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Evan & Tiki

Zack Rosenblatt on Gruden’s Denial, Frank Reich Buzz, and the Jets QB Plan

Evan & Tiki

Audacy

Sports

4.2990 Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2026

⏱️ 12 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic joins the show to address Jon Gruden publicly denying the Jets rumor and makes it crystal clear: he stands by his reporting that the New York Jets made a phone call to gauge interest, not that they offered him a job. Zack explains why Gruden might be playing semantics, why it may not benefit him to embarrass a team, and how stories like this get distorted once they hit the rumor mill. From there, the conversation turns to the Jets larger plan, or lack of one. Zack says the offensive coordinator search has been messy and shifting, but he still believes Frank Reich is the most likely landing spot because he would function as the “head coach of the offense,” allowing Aaron Glenn to focus on defense. They also dig into the quarterback problem, the thin list of realistic options, and why the Jets are stuck between short-term band-aids and a long-term rebuild. Finally, Zack tackles the biggest fear Jets fans have: Woody Johnson getting too involved as pressure mounts. He describes how quickly the internal plan seemed to change, why the coaching staff decisions scream disarray, and how the Jets are being mocked around the league in a way he has not seen during his time covering the team. The interview ends with the blunt question of whether this job is becoming toxic, and what happens next if the Jets stumble again.

Transcript

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0:00.0

Zach Rosenblatt is nice enough to come on, talk to us on this beautiful Friday afternoon.

0:05.5

Thank you very much for coming on, Zach. How are you doing?

0:08.0

I'm doing good. How are you guys? Fantastic. Now, would you like to refute John Gruden?

0:12.3

Because this guy comes out and says I was never offered anything. Obviously, you had to report the other day.

0:16.7

The Jets reach out to him. Is this John playing word games right now, you think?

0:21.7

Yeah. I mean, look, like, I feel very good about what I reported. Otherwise, I wouldn't have reported it. Like, I wouldn't have reported if I had any doubt in my mind that it was true is what I would say. I think the impression I'm getting, and maybe John would be able to speak to this better than me, but I get the impression that he thinks I reported that the Jets offered him a job and he said no.

1:11.3

I report and maybe John would be able to speak to this better than me, but I get the impression that he thinks I reported that the Jets offered him a job and he said no. I reported that they gave him a phone call and he said, I'm not interested. And that's the different thing. So I don't know if there's been a misinterpretation on what I reported, but, you know, he, for every reason, he felt to me to deny it on that radio show. And that's fine. He has the right to do that. But I stand by what I reported, and I have no doubt in my mind that a phone call took place. We had a caller call who is that he described himself as a plaintiff's attorney. And he said because of the lawsuit that he has against the league and really the release of the emails and it damaged his ability to have a career in the NFL. Because of that,

1:17.7

he really can't officially accept the job. But the question is, or at least talk about having people desire him to have a job, do you really believe that John Gruden will ever get back

1:22.1

into coaching in this league? I get the feeling he wants to be a head coach or nothing. And I feel like you'd have to have an owner who is really willing to take it on the chin in terms of like the public PR perception and all that stuff, and like take it on the chin from other owners who probably wouldn't be very happy with that. I mean, I can't see it, but I mean, the fact that teams and maybe that I don't know if other teams have reached out to him over the years about a role like this, the Jets were not asking to be their head coach. And so, you know, yeah, but I also think, you know, if Gruden does want to get back in the NFL, it probably doesn't benefit him to, like, embarrass a team. And, you know, this story came out and everybody's making fun of the Jets. And so, you know, I think maybe there's something there with that as well.

2:04.3

So to me as a Jet fan, my reaction was who offered it to him?

2:09.0

Like, did it come from Aaron Glenn, which I think would show an incredible amount of self-confidence to say, yeah, I'm going to bring in a guy who within five minutes, everyone would be calling for it to replace him, or did it come from ownership? Do you have any indication on where, not even specifically where the phone call came from, but where the idea came from? Was it a coaching thing or an ownership thing or maybe even somewhere in between? Should they not offer? I just want to make that clear again.

2:34.1

Yeah, my apologies.

2:35.2

The engaging of interest. My engaging. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, you know, I don't know. You know, I think somebody talked to John Gruden. I'm pretty sure it's Aaron Glenn. I'm not 100% on that. It's also possible Woody had the idea. Like, I don't know. I wasn't in the room and those conversations happened.

2:51.5

I just know that a phone call between the New York Jets and John Gruden took place. What is their plan? Because right now as a jet fan, I think that's our biggest concern. It feels like they don't know what the hell they're doing. So what's your sense for what their plan is right now in terms of rebuilding this

3:09.3

offensive coaching staff?

3:11.5

Yeah, I mean, these last couple weeks, and I know you had, I think you guys had

3:15.1

Connor on the other day talking about all this.

3:18.4

Like, it's been pretty messy.

3:20.5

It seems like the plan has changed over the last week or two, and I would say that I still get the sense that Frank Reich will ultimately be their offensive coordinator and it hasn't happened yet. And so until it does, you can't assume anything. But I do think he was a guy that they had at the top of their list. He's a guy Aaron Glenn played with way back in the day. And he feels like he can give him the keys to the office they can make him

3:41.4

the head coach to the offense so erringling call plays on defense and focus on that side of the ball

3:45.2

and that's the sense i guess frank right comes in he probably brings in some of his own people i

3:49.5

imagine in terms of position coaches and then you roll with a coach who is 65 and from everything

...

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