Jets Head Coach Robert Saleh has retained Brant Boyer as the special teams coordinator.
"Working through the special teams aspect of it all," Saleh said in his breakout session following his introductory press conference last Thursday. "So many people have called on his [Boyer's] behalf. He's held in such high regard. The focus right now has been on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. … I do want to get an opportunity to talk with [him]."
Boyer has served in the same role since 2016 after he was an assistant special teams coach with the Colts from 2012-15. The Jets blocked two punts in the 2020 season and scored two TDs (one after a blocked punt) in the 2019 season. S Matthias Farley led the unit with 8 tackles in the 2020 season, followed by LB Blake Cashman and CB Arthur Maulet, each with 6. Boyer worked with rookie P Braden Mann, who averaged 43.9 yards per punt and had a long of 60. Mann's punts also pinned opponents inside their 20-yard line 19 times, with only 5 touchbacks.
In both the 2018 and '19 seasons, Boyer led a top-five unit in the NFL according to FootballOutsiders.com. In 2018, both K Jason Myers and KR Andre Roberts made the Pro Bowl and Roberts was named a first-team All-Pro. In the 2019 season, Braxton Berrios took over punt return duties and finished No. 2 in the NFL with an 11.4 return average.
Boyer was a part of the University of Arizona's "Desert Swam" defense from 1992-93. He then played with the Dolphins (1994), Jaguars (1995-2000) and Browns (2001-03) before he started his coaching career with the Browns as a training camp intern in 2009.
Senior Defensive Assistant/Cornerbacks Coach - Tony Oden
Oden spent the 2020 season as the 49ers' defensive backs/cornerbacks coach, serving on the same staff as HC Robert Saleh. Oden spent the 2018 and 2019 seasons with the Dolphins as their safeties and defensive backs coach. Miami ranked No. 2 in the NFL in the 2018 season with 21 interceptions, the most by the Dolphins in a single season since 2003. That year, the secondary, led by Xavien Howard and rookie S Minkah Fitzpatrick, registered 17 of the 21 INTs. Oden worked with the Lions from 2014-17 as their DBs/CBs coach, and Detroit had 58 INTs in that span, the ninth-most in the NFL.
Safeties Coach - Marquand Manuel
Manuel spent the 2020 season as the Eagles' defensive backs coach. He began his coaching career with the Seahawks -- where he served on the same staff with Saleh -- from 2012, as an assistant special teams coach, to 2014, as an assistant secondary coach. He took a job with the Falcons in 2015 as their secondary coach and was Atlanta's defensive coordinator from 2017-18 before joining Philadelphia. A sixth-round pick out of Miami in 2002, Manuel played eight seasons in the NFL (six teams) and had 368 tackles, 2 INTs, 16 PDs, 1 TD and 4 FF in 116 games (58 starts).
Linebackers Coach - Mike Rutenberg
Rutenberg spent the 2020 season as the 49ers' passing-game specialist after seven seasons with the Jaguars. He served on both staffs with Saleh. Rutenberg was Jacksonville's assistant linebackers coach (2018-19) and defensive assistant (2013-17). In the 2018 season, LBs Telvin Smith Sr. (134) and Myles Jack (107) each recorded career highs in tackles. Smith's 134 tackles ranked No. 6 in the NFL. Rutenberg first entered the NFL with Washington as its player personnel intern (2003) and the assistant to Head Coach Joe Gibbs (2004-05).
Assistant Offensive Line Coach - Jake Moreland
Moreland, who played seven games for the Jets in 2000 at TE, was Western Michigan's offensive coordinator since the spring of 2018 (he was the co-offensive coordinator in the 2017 season). He spent the 2017-19 seasons overseeing the offensive line before shifting to the tight ends for the 2020 season. Moreland played tight end for WMU from 1996-99 and also served as the team's tight ends coach from 2005-11. The Broncos ranked third in the Mid-American Conference in scoring offense (33.1 points per game) and second in total offense (445.7 yards per game) in the 2019 season.
Special Teams Assistant - Michael Ghobrial
Ghobrial was Washington State's special teams coordinator in the 2020 season under Head Coach Nick Rolovich. Ghobrial was Hawai'i's ST coordinator under Rolovich from 2018-19. The Rainbow Warriors ranked No. 5 in the NCAA with five blocked kicks in the 2018 season. Before his time at UH, Ghobrial spent two seasons (2016-17) at Tarleton State where he coached the defensive line, outside linebackers and special teams. Ghobrial played defensive end for UCLA from 2006-7. He began his coaching career at his alma mater, in 2011, as a quality-control coach before working as a graduate assistant working with special teams and the defensive line from 2012-13. He's also coached at Syracuse (2014) and Colorado Mesa (2015).
