Firing Aaron Glenn won’t fix what’s wrong with the New York Jets

“We’re ALL trying to find the guy who did this!”

Kyle Crabbs — NFL National Writer

Dec 30, 2025 3:43 PM EST

I am, admittedly, a little confused. The New York Jets are in the midst of yet another season lost in the wilderness — they’re 3-13 and fresh off of getting smoked by the New England Patriots this past weekend. Yet despite their struggles, the Jets have ensured that they will not secure the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, with the fanbase instead left to be reassured by the treasure trove of draft picks the team secured mid-season by trading away Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner.

The ire of the media and the Jets’ fanbase alike have turned towards the idea of firing first-year head coach Aaron Glenn. Glenn hasn’t always been great this season, at times picking the wrong battles with the media or showing inconsistencies with his messaging publicly. He’s acted like a rookie head coach, in part because he is one. But if the biggest sin of Aaron Glenn’s resume is his team’s performance on the field, I would simply ask us to have an honest conversation about the Jets’ roster.

The Jets’ biggest problem is far from Aaron Glenn

The Jets made their bed in November when they chose to tear this roster down. This was a situation that was ALWAYS going to get worse before it got better. And so here we are — after a season’s worth of attrition (with a questionable roster in the first place) and voluntarily shipping out assets mid-season for the promise of a better tomorrow, it has indeed gotten worse.

Consider the pedigree of the leading snap takers for the Jets against the Patriots in Week 17. The secondary was comprised of two rookies, Malachi Moore (fourth round) and Dean Clark (undrafted), plus a former CFL corner in Qwan’tez Stiggers and another undrafted rookie, Jordan Clark, in the nickel. Undrafted rookie Payton Page and second-year UDFA Eric Watts both played 29+ snaps. Undrafted rookie quarterback Brady Cook was behind center as the starter while throwing to receivers that were not on the roster until October 29th and November 4th.

Meanwhile, the team’s best wide receiver (Garrett Wilson), safety (Andre Cisco), pass rusher (Will McDonald IV), offensive lineman (Alijah Vera-Tucker), and cornerback (Jarvis Brownlee Jr.) are all on injured reserve. The team’s two best defenders were traded in November.

So I ask, respectfully. What do you expect right now? The Jets tore this thing down to the studs and were applauded for doing so as a team willing to play the long game and commit to a long-term rebuild process no less than seven weeks ago. There was rousing applause far and wide. And here we are today, asserting that the head coach needs to be fired after 16 games for abnormally bad performance on the field?

Yes, it is abnormally bad — but it’s because the roster is abnormally bad. The circumstances of the players sharing the field together is abnormally extreme. This is partly the fallout of a team that pushed all their chips into the center of the table to go all in with the Aaron Rodgers experience. Most of the 53-man roster spots in the skill group were dedicated to Rodgers’ guys. And then Rodgers left, yet another choice to get worse that was made by New York this offseason.

That’s not to say that it was the wrong decision. There was no future with Aaron Rodgers. But again, this was always going to get worse before it got better. A regime change stacked on top of the pivot from a “win-now” build only further compounded the extreme degree in which this roster was turned over this year. And now that we’re on the cusp of a difficult first season put behind us, the calls for Glenn to be fired and dismissed are surging. I don’t get it. The Jets had minimal talent to start the season as they separated themselves from the last build. They’re now well-stocked for draft capital. That’s great. But to hire a coach entering a blatant rebuilding year that has become more extreme than anyone anticipated, and then want to rug pull the same coach for the team being bad is simply the NFL personification of the “I Think You Should Leave” Hot Dog Car sketch.

“We’re ALL trying to find the guy who did this!”

YOU DID. You did. Say you dismiss Aaron Glenn. Hypothetically. Who do you think is going to walk through the door as the next head coach of the football team? Spare me the Mike Vrabel analogies, too. The Patriots had a quarterback and they had an extensive history with Vrabel. Once the Patriots showed interest, it became apparent very quickly the prior relationship was going to fuel the fit as the Patriots pivoted off of Jerod Mayo last winter.

Who do the Jets have relationships with in the coaching pool that has a proven track record and would say yes at the first sign of interest? Was that candidate not Aaron Glenn, 11 months ago? Furthermore, rug-pulling an alumni like Glenn after one season with a roster this bad is probably going to further harm New York’s perception as a job destination. Showing this level of instability and lack of conviction only further perpetuates the negative stereotypes.

You signed up for a long-term rebuild, New York. Stay the course. Don’t get cold feet about an uncompetitive team in December of the teardown year. Unless you’re asking Glenn to snap and throw the ball to himself while walking on water on the sideline between possessions, just please — zoom out. This roster wouldn’t give many coaches, if any, a chance to succeed and be competitive right now.

I’m not saying New York should be satisfied with the results of this season’s effort. And Glenn hasn’t helped himself on several fronts. There will be valuable learning lessons for him to apply moving forward. But you simply cannot judge Aaron Glenn or make declarative statements about his ability to run a team with a team as devoid of cornerstones and quality starters as this one is — especially in the last month as the injuries have mounted and the trades took place, which sapped the needle-moving players from the field. New York started this season competitive but has lost their last four by 107 points. Look at who is dressing for the games this December and be mad about that instead of being mad at Glenn.

The idea of firing Glenn this offseason after one year on the job would be treating a symptom, not the disease. But if you want to make matters worse, be my guest…

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