Multiple reports had offensive coordinator Tony Sparano being fired weeks ago, but it looks like the firing is now official, according to ESPN’s Chris Mortensen.

Brian Costello of the New York Post has confirmed the report.

Also out is quarterback’s coach Matt Cavanaugh, who was fired yesterday. Given the regression of Sanchez – which I’ll admit is on both Sanchez in addition to Cavanaugh  -this was a no brainer. Most would argue Cavanaugh should have been fired at the end of last season.

With so many vacant coaching positions, the Jets new general manager – lets’s call him “he who has not been named” – will have a lot of work to do. Reports indicate the Jets have already targeted  Norv Turner and Cam Cameron as possible replacements for Sparano, with Turner being at the top of the list.

The Jets officially unveiled their 2012 coaching staff yesterday, and here are some of the key changes to note:

• Karl Dunbar will take over as the defensive line coach. Dunbar’s hire was reported weeks ago but the team did not announce the hire until yesterday. Dunbar joins the Jets after six seasons coaching the defensive line of the Minnesota Vikings.
• Justus Galac and Paul Ricci have been named the assistant strength and conditioning coaches for the team.
• Mike Smith was named the outside linebackers coach. Again, talk about Smith’s hire has been circulating, but it was not made official until yesterday.
• Bob Sutton has been promoted to assistant head coach/linebackers and Lance Taylor has been promoted to assistant tight ends coach/quality control.

Of most significance is the reality that quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh will remain in his current job.

Many believed that the departure of Brian Schottenheimer (and the hire of new OC Sparano) was an indication that the Jets were also ready to move on from Cavanaugh, at least in his current role.

Of course, there is the matter of the obvious lack of development from quarterback Mark Sanchez under Cavanaugh, which seemed enough to warrant a new Qb coach.

Rich Cimini of ESPN speculates that perhaps Cavanaugh was retained for 3 reasons:

A) They didn’t want to create too much upheaval around Sanchez, B) They couldn’t get anyone better; C) They didn’t want to eat the final year of Cavanaugh’s contract. I think there were elements of all three that factored into the decision.

As far as we know, the Jets spoke with several people about taking over as quarterback coach, so we can only suppose they are  less than pleased with the job Cavanaugh has done. This leads me to believe they threw their hands up, felt they had no other worthy options and likely didn’t want to eat his contract, as Cimini speculates.

Sounds like a perfect way to get number 6 on the right path. On opposite day.

The entire Jets coaching staff is listed on the teams website. (Cimini notes that Cavanaugh is the most experienced coach in a passing-related role).