Report: Jets Hire Former Bears Assistant Clint Hurtt As OLB Coach

According to a Sporting News report Clint Hurtt has agreed to join the Jets as part of the new-look Todd Bowles coaching staff. The former Bears assistant will replace Mark Collins who was fired last week as part of a coach shake-up following a very disappointing 5-11 season for the Jets.

Hurtt is highly regarded in league circles, the Bears tried to sign him to a contract extension this week, an offer that he declined. The Dolphins had asked the Bears for permission to interview Hurtt last season, but that request was swiftly denied by Chicago.

Hurtt leaves after working for the Bears three seasons coaching the defensive line under Marc Trestman and moving to work with the outside linebackers in 2015 when Fox was hired and the unit converted to a 3-4 scheme.

Hurtt has a long history of working with defensive lines in the college game, making stops at Louisville, Miami and Florida International.

This is what the Bears media guide has to say courtesy of NJ.com

Last season, under Hurtt's tutelage, Lamarr Houston (8.0 sacks), Willie Young (6.5) and Pernell McPhee (6.0) were the only trio of linebackers in the NFL to have at least six sacks each and one of only five trios to accomplish the feat. Hurtt helped both Houston and Young transition from ends in a 4-3 base defense to 3-4 outside linebackers.

In 2014, the Bears increased their sack total to 39, up from 31 a year prior to Hurtt's arrival. Thirty-five of the Bears 39 sacks (89.7 percent) came from defensive linemen in 2014 up from 21-of-31 (67.7) in 2013. That season under Hurtt's tutelage along the defensive line, Young led the team with a career-high 10 sacks after totaling just six sacks in his previous four NFL seasons with Detroit.