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Jets considered Mike Holmgren for head coach during 2015 search

Robert Sorbo / Reuters

When the New York Jets hired Todd Bowles to be their new head coach last offseason, it was seen as one of the team's better hirings in recent history.

Bowles was one of the top candidates on the market after a pair of impressive seasons as the Arizona Cardinals' defensive coordinator under Bruce Arians, but he wasn't the only coach the Jets considered.

Jets owner Woody Johnson recently admitted that his team tried to coax former Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren out of retirement to take over coaching duties.

"We were being as creative as we could, and we were looking for talent," Johnson told Bob Glauber of Newsday. "Mike has a Super Bowl record, and we wanted to see what he thought about our process, how football had changed, how it had stayed the same, whether he had any advice for us, that kind of thing."

Holmgren retired from coaching in 2008, but has experience in both coaching and player personnel. Though Johnson wasn't overly hopeful to land the Super Bowl-winning coach, he had a plan in mind not to offer Holmgren all the power.

"This was for coaching, just coaching," Johnson said. "It wasn't for general manager or anything else. That setup doesn't work normally. You get too many jobs for one person. But I was flattered he took the call. It's Mike Holmgren we're talking about. He's a legendary figure, a great coach. I enjoyed talking to him."

The Jets came within one win of the playoffs last season in Bowles' first season and provided a threatening offense to go along with their solid defensive core. Johnson has been pleased with the work of Bowles and new general manager Mike Maccagnan.

"I'm delighted we ended up the way we did," Johnson said. "I couldn't be happier with Todd and Mike."

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