3 Huge Reasons Aaron Glenn Could Fail As New York Jets Head Coach

Here's what might go terribly wrong for Glenn in New York, hypothetically speaking

Mike Mulholland / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Aaron Glenn has been named the next head coach of the New York Jets, but will Glenn succeed in his new role?

Glenn certainly has what it takes to be a successful head coach, but that doesn’t guarantee that he’ll be able to turn the Jets into a playoff team within three to four seasons, which was the standard New Tork’s front office used to evaluate Robert Saleh (who failed by that measurement).

Before embarking on an analysis of three ways Glenn could ultimately suffer a similar fate to Saleh in New York, let’s get this out of the way: Glenn was an excellent hire by the Jets and is sure to turn New York into a winning club very soon.

But with the current Jets head coach job having gained recent notoriety for its difficulty (and thus, undesirableness), here’s a look at what could go wrong for Glenn.

1. The Jets fail to field a serviceable (or better) quarterback

What does Aaron Rodgers think of the Glenn hire? The answer to that question would be fascinating to know, especially with Rodgers having recently revealed that his decision on whether to return to the Jets rests on who New York hires to fill its coaching and GM vacancies.

It’s hard to imagine Rodgers not — like the apparent majority of football minds — viewing Glenn as a capable head coach, but there is the possibility that Rodgers, 41, would prefer at this point in his career to play for a head coach with head coach experience.

Moving beyond Glenn (whom Rodgers likely feels lukewarm about at worst), Rodgers will surely be monitoring who Glenn hires as his offensive coordinator, since this is the guy Rodgers would be working with intimately were he to return to Gang Green.

As of now, Rodgers returning to the Jets is far from a done deal. With Rodgers’ ex-coach Mike McCarthy still available on the market, Rodgers could ostensibly reunite with McCarthy wherever he lands — the two did win a Super Bowl together, and Rodgers recently praised McCarthy publicly for his work in 2024.

And while Rodgers isn’t the only potential answer at QB for the Jets in 2025, if New York fails to retain Rodgers and also fails to bring in someone else who is sufficient and experienced at the position, Glenn will have just been handed the keys to a broken car.

2. The AFC has too many solid teams

10 teams from the American Football Conference finished with a better record than the Jets in 2024, and even if New York had won nine games instead of five, the Jets would have still missed the playoffs.

Six of the 10 teams ahead of the Jets this past season have great situations at quarterback with either a young or prime-aged star to build around: the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, and Cincinnati Bengals all look poised to be perennial playoff-worthy teams over the next five to 10 years and certainly over the next three to four years (i.e. Glenn’s potential "trial phase" as Jets head coach).

While the AFC might not have any unstoppable Super Bowl teams at the top right now, there are a handful of franchises that are set up to be in the hunt moving forward, which means making the playoffs is an uphill mountain for any rebuilding team, and the margin for error is slim.

Even if Glenn were to turn the Jets into a team with a winning record as early as next season, that would by no means guarantee a playoff berth.

It begs the question, what will be the standard by which Glenn is judged? Surely, turning this Jets situation into a winning team anytime soon would be a miraculous job well done, but it’s difficult to say what New York’s front office will expect from Glenn before knowing who the Jets’ quarterback will be.

3. Difficult city, more difficult owner

Beyond the football challenges associated with the Jets head coach job — questions at QB being foremost among them — coaching in the pressure cooker that is the New York City sports/media market is not easy, especially when you’re working for an owner who has the reputation of Woody Johnson.

Glenn’s near future successes in New York (say, a winning season or two) could be branded as failures if Johnson moves the goalposts of expectations or gets impatient with the Jets’ progress.

Realistically, turning an NFL team completely around takes the better part of a decade to happen, but it doesn’t seem like anyone has time for that in today’s day and age, and certainly not in the city that never sleeps.

No matter how well he performs, Glenn sadly might be entering a doomed situation.

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