Former Broncos Super Bowl QB Turns Down Jets' Interview For Head Coach

The New York Jets are deep in the trenches of a thorough search for the organization’s next head coach.

Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is the rumored favorite, but New York continues to interview a myriad of candidates. On Friday, the Jets were reportedly set to interview Minnesota Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who could become part of a mass exodus of Vikings staff (and players?) to the Jets this offseason.

Some have speculated that McCown might join New York as offensive coordinator under top head coach candidate Brian Flores, currently the defensive coordinator in Minnesota.

All in all, enough NFL coaches to pack an NYC subway car have been invited to interview with the Jets, and it’s becoming difficult to sift through all of the possibilities from the outside looking in.

Notably, there are some coaches who have declined the Jets’ invitation for an interview.

One of those men is 49ers quarterback coach Brian Griese, according to a new report from New York Post’s Brian Costello.

“The Jets have … asked to interview Vikings quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, who played for the Jets in 2017-18,” Costello said.

“McCown has not been a coordinator in the NFL yet but is seen as a coach on the rise. One coach the Jets requested who declined the request was 49ers quarterbacks coach Brian Griese.”

Griese, 49, has had a very nice career in professional football. After an illustrious career at Michigan, Griese won a Super Bowl as John Elway’s young backup on the Denver Broncos in 1998 and became Denver’s starter in 1999 after Elway retired. Griese made the Pro Bowl in 2000 and led the NFL in passer rating that season.

He went on to play for the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and Chicago Bears in a playing career that ended in 2008.

Griese spent more than a decade away from the game upon his retirement, but he returned to the NFL as a coach in 2022, joining the San Francisco 49ers as the team’s quarterbacks coach.

Widely respected throughout the league as a special offensive mind, it’s no surprise that Griese was among the several names on the Jets’ list of targets.

It’s unclear why Griese turned down the interview with New York, but one conjecture is that he didn’t feel the need to add his name to a growing, extensive list of candidates, many of whom seem to be getting interviews from the Jets ceremoniously.

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