Rumor: Callahan to Cleveland?

Rich Cimini speculates if Eric Mangini gets the Browns head coaching job, Bill Callahan could follow him.

In a sign that former Jets coach Eric Mangini believes he has an excellent chance of landing the Browns' head-coaching job, Mangini is starting to assemble a staff and one of his targets is current Jets assistant head coach Bill Callahan, a source said.

This could be the start of an attempted raid of the Jets' staff by Mangini.

Callahan, who coaches the offensive line, is under contract and the Jets aren't required to grant permission for the Browns to speak with him. Unless an assistant wants to interview for a head-coaching job, it's deemed a lateral move and his current team isn't obligated to let him go.

Would anybody really be surprised? Coaching jobs in the NFL are mostly about connections. There is no telling whether the new coach would want Callahan around. If not, Cleveland is a logical destination. Even if the Jets intend on keeping Callahan, Mike Heimerdinger showed us that a team cannot keep a guy who does not want to stick around under a new regime.

Ultimately nothing will be decided until the Jets name a new head coach because Callahan is being considered for that job. Ideally, he will stay in New York as he was a major asset in his first year with the club. However, Bill is hardly the only competent line coach in the league. The Jets should be fine no matter how this turns out.