We're Going Through Changes
Edition #1015: Aaron Glenn rings in the changes as the Jets coaching staff experiences upheaval .
Good morning ☕
It’s a good job I was being paid to watch that AFC Championship game last night, otherwise I’d have switched it off. What an awful advert for our conference and the NFL in general. If that’s the best we have to offer then you may as well hand the Lombardi to the Seahawks right now.
Once again, the whole of Jets nation will come together in support of Sam Darnold as he tries to take down the Evil Empire in Super Bowl LX.
We’re not here to talk about the current state of the NFL, which in my opinion is severely lacking in entertainment compared to years gone by. We’re here to focus on those New York Jets, who made some big decisions this weekend.
NEWS & NOTES
Wink Martindale flew into NY on Saturday for a 2nd interview with the Jets for their vacant defensive coordinator position. Based on media reports things are trending in the right direction for the former Michigan DC. I know a lot of people don’t want him here, but it’s certainly looking at though he’ll join Glenn’s staff.
Aaron Glenn decided to fire a number of coaches after a thorough evaluation of their performance in 2025. Charles London (QB), Scott Turner (pass game coordinator), Eric Washington (DL), Aaron Curry (LB), Roosevelt Williams (def asst), Dre Bly (assistant DB coach), and Alonso Escalante (def assistant) were all relieved of their duties. If you include Steve Wilks who was fired during the season, that means Glenn has fired 8 people who he hired just a year ago. On one hand that’s a damming indictment of his ability to evaluate coaches for open positions. On the other it shows that he’s not afraid to admit mistakes and make changes where needed. The big question now…after failing so badly last off-season, why should we trust him to make the right decisions this off-season?
Tanner Engstrand kept his job, but there are plenty of reports circling that he could be facing a demotion. Connor Hughes stated “Tanner Engstrand is not expected to call plays in 2026, per sources. While the Jets are still determining his role, a new play caller is expected to be added to the staff.” - One name that has been mentioned is Frank Reich, who’s currently a senior advisor with Stanford. Reich was a player here back in 1996 and has been coaching since 2006. He has a 41-43-1 record as a head coach but plenty of experience calling plays which is what he’d be brought in to do here.
Reports indicate that former Jets offensive coordinator Mike LaFleur is a finalist for the Arizona Cardinals head coach position. Who would have thought that after he was let go in 2022.
Dennard Wilson may have been let go by Robert Saleh twice, but he’s found a home back in New York with John Harbaugh. The former Jets coach has been hired as the Giants DC.
The latest PFF mock has the Jets taking Reuben Bain Jr with the 2nd overall pick in the draft and Makai Lemon with the 16th overall selection:
#2 - With no other quarterback warranting a selection this high, the Jets opt to add a dominant defensive presence in Rueben Bain Jr. to their defensive line. After nearly leading Miami to a national championship, Bain finished his final college season with a 92.8 PFF grade that ranked second among Power Four edge defenders, trailing only Texas Tech’s David Bailey.
#16 - The Jets need to continue adding offensive weapons alongside Garrett Wilson, and this year’s Biletnikoff Award winner, Makai Lemon, fits that need. Lemon led the FBS in receiving grade (91.4) this season, consistently showcasing his efficiency, toughness and yards-after-catch ability. While questions about his size will persist, he has repeatedly proven capable of being the best player on the field.
Tony Pauline believes that Lions LB Alex Anzalone will be signing with the Jets this off-season: “Anzalone is not expected to return to Detroit, and he’s close with AG and wants to reunite with his former defensive coordinator. A reunion is more likely, given the Jets’ need at linebacker, as Anzalone brings the talent, leadership, and intensity the team needs at the position,”
The Packers are hiring Jonathan Gannon as defensive coordinator. Jim Leonhard was reportedly a strong candidate there but Green Bay didn’t want to wait. Leonhard as the Broncos assistant head coach was unable to interview in person until today. Let’s hope the Jets fly him in for an interview early this week. I still think he is the ideal candidate for this team.
CHANGES
Aaron Glenn is only one year into his head coaching career and is already having to admit a whole host of mistakes made in year one.
