The Jets stole Aaron Glenn from the Saints — again. It happened in 1994 when Glenn was a highly-rated cornerback prospect in the NFL Draft. And it happened on Wednesday: According to team sources, New York is hiring Glenn, most recently the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, as their next head coach, a week ahead of his scheduled in-person interview with New Orleans.
The Jets are landing the candidate that felt like their top target since they began a wide-ranging search — or at least since Mike Vrabel chose the New England Patriots. The franchise’s search committee interviewed 16 head-coaching candidates in the first round; Glenn was the only candidate to get a second-round interview. There were rumblings over the past few weeks that Glenn wanted the Jets job more than any of the other opportunities, a homecoming for one of the best defensive backs in team history.
Working with Dan Campbell as the Lions defensive coordinator, Glenn, 52, was key in the effort to turn the Lions from one of the NFL’s laughingstocks into one of its elite teams. The Jets are hoping for a similar progression; the franchise hasn’t made the postseason in 14 years, and only five times in 23 seasons since Glenn’s last year as a player with the Jets, in 2001.
Talent-wise, the Jets are probably closer to getting back to the playoffs in 2025 than the Lions were in Glenn’s first year as defensive coordinator in Detroit in 2021, when they went 3-13-1 and ranked 31st in scoring defense. The bones of a talented Jets defense should return for Glenn: cornerback Sauce Gardner, linebacker Quincy Williams, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams and edge rushers Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson. (Cornerback D.J. Reed is their top player set to hit free agency.) It’s a group that ranked as one of the best in the NFL in both 2022 and 2023 under Robert Saleh. They fell off in 2024 when Saleh was fired after Week 5, but still ranked third in yardage allowed.
It took time for Glenn to get the Lions defense playing as one of the league’s best. Detroit ranked 31st in defensive EPA in 2022 and 24th in 2023 before making the leap to 10th this season despite a cavalcade of injuries to top players (among them: defensive ends Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport, cornerback Carlton Davis and defensive tackle Alim McNeill). Cornerback Amik Robertson was injured in the first quarter of the team’s playoff loss to the Washington Commanders, and the Lions were forced to play their biggest game of the season with a number of backups. Some might be turned off by Saturday’s performance — the defense allowed 38 points — but that shouldn’t alter the opinion of a group that played well all season despite being shorthanded.
“Aaron Glenn is as good a coach as you’re going to find, he’s an even better human being,” Campbell said earlier this month. “Look, if nobody wants him, I’ll take him again. I can tell you that right now. The thought of going through another cycle and he’s not somebody’s head coach is ridiculous. I mean, this guy is as good as they come, and he can do it all. He understands how to manage a game, he understands offense, defense, special teams, he knows how to communicate, he understands discipline of players and he’s motivating, he’s inspiring.”
The big question for Glenn is what the Jets offense will look like under his stewardship. There are questions about what the Jets will do at quarterback — specifically, if Glenn will want to work with Aaron Rodgers, or vice versa. But for now, the bigger question is who will be Glenn’s offensive coordinator and primary play caller. For many years, the Jets have struggled to find consistency in that job, which is particularly important under a defensive-minded coach. During Saleh’s tenure, owner Woody Johnson forced Saleh to fire Mike LaFleur, now the Los Angeles Rams’ offensive coordinator, after the 2022 season. LaFleur was replaced by former Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett. After the offense struggled for a season-plus under Hackett, he was demoted as play caller in October, in favor of passing-game coordinator Todd Downing.
Glenn has pushed back on the assertion that he’s a “defensive coach.”
“I’m a coach. I just happen to be on the defense. I understand the offense just as well as a number of people,” he said. “If you’re going to hire me, you’re going to hire a coach, not a defensive coach. I’m going to talk to the offense just as much as I’m going to talk to the defense.”
In 1994, then-Jets general manager Dick Steinberg traded up one pick with the Saints. Then-head coach Pete Carroll said at the time: “They didn’t make the deal knowing we would pick Glenn.”
After the selection, Glenn told the media, “I know I can compete because I will play with all my heart.” A scouting report at the time stated that Glenn was “small but hits like a fist full of dynamite, and he consistently runs the 40 in the 4.3s.” He was an undersized cornerback (5-9, 185 pounds) who played 15 years in the NFL, eight of them with the Jets. He made three Pro Bowls.
Glenn started his post-playing career in the Jets scouting department, a unique background for a future head coach. He was a personnel scout on then-general manager Mike Tannenbaum’s staff (Tannenbaum was part of the Jets search committee for head coach and sat in on both of Glenn’s interviews). Glenn went on to work for the Browns (2014-15) and Saints (2016-20) as a position coach before landing the job as Campbell’s defensive coordinator with the Lions in 2021.
It is unclear how much patience Johnson plans on exhibiting this time around. When he fired Saleh in October, he called this the most talented Jets roster in his 25 years as owner. He fired Saleh to find a spark to get the team winning and contending for the playoffs. Instead they fell apart and finished 5-12 with Jeff Ulbrich as interim head coach.
Now, the Jets are banking on one of their own to get them back on track.
(Photo: Kimberly P. Mitchell / Imagn Images)
