist the Lombardi.

A franchise that has never truly seen success in the modern era of the NFL, bringing in a Super Bowl champion like McKee could be a sight for sore eyes for the organization.

This offseason will be pivotal for the Jets, but hiring Reich is a good sign that the franchise is serious about turning things around and making their first playoff appearance since 2010.