The New York Jets fired their former head coach, Robert Saleh, on Oct. 24, 2024, after the team started the season with a 2-3 record.
The search for their next head coach continues. The Jets are reportedly honing in on their preferred candidate, Aaron Glenn, who is set for a second interview with the franchise.
Gregg Giannotti Expresses Dissatisfaction With Aaron Glenn as Potential Next Jets HC
Glenn’s second interview was scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025, and according to NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, New York’s goal was not to let him leave until a deal was done.
A monumental day: Top target Aaron Glenn visits the #Jets & the goal is to keep him from leaving the building, sources say.
The deal isn’t done & there are still some particulars to discuss. But if all goes well, he could end today as HC of the NYJ. If not, the #Saints await. pic.twitter.com/70yHBb5Rel
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 21, 2025
Glenn played cornerback for the Jets from 1994 to 2001 and later finished his 15-year career with teams such as the Houston Texans, Dallas Cowboys, Jacksonville Jaguars, and New Orleans Saints.
Glenn is currently appointed as the Lions’ defensive coordinator, and if he signs with the Jets, it will be his first head coaching job. He will also join former Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who officially accepted a position as the head coach of the Chicago Bears.
With the rumors that New York is zeroing in on Glenn as the Jets’ next head coach, WFAN host Gregg Giannotti shared his honest thoughts on the probable reunion.
Discussing the Glenn-Jets situation, Giannotti said it’s amazing how many major changes Woody Johnson has made in 2024, from Saleh’s firing to general manager Joe Douglas’ firing, both of which didn’t quite go as planned.
“It’s amazing, all of the drastic things that Woody Johnson did this year because it didn’t work out. Firing Rob Saleh so early in the season, firing Joe Douglas … and it didn’t work out,” Giannotti said.
Giannotti shared that he thinks Johnson is just repeating the previously done pattern of finding a coordinator with no head coaching experience: “For him to just now repeat the same pattern and go and find a coordinator who is a first-time head coach and do this all over again, defensive [coordinator], by the way.”
Giannotti continued discussing the possible union and said it’s not like a defensive coordinator cannot find success as a head coach, but it doesn’t seem like the best idea to him at the moment.
“I’m not saying that you can’t succeed with a defensive head coach … but here you go again,” Giannotti added. “We could very easily be wrong about this, and I hope that I am wrong about this. But it just, it feels to me like this is a just really, really bad idea.”
Before the injuries hampered their streak, Glenn did a tremendous job with the Lions’ defense this year, which unfortunately ended with a disappointing loss against the Jayden Daniels-led Commanders. The Lions finished the 2024 regular season with a defensive grade of 81.5 (B-), fifth-best in the NFL, according to PFN’s Defense+ metric.
