\n<\/p>\n
It was one year ago, exactly. Aaron Glenn stood in front of a crowd of reporters, Jets staffers and former Jets players at his introductory press conference as the franchise\u2019s new head coach and announced to the world that things were going to be different with him in charge.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut your seatbelts on,\u201d Glenn said, \u201cand get ready for the ride.\u201d<\/p>\n
In retrospect, maybe that should\u2019ve been viewed less as a rallying cry and more of a harbinger of what was to come in his calendar year. The seatbelt is meant for safety, to prevent serious injury in the event of something calamitous, like a crash.<\/p>\n
Calamity. <\/em>That\u2019s a good word to describe the last few days, the last week, or the last few months. One year ago, there was belief. It withered amid an 0-7 start, and even more so during an historically poor 0-5 finish. Now, the tumultuous start to the offseason, including offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand\u2019s unexpected departure, make it fair to wonder if Glenn has what it takes to turn things around.<\/p>\n Based on conversations with multiple team and league sources, here is how the Jets\u2019 coaching-staff turmoil has played out:<\/p>\n The Jets fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks on Dec. 15 with three games remaining and replaced him with defensive backs coach Chris Harris in the interim. By the end of the season, the Jets had set new records for futility, so the firing was warranted \u2014 the Jets were the first team to ever go a full season without recording a single interception.<\/p>\n On Dec. 22, Glenn asked for patience from an increasingly agitated fan base: \u201cFor the fans, listen, it\u2019s going to be a tough road,\u201d he said. \u201cWe knew that, but, man, the thing is, we know exactly what we\u2019re doing. We have a plan. Just don\u2019t let go of the rope, I would say that.\u201d<\/p>\n We have a plan.<\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s a line Glenn has repeated on numerous occasions, including after a season-ending loss to the Buffalo Bills and a few days later at his season-ending press conference.<\/p>\n At some point before the end of the season, before that Bills game, Glenn had initial conversations with veteran coach Wink Martindale about the idea of becoming Glenn\u2019s defensive coordinator.<\/p>\n When the season ended, Glenn held meetings with each member of his coaching staff individually and said to some of them that they were free to explore other opportunities if they arose, though he didn\u2019t necessarily tell them they were fired. As of a week or so ago, many of those coaches felt that they were safe in their roles based on conversations they had with Glenn. That included Engstrand, who believed he\u2019d be calling plays again in 2026.<\/p>\n Multiple coaches expressed a feeling that something changed in the last week. On Thursday night, Glenn started to inform various members of the coaching staff that he was letting them go, including passing game coordinator Scott Turner, quarterbacks coach Charles London, defensive line coach Eric Washington, linebackers coach Aaron Curry, assistant defensive backs coach Dre\u2019 Bly, nickel coach Alonso Escalante and defensive assistant Roosevelt Williams.<\/p>\n In the last week or so, Glenn had also started to reach out to multiple veteran offensive coaches \u2014 including Frank Reich, as first reported by SNY \u2014 about the idea of joining the staff and calling plays. In recent days, Glenn had conversations with Engstrand about the idea of adjusting his role, letting him keep the title of offensive coordinator but bringing in someone else to call plays. Nothing was decided as of Saturday.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, things changed in the defensive-coordinator search. Martindale was viewed, internally and around the league, as the favorite to replace Wilks from the moment Glenn started the interview process. The Jets announced they\u2019d interviewed, virtually, eight candidates on Jan. 16, including Martindale. Most of the other candidates lacked play-calling experience in the NFL, outside of Harris, Martindale, Lions assistant Jim O\u2019Neil and Packers run game coordinator Demarcus Covington. Broncos pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard \u2014 expected to take the DC job with the Bills \u2014 never seriously considered the Jets job.<\/p>\n When Martindale went into his second interview with the Jets on Saturday, he was still viewed as the favorite. O\u2019Neil was viewed as the fallback (O\u2019Neil has since signed a new contract to remain with the Lions) and league sources suggested keeping an eye on Harris as an option if Glenn decided to call plays himself.