When you go 4-13 there are going to be some changes, that’s only natural…but let’s just recap what’s happening.
Glenn hired Steve Wilks as his defensive coordinator and fired him before the season was done.
Glenn hired Tanner Engstrand as his offensive coordinator and based on reports he won’t be calling plays next season.
Glenn hired all seven coaches that he fired this weekend. Not a single one of them was a holdover from the last regime.
Glenn’s hand-picked QB Justin Fields was benched halfway through the season and the expectation is the Jets will release him and have to carry a dead-cap hit as a result.
Glenn’s offense finished the season ranked 29th in points, 29th in yards, 31st in red-zone scoring percentage, 29th in yards per play, 26th in 3rd down conversion and 28th in 4th down conversion.
Glenn’s defense finished 31st in points, 25th in yards, 24th in yards per play, 28th in red-zone scoring, 10th in 3rd down conversions and 29th in 4th down conversions and 32nd in takeaways.
It’s hard to look at all that as a complete year one on the job and have faith that it’s going to get much better.
As mentioned in the notes section there are two ways to look at this and neither one is wrong.
Aaron Glenn has made so many mistakes it’s hard to trust his judgement going forward. Saleh changed 6 coaches after year one but kept the main coordinators in place. When Glenn was in Detroit they changed just three coaches after year one. Having this much turnover basically puts you back at the start, but maybe that’s not a bad thing with everything considered.
On the other hand, this does show that Glenn’s loyalty is to the organisation and not to his hires. If he believes a mistake has been made he’s not going to double down on it. He fired his hand-picked DC, benched his hand-picked QB and by all accounts is demoting his friend Tanner Engstrand. So to me, that’s at least a little positive for the Jets in terms of how we move this forward.
However Glenn can’t afford to get it wrong again.
He now has 8-9 roles to fill over the next month or so, which includes four pivotal positions:
Defensive coordinator - Seems as though it’s going to be Wink, but Jim Leonhard is still available and I know who I’d prefer.
Offensive play-caller - Sounds as though Glenn is looking for a veteran with play-calling experience. But as we’ve seen with Wilks, just because you have experience doesn’t mean you’ll be good at your job.
QB Coach - London had experience as a QB coach in his stops in Seattle, Tennessee and Atlanta. But the Jets need someone who has worked in an environment which developed a young signal-caller.
Passing game coordinator - Scott Turner made some sense in terms of his experience, but the passing game was highly ineffective all season. I’m not sure how much of that was on Tanner and Turner and how much was on the QB, but this will be a vital role for the development of the next QB.
We all knew the Jets had a lot of work to do on the playing side, but they now have a whole load of work to do on the coaching side as well.
Want Jim Leonhard and Frank Reich as the Coordinators for this Jet Team. Leonhard of course is a coach that has been successful at every stop, and has worked with, and has been promoted by Sean Payton. He is a good coach, that has worked with Glenn & Mougey, represents a good PR move for this downtrodden franchise, giving us a little hope.
Frank Reich is a little long in the tooth at 64, was fired as a HC by Carolina after a 1 and 10 record, and fired the previous year by the Colts as their HC. But Frank is an experienced OC, a QB whisperer and has the ability to develop an Offensive culture for this team.
The QB room is a disaster, Frank will be instrumental in recruiting a FA QB ( Malick Willis ? ), possibly resurrecting Fields as a backup, and developing the QB from this years draft. Franks early coaching career was as a WR coach, there is some young talent in the WR Corp. that could use his expertise. Frank could be a great hire.
Has anyone ever seen a team luckier than the cheatriots this year? I do hope Sam crushes them.
For the record, I was screaming at the tv for the Jets to draft JSN when they picked Will McDonald. He was so dominant at OSU, it was obvious. He was better than Garrett Wison. It is why Joe D should not get another GM job. Do not hire Wink - it will be a disaster. It always ends poorly. Jimmy Leonard is an amazing talent. I do agree to move on from Tanner if he had anything to do with not throwing deep last year, but there are better options than Frank Reich out there. God Bless David for keeping interested. I will end every post with Fire Woody!