Mike LaFleur is out as the Jets' offensive coordinator after two seasons.
According to SNY NFL Insider Connor Hughes, the Jets wanted LaFleur back as their OC for the 2023-24 season. However, news of a potential change at OC made way around league circles and teams began contacting the Jets to inquire about LaFleur’s availability.
The Jets went to LaFleur to discuss these potential opportunities and after those discussions, both parties agreed to let him pursue those opportunities.
The Jets will now begin a search for a new OC.
LaFleur was hired by head coach Robert Saleh after previously working with Saleh in San Francisco, where he served as the 49ers' passing game coordinator for four seasons (2017-20).
Though there was excitement that LaFleur could create an offensive scheme similar to that of his mentor Kyle Shanahan, whom he worked with in Cleveland, Atlanta and San Francisco, LaFleur struggled to find consistency with Gang Green’s offense. In 2022, the Jets ranked 29th in the league in points per game (17.4) and 25th in yards per game (318.2), after finishing in similar spots in both categories in LaFleur’s first year in 2021.
While the Jets have some exciting young playmakers already on the roster like Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, and Elijah Moore, it was quarterback play that really derailed LaFleur’s offense in both years.
Speaking ahead of Sunday’s season finale against the Dolphins in Miami, LaFleur was the first member of the Jets organization to publicly say that, in hindsight, quarterback Zach Wilson likely would have benefitted from sitting behind an experienced quarterback as a rookie.
"In hindsight it probably would've benefited just to sit back and learn a little bit, and watch a veteran do it, and just kind of grow in this league kind of in the back seat watching -- getting better in practice, getting better through scout team and all that," LaFleur said. "But again, that wasn't the course that we went. From here, we gotta pick up the scraps and we gotta get back to work."
With Wilson’s future with the club up in the air and Mike White set to hit free agency, the Jets' next offensive coordinator will almost certainly have a new quarterback to build around as New York looks to take the next step toward becoming a contender in the AFC.