STEVE HEIDEN was welcomed to the Jets staff after he spent the past two seasons in Detroit with Aaron Glenn, mentoring the Lions' tight ends under HC Dan Campbell and OC Ben Johnson. Heiden coached Sam LaPorta, a second-round pick from Iowa who set an NFL record for TEs with 146 receptions his first two seasons, in the Motor City.
"To its core, football hasn't changed since Dan and I were playing the position," Heiden said in December. "It's still about physicality first ,and then you go into the game with that mindset, that approach. But most of the time, the rest will take care of itself. I still think you can win a bunch of games in this league just being more physical than your opponent. Now obviously as you go, you tie other things on top of that – your technique, your fundamentals, your discipline, your approach to the game and all that, but I think it starts with physicality, and I don't think that will change."
Before his stint with the Lions, Heiden held several offensive roles with the Arizona Cardinals from 2013-22. An assistant special teams/assistant TE coach from 2013-17, Heiden was the assistant offensive line coach in 2018 before being promoted to TEs coach from 2019-22.
A third-round pick of the Chargers in 1999, the South Dakota State product played 11 NFL seasons with San Diego (1999-2001) and Cleveland (2002-09) while appearing in 148 games (83 starts) and totaling 201 receptions for 1,689 yards and 14 TDs. Heiden, a Rushford, MN, native, earned First-Team All-North Central Intercollegiate Athletic Conference honors as a senior in 1998 and became one of only 29 Jackrabbits drafted.
When once asked what he'd look for in a prospect, Heiden said: "A football guy, smart, disciplined, loves the game and is tough. I think those are kind of my core principles."
