The New York Jets have made a late addition to their coaching staff ahead of the 2022 season.
College Football reporter Bruce Feldman revealed the news on Twitter that the Jets have stolen away Toledo Football linebacker coach Pat Bastien.
SOURCE: Toledo LB coach Pat Bastien is leaving the Rockets to join the NY Jets coaching staff. The Florida native has previously coached at WKU, UGA, Marshall, Southern and UCF.
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A Fascinating Addition to the Team
Bastien was originally hired by Toledo back in February but the Jets proved to be too good of an opportunity to pass up.
The former Rockets coach played the linebacker position during his playing days (2009-13) at UAB. The very next year he started his coaching career as a graduate assistant at UCF for two seasons (2014-15).
As Erika noted on Twitter those humble beginnings are his direct link to this Jets coaching staff. While he was with the Knights he worked with current Gang Green quarterback coach Rob Calabrese during that same time period who also served as a graduate assistant.
After that stint, he worked around college football with stops in Georgia Southern, Southern, Georgia, Marshall, and Western Kentucky.
Back in 2017, Bastien was listed as a “rising star” in college football on the 30-for-30 247 Sports ranking.
This trip to the NFL will be his first time at the professional level and he will also significantly change his job responsibilities.
An Interesting Plot Twist
Adding a coach this late in the process is interesting, but even more fascinating than that is Bastien will be flipping to the other side of the ball.
Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared on Twitter that their new coach will be an “offensive assistant” on the Jets staff. With Toledo, he coached the linebackers.
For every one that immediately raised their eyebrows at that change, it isn’t that uncommon in coaching. Rosenblatt explained that there are numerous examples of coaches that were primarily on one side of the ball that switched later in their careers for one reason or another.
One example that Rosenblatt provided was current New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll.
There are a number of examples of coaches that have primarily coached on one side of the ball and then switched to the other — it’s a smart move if the goal is to be a head coach one day.
Brian Daboll is one example. Started out as a defensive assistant with the Patriots.
He started his NFL career as a defensive assistant with the New England Patriots before jumping to the offensive side of the ball two years later.
For the next 20 years, he went through the entire offense from coaching wide receivers to quarterbacks to serving as an offensive coordinator to tight ends coach to eventually head coach.
It was a long winding road that also included a stop with the Jets from 2007 through 2008 as their QB coach.
Rosenblatt mentioned this is a maneuver coaches will make especially when they have aspirations of being a future head coach.
Bastien’s defensive background should be a unique advantage in the offensive room. When you have that kind of guy in the room he can reverse explain how he would attack your offense from a defensive perspective, which should help round out the offensive coaching staff.
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Jets Add ‘Rising Star’ to Coaching Staff: Report