Merkle, a former record-setting quarterback at Kenyon College who “set 14 conference and school records,” completed his sixth season with Stanford in 2025. Since 2020 he has held a variety of roles on Stanford’s football staff, working with the offensive line, wide receivers, and special teams gunners before most recently assisting the quarterbacks, and he has previously been part of Frank Reich’s circle at Stanford.
Booker, a defensive assistant for the Jets, spent the last five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals. His tenure with Arizona included two years as a defensive assistant and three years as a defensive quality control coach. Booker honed his coaching craft through the Bill Walsh Coaching Fellowship and later served as safeties coach for the Shrine Bowl West team.
Sargent joins the Jets’ offensive staff as an assistant, with Stanford listing him as an offensive graduate assistant. He worked with quarterbacks and wide receivers during his time there and again has ties to Frank Reich from his Stanford tenure.
These hires come as the Jets look to rebuild a franchise that finished 3-14 in 2025 and missed the playoffs for a decade. ESPN’s early 2026 projections placed the Jets near the bottom of the league, underscoring the need for strengthened staff as the team eyes a turnaround.
