The vibes in New York have been pretty positive since the New York Jets hired Aaron Glenn as head coach back in January, and for good reason. Glenn was one of the more highly regarded head coaching candidates this offseason after four seasons as the Detroit Lions’ defensive coordinator. However, the job of a head coach is quite a bit different from a coordinator, and even the best of coordinators are expected to prove themselves as head coaches before analysts can buy completely into the hype.
It should therefore surprise no one that Glenn and his staff did not do so well in a recent ESPN article. Writing for ESPN, analyst Ben Solak ranked each NFL team’s head coach and coordinators, and he placed the Jets at No. 28. Justifying this ranking, Solak writes, “Glenn has never been a head coach. I loved his work as a defensive coordinator… but he has never been a head coach. The hire of [defensive coordinator Steve] Wilks was a smart one, as it will allow Glenn to take a lighter hand in preparing the defense and a heavier hand as the CEO of the team.”
Solak went on to say, “I expect the Jets to play tons of young players, focus on development and not necessarily rack up wins in Year 1. But even when the Lions were 0-10-1 in their first season under Dan Campbell, it was clear the coaching staff had something cooking.”
It’s hard to argue with this assessment, and Solak is right. The fact is that Glenn has never been a head coach before. Even if Jets fans believe he’s got what it takes to lead this team and break their 14-year playoff drought, he’s got to prove it first before he can be ranked much higher than No. 28. For what it’s worth, Glenn and his staff ranked higher than all other first-time head coaches except for his former Detroit counterpart, Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson (Johnson still only came in at No. 22).
A more seasoned offensive coordinator might have bumped Glenn up another spot or two ahead of the Tennessee Titans, but Tanner Engstrand is as new to his role as Glenn is to head coaching. There’s a lot of excitement there as he learned under Ben Johnson and now faces the challenge of turning Justin Fields into a franchise quarterback, but like Glenn he must also prove himself.
The 2025 NFL season is a pivotal one for the Jets. As Solak noted, they don’t necessarily have to win a ton of games, but even in a losing season we could see this coaching staff prove itself as a group of rising stars, and that’s got to excite the fanbase.