<\/p>\n That was not the plan initially. Saturday, that became part of the conversation \u2014 Glenn told various members of the Jets\u2019 staff, as well as coaching candidates he was interviewing, that he was leaning toward calling defensive plays himself.<\/p>\n When Glenn was hired, he said this about calling plays as the head coach: \u201cI won\u2019t call the defense. I want to be the best head coach. In order for me to do that I think I need to manage the game. So I want to have my OC and the DC calling the plays.\u201d<\/p>\n Now, the wind seems to be blowing toward Glenn calling plays regardless of who he hires at DC \u2014 and as a result, Martindale is no longer viewed as the favorite for the job. The Jets virtually interviewed an additional coach for the position on Tuesday (Dolphins pass game coordinator Brian Duker) and Harris is viewed as a legitimate contender to keep the job he took on when Wilks was fired. In three games with Harris as defensive coordinator, the Jets allowed 106 points. And as the defensive backs coach, his unit didn\u2019t record any interceptions.<\/p>\n As for Engstrand, Glenn had no intention of firing him \u2014 and as of Saturday, he was viewed as part of the staff for 2026 regardless of who else Glenn hired. The exact terms of Engstrand\u2019s departure are unclear, but being stripped of play-calling marked a clear demotion. On Tuesday, Engstrand and the Jets officially parted ways.<\/p>\n It\u2019s the end of January and Glenn has yet to complete his search for a defensive coordinator, and is at the very beginning of an unexpected search for an offensive coordinator. If Engstrand had stayed while maintaining his title of offensive coordinator, the Jets could have skipped the interview process required for offensive and defensive coordinators. Instead, Glenn must abide by the Rooney Rule and interview at least two minority candidates for the job in-person. So whether Reich, or someone else, is the front-runner, a candidate can\u2019t be hired until Glenn goes through that process.<\/p>\n And at this point, it would be hard to believe it\u2019s a particularly appealing landing spot.<\/p>\n History was already stacked against Glenn based on the way his first season went. Glenn is one of 23 coaches since 2000 to win three or fewer games in his first season, and of that group only four rebounded to make the playoffs during their tenure: Dan Campbell, Jim Schwartz, Zac Taylor and Leslie Frazier.<\/p>\n The history of first-year coaches blowing up their staff after their first year is even thinner. Usually, coaches make changes on one side of the ball that is struggling \u2014 like Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald did (after a 10-win season) when he fired his offensive coordinator (Ryan Grubb), quarterbacks coach (London) and offensive line coach (Scott Huff).<\/p>\n This setup feels more like what Hue Jackson did with the Cleveland Browns. That team went 1-15 in Jackson\u2019s first year, after which Jackson fired his offensive and defensive coordinators. The next year, the Browns went 0-16.<\/p>\n Anytime Glenn was criticized during the 2025 season \u2013 which was often, especially during an 0-7 start \u2014 he insisted he had a plan in place. Don\u2019t let go of the rope<\/em>, he said, on numerous occasions.<\/p>\n The most important part of the plan, he said last year: coaching.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen it comes to staffing, that\u2019s a work in progress,\u201d Glenn said at his intro press conference. \u201cI\u2019m looking for the best coaches that are going to help us succeed and I do believe that coaches are the start of your culture. So every coach will be looked at to make sure they can bring that. It\u2019s not coachability, it\u2019s compatibility. I want to make sure the coaches we bring in are compatible.\u201d<\/p>\n Glenn\u2019s relationships around the league and ability to build a coaching staff was the thing that Mike Tannenbaum \u2014 the former Jets GM that was part of the team\u2019s search committee for head coach and general manager last offseason \u2014 cited as one of his best attributes.<\/p>\n His staffing plan included Engstrand, Wilks and all those other coaches he just fired. He deserves credit for hiring special teams coordinator Chris Banjo, a rising star, as well as offensive line coach Steve Heiden, who did a commendable job developing a young group. The rest of his plan failed. This offseason, the Jets will need to find a new quarterback too \u2014 along with a slew of other holes up and down the roster.<\/p>\n It feels like Glenn is starting from scratch. He might be buckled in, but his seat has to be feeling much warmer than it did even a few days ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n