Jets must move on from Aaron Glenn now, to avoid temptation later

He was a great defensive back for the New York Jets. He appears to be a great family man. He's a nice guy, a funny guy, and a talented defensive mind. I never wanted to be writing his coaching obituary this soon. But this is a business. And keeping head coach Aaron Glenn around much longer could lead to a nightmare scenario down the road.

We all know that the much-maligned owner of the Jets, Woody Johnson, is Glenn's biggest fan. It's been said from the start that a true catastrophe would have to ensue for Johnson to make a move at head coach mid-season. And finally, a true catastrophe has happened.

The Miami Dolphins loss was inexcusable. Poor scheming, lack of discipline, and end-of-half mismanagement plagued the Jets in Week 5. And it wasn't the first time. But this time should be the straw that breaks the camel's back, before Woody talks himself back into that camel by season's end.

It sounds easy enough to remember this feeling then. But I promise, it's never that easy.

New York Jets must fire Aaron Glenn before it's too late

Let me walk you through an unlikely, but plausible, scenario. The Jets pick themselves up off the dirt to claim a very gettable victory over Las Vegas next week. They get bulldozed by the Kansas City Chiefs and Buffalo Bills, but follow it up with a couple of gritty wins against the Los Angeles Chargers and – yes – those Dolphins.

So far, so possible, right? Then, against all odds, Glenn's defense manages a 17-13 home win over the Denver Broncos, a good team with its own offensive deficiencies. That would be an upset, but not the craziest upset of all time. We follow that up with a win over the Arizona Cardinals, one of the league's true bottom-dwellers.

The New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, and Bills predictably beat the Jets in the final three games of the season. This leaves Glenn at 7-10. That puts New York right where most experts would have expected them to land. In that scenario, we're no longer living in the world where the pitiful loss to Miami is fresh in our minds. We're months removed from that.

So, despite a really bad loss to the Dolphins, Glenn finishes the season with a relatively respectable 7-10 record overall, a 5-5 record to finish the season, and a road upset on his resume. Are you telling me that wouldn't at least tempt Woody to consider giving him another season? Are you confident in that? I'm not.

The obvious next retort is, "Well, if he picks things up like that, maybe he deserves another year." Logically, that adds up. Of course, in theory, I described a pretty strong finish to the season, all things considered. So I understand that thinking.

But let's be real. One good upset win and a .500 record to wrap up the year don't change the facts. The fact is, Glenn is in over his head. I've seen bad coaches. And while he's not the worst, he may be the most unique.

Would a good end to the year erase all his pointless timeout hoarding? Or his electing to receive the ball instead of kicking in overtime against Green Bay? Or his not knowing who got the ball after halftime against New England? Or his inability to manage any two-minute situations? Coaches who become great never struggle with those fundamental basics. That just means he isn't qualified to run the show.

The Jets have a talented roster with a veteran quarterback. While Glenn isn't the man to lead the franchise into the future, help select its franchise quarterback, or oversee that quarterback's ongoing development, he can certainly coach New York to 7-10 moving forward.

But even if he does, he's still not the guy to ensure all those things I mentioned for the future. The Jets are almost certainly drafting what they hope will be their franchise quarterback this offseason. It's imperative that the right guy is in charge when he arrives. Glenn is unequivocally not the right guy. Realistically, no amount of winning this season will change that.

But there is an amount of winning that could make Woody think twice about firing him. And that is possibly the number one threat to the Jets' future right now. It's time to "old yeller" the situation and bite the proverbial bullet while it's still easy.

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