Aaron Glenn gets brutally honest about his rough first year with the Jets

It feels like yesterday when Aaron Glenn stepped to the podium for his unveiling as New York Jets head coach. He preached accountability and a new direction for an organization carrying the longest playoff drought in the NFL, coming off a 2024 season defined by unmet expectations and nonstop circus acts.

That vision crashed and burned pretty quickly in 2025, really as early as Week 2, after the Jets showed some early promise in their season opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

They lost their first seven games, won three of the next five, then closed the year with effortless performances that, at times, barely looked NFL-caliber. It felt like the same old Jets, only this time without any fight, which somehow made it worse.

As a result, Glenn overhauled most of his coaching staff, including both his offensive and defensive coordinators, in a full-scale reset that’s highly unusual for a head coach heading from Year 1 into Year 2. It’s essentially the same leader walking back in with an entirely new supporting cast, which also signals just how much pressure exists to show real improvement in 2026.

Glenn also faced criticism throughout the season for several decisions, including refusing to publicly name a starting quarterback while weighing Justin Fields against Tyrod Taylor, along with questionable in-game management at times. Whatever the case, the 53-year-old clearly understands there’s plenty of room for improvement.

Aaron Glenn gets brutally honest about his rough first year with the Jets

According to The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt, Glenn admitted to reporters at the NFL Combine that he made mistakes last season, and he doesn’t plan to repeat them this year.

Acknowledging that is a step toward growth as Glenn enters his sophomore season as head coach. Now it’s about delivering, proving he’s learned from those mistakes without simply replacing them with new ones.

For one, Glenn will now have a veteran offensive voice in Frank Reich, someone who’s not only coordinated at a high level but has also found success as an NFL head coach. That gives Glenn someone he can lean on, not just schematically, but from a team-management standpoint with an experienced voice in his ear.

The next step is reshaping the roster with players who better fit what this regime wants to build, players who understand or are willing to buy into Glenn’s system rather than those who came up in years of dysfunction.

Beyond that, correcting mistakes is always easier said than done. Glenn has plenty of work ahead of him in Year 2, and if things don’t start trending upward, the conversation around this regime could look very different by 2027.