Jets' coaching search fiasco raises major red flags about Aaron Glenn

There is truly never a dull moment with the New York Jets. Just when you think you've seen it all, this organization always finds new lows and new ways to embarrass itself. Simply put, there is no rock bottom with the Jets.

After a historically bad 2025 season, which saw New York finish 3-14 and end up on the wrong side of football history in many areas, the 2026 offseason was expected to come with many changes to the roster and, most importantly, the coaching staff.

These changes began before the season even ended, when Aaron Glenn fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks with three games remaining. Fast forward to a little over one month since that firing, and Glenn and the Jets are completely lost.

From waiting to fire assistant coaches and having coaches turn Glenn down, to Tanner Engstrand's firing and the defensive coordinator search, it has been a bumpy road to start the offseason.

Jets' coaching search raises major concerns about Aaron Glenn

Even the simplest operations that go on within an NFL organization, the Jets always find a way make them difficult. That is exactly what has taken place for Glenn during this disastrous coaching search.

It began with Glenn firing seven assistant coaches, including Charles London, Scott Turner, and Eric Washington. Not only did this happen three weeks after the season, but these coaches weren't notified that they were being fired until right before the news broke.

In search of a new defensive coordinator, Glenn's list of the original eight finalists for the job was underwhelming. It has since been known that Glenn was turned down by multiple big-name candidates who didn't want the job, knowing the state of the franchise.

This led to the former Pro Bowl cornerback changing his mind after an in-person interview with Wink Martindale, who had looked like the clear frontrunner. Instead, out went Martindale and in came Brian Duker, whom the Jets interviewed virtually on Tuesday as their ninth known candidate and hired him on Wednesday.

It's a very questionable move from the disgruntled first-time head coach. From the moment Wilks was fired, Glenn was in constant contact with Martindale until the last minute, when he changed his mind and wanted to call plays.

Similar to this, it took Glenn three weeks to pull the plug on Tanner Engstrand after taking away his play-calling duties, while hoping he would remain the offensive coordinator. The plan was to add Frank Reich as a veteran who would call plays, but now New York is going through a second full coordinator search.

A 3-14 season was a bad enough start for Glenn at the helm in Florham Park, but in typical Jets fashion, these last few weeks have made him look even worse, especially when you factor in what Glenn preached when he got the job this time last year.

From the moment he was named head coach, Glenn talked constantly about the importance of building a strong coaching staff. The former Jet cornerback also preached the importance of coaching and how this staff is going to get the most out of the roster.

Fast forward to now, and those two sentiments from Glenn couldn't be further from reality. He has now fired seven assistants and two of his three coordinators, while many players regressed under this staff during the 2025 campaign.

The Jets are once again being mocked and laughed at, and the truth is, Glenn making all of these changes on the coaching staff and the way the process is playing out is another reminder that Woody Johnson should have pulled the plug on Glenn after one season.