Jets name Jeremy Bates quarterbacks coach
The Jets announced the hiring of Jeremy Bates as quarterbacks coach on Wednesday, filling the final major position on head coach Todd Bowles' revamped staff.
Bates has previous ties to the Jets and their new offensive coordinator, John Morton, but he hasn't coached in the NFL since 2012, when he was the quarterbacks coach for the Chicago Bears.
Bates will have plenty of work to do with the Jets. He will oversee the development of young quarterbacks Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty, and the likely addition of a new starting quarterback from outside the roster.
Bates started his NFL coaching career under Jon Gruden from 2002-04 as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This will be Bates' second run as the Jets' quarterbacks coach. He held the same position in 2005, then-head coach Herman Edwards' final season with the team.
From there, Bates worked with the Denver Broncos for three seasons as an offensive assistant and coaching the quarterbacks and wide receivers from 2006-08. Morton and Bates then worked together in 2009 at USC, where Morton was the offensive coordinator under Pete Carroll and Bates was an assistant.
Bates was the offensive coordinator in Seattle in 2010 — Carroll's first season with the Seahawks — but was fired after the Seahawks lost to the Bears in the divisional round.
Bates worked with Jets receiver Brandon Marshall in Denver for three seasons and another in Chicago. The 40-year-old also has spent three total seasons in Denver and Chicago working with Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who could potentially find his way to Florham Park. The Jets still don't have a viable starter, and if the Bears cut the 33-year-old quarterback, he could become a target for the Jets in free agency.
The Jets also hired three other assistants Wednesday, naming Mick Lombardi the offensive assistant/assistant quarterbacks coach, Jason Vrable an offensive assistant, and Joe Giacobbe as an assistant strength and conditioning coach.
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