More than a decade ago, Bill Musgrave was calling the plays for a Minnesota Vikings offense that was attempting to see if it could turn a young signal-caller in Christian Ponder into a franchise quarterback.
Fast forward to now, and Musgrave will reportedly join the New York Jets as their new quarterbacks coach, according to NFL Media's Mike Garafolo on Tuesday.
Before accepting his new role with the Jets, he spent the last three seasons as an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach for the Cleveland Browns.
Former Minnesota Vikings coach Bill Musgrave lands new gig with the New York Jets
If Musgrave thought he had it tough when he had Ponder as his quarterback in Minnesota between 2011 and 2013, that might potentially look like a dream compared to what New York currently has going on in its quarterback room heading into next season.
Right now, Bailey Zappe, Hendon Hooker, and Brady Cook are the only signal-callers under contract with the Jets for the 2026 season. Last year's starting passers, Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor, are both free agents this offseason, and there's no guarantee that either of them will re-sign with New York.
The Jets are going to have enough money to sign any quarterback who becomes available, as they are projected to have more than $83 million in cap space when the new league year begins in March. However, New York will likely have to overpay whoever they desire in order to convince them to join a team that just fired almost its entire coaching staff after only winning three games in 2025.
At the very least, Musgrave adds some experience to the Jets' coaching staff. He's been coaching in the NFL since 1997, and he's had stints with several teams, including the Vikings, Browns, Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers, Philadelphia Eagles, Jacksonville Jaguars, Atlanta Falcons, Denver Broncos, and Washington Commanders.
In Musgrave's three seasons with Minnesota, his offense never ranked higher than 14th in scoring. However, he was the one calling the plays in 2012 when legendary former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson won the NFL's MVP award after an unstoppable season.