The talk around Aaron Glenn’s future with the Jets is already getting louder, but the latest reporting suggests Woody Johnson may be more inclined to wait until winter before making a final call.
That matters because the temperature around Glenn has risen fast. After New York’s 28-25 loss to the previously winless Miami Dolphins in East Rutherford, N.J., on Oct. 25, the Jets dropped to 2-5 and the “hot seat conversation” around their head coach was described as “real.” Since then, fans and multiple New York media members have openly speculated about whether Johnson could move on from Glenn if the Jets lose at home Sunday to the 3-4 Las Vegas Raiders.
But in a piece published Friday, Jets reporter Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic said it is “more likely” that Johnson would hold off until the end of the season before deciding whether to fire Glenn.
Rosenblatt pointed to the relationship between the owner and coach, noting that Johnson and Glenn “have a close relationship” that goes back to Glenn’s playing days and to the stretch when he worked as a scout for the Jets in 2012-13. Johnson, Rosenblatt wrote, believed in Glenn enough to make him the highest-paid head coach in team history.
The owner also wanted the Jets to “not become a national punchline” this fall, and that concern has only grown after a messy month. Glenn briefly went viral earlier this month when he appeared confused about which team started the second half with the ball. Then came the loss to Miami, a game that brought heavy criticism because the Dolphins are only in the early stages of a multi-year rebuild.
Even with the noise, Rosenblatt said Glenn has still shown he can coach up young players on defense over the last two years.
“Cornerback Azareye’h Thomas has made a significant jump from his rookie season,” Rosenblatt wrote. “Safety Dane Belton has been one of the Jets’ best players after four years mostly as a backup with the Giants, cornerback Brandon Stephens is playing better than last year or at the end of his Ravens tenure, and fourth-round rookie defensive tackle Darrell Jackson is starting to make an impact.”
At 5-19, Glenn’s overall record with the Jets is ugly, and the final Sunday of October only sharpened the scrutiny. Coaches have been let go in the past with better winning percentages through their first two seasons, and those situations didn’t come with the added complication of New York being tied to former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and prominent candidate Mike Tomlin.
Still, Rosenblatt said this does not look like a locker room that has tuned Glenn out.
“This isn’t a situation where he’s lost the locker room,” Rosenblatt added about Glenn. “By all accounts, this is a group that believes in him as a leader, and key veterans on the roster seem to genuinely believe that they are close to breaking through. Ten games is a lot of proving ground for Glenn to show an ability to turn the Jets around.”
That belief can only hold for so long if the losses keep stacking up. DraftKings Sportsbook listed the Jets as 1.5-point home favorites over the Raiders on Friday morning, and while that matchup may not be a true must-win for Glenn’s job security, he probably needs to start piling up a few victories over the next month if he wants to make it through New York’s Week 13 bye.
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