Bill Cowher-Jets Rumors Are Starting to Percolate

File this under "maybe something, maybe nothing," but Bill Cowher's name came up in a conversation about prospective coaches for the Jets on Boomer & Gio on WFAN this morning, and it's at least interesting to think about. Cowher is 63 years old, and he's been out of coaching since 2006. However, Boomer Esiason has worked with him at CBS for a number of years and did not think the idea was out of the question:




Radio.com has the context of the conversation. They first discussed the possibilities of Jim Harbaugh (whom Boomer said would be a bad fit with the New York media) or trading for Sean Payton, when Gio brought up Cowher as a "million to one" shot that would never happen. Boomer wasn't so sure.

“All I know is that yesterday, he was showing me and Nate (Burleson) film of him coaching on the sideline where he was mic’ed up, and we looked at each other like, ‘Hmm, what does that mean?’” Boomer said. “Is he sending a message? I’ve worked with him for 14 years, and I’ve never seen that.”

Boomer also said that Cowher specifically mentioned the Jets job as attractive, especially if they retain their pole position for the No. 1 pick and Trevor Lawrence: “He was saying to me yesterday, he’s the one that told me the Jets job is going to be really attractive, and they could hire whomever they want,” Boomer said, “and he told me he loves Joe Douglas.”

For years, Esiason has downplayed the idea of Cowher returning to coach, so leaving the door open here apparently holds a lot of weight. At the very least, it's an interesting scenario to think about it, and it probably has more merit now after Jon Gruden returned from a decade away and has the Raiders in playoff contention.