Aaron Glenn is set to become the next head coach of the New York Jets with the league-wide NFL coaching search in full swing.
The former Lions’ Defensive Coordinator has been a hot name on the coaching market and has familiarity with the Jets organization as he was drafted by the team in 1994. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to report.
Glenn will be the seventh head coach hired by the Jets since the end of the 2000 season. Six of these have been first-time head coaches with defensive backgrounds with the list including Herm Edwards, Eric Mangini, Rex Ryan, Todd Bowels, Robert Saleh and now Aaron Glenn. Adam Gase is the lone exception to this trend.
After being selected with the 12th-overall pick in the 1994 draft by the Jets, Aaron Glenn spent eight of his 15 seasons in the NFL in New York. He began his coaching career coaching the Houston Stallions in the Lone Star Football League. Glenn’s first post-playing NFL opportunity also came with the Jets, as he was hired as a scout in 2012.
Glenn was hired as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Cleveland Browns in 2014. He then spent some time with the New Orleans Saints organization before joining the Detroit Lions as the defensive coordinator in 2021. Detroit will have some huge changes to make this offseason with both coordinators taking on head coaching opportunities as Ben Johnson has been officially hired as the head coach of the Bears.
While allowing 45 points to the Washington Commanders last week could be looked at as a blemish, Glenn’s larger body of work speaks for itself. Injuries also have to be acknowledged when looking at the issues within the Lions’ defense. The familiarity between Glenn and the Jets was certainly a factor in the hiring and both sides have acknowledged as such.
New York continues to be focused on building a defensive-minded identity as an organization, but there is still plenty to be done this offseason. After entering this season with deep playoff aspirations, the Jets finished with a 5-12 record and were never able to play at a playoff-caliber level. Aaron Rodgers underwhelmed on the season and there will be some interesting conversations regarding his future in the coming weeks.
The first step in the offseason is complete for the Jets, but plenty of work is still to be done for New York to see the organizational turnaround they desire.
