Aaron Glenn Ranked No. 1 on Inauspicious NFL Head Coach List

Aaron Glenn’s debut with the New York Jets did not go well. Glenn’s 0-7 start to the 2025 season was the worst in team history for a first-year head coach. He ultimately led New York to a 3-14 record as the Jets missed the playoffs for the 15th straight year.

Glenn’s hand-picked quarterback lasted just nine starts before being benched. But even worse, the Jets defense collapsed under Glenn. After boasting the league’s third-stingiest defense in back-to-back seasons, New York ranked 25th in total yards allowed with Glenn at the helm. The Jets became the first team in NFL history to go an entire season without an interception. And their five-game losing streak by 23 or more points to close the season was also a new low.

Despite 10 head coaching changes this offseason, Jets owner Woody Johnson decided to stick with Glenn. But the dismal debut has his seat sizzling. FOX Sports' Ralph Vacchiano listed Glenn at No. 1 in his NFL coaching hot seat rankings for 2026.

“There was a good case to be made for Glenn to be one-and-done after the Jets’ disastrous 3-14 season. Instead, Woody Johnson showed surprising patience,” Vacchiano noted.

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Aaron Glenn is on shaky ground in second season with Jets

Dec 28, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn reacts during the first quarter of the game against the New England Patriots at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

Johnson’s decision to stick with Glenn could be an instance of the longtime owner exercising patience. But Johnson was painted into a corner following a tumultuous 2024 season that suggested a chaotic, toxic environment in New York.

The Aaron Rodgers experiment crumbled; Robert Saleh was surprisingly fired after a Week 5 loss in London; Johnson’s teenage children were reportedly involved in organizational decision making; Trades were supposedly vetoed based on Madden ratings; Johnson was graded the worst owner in football by players in the 2024 NFLPA Report Cards.

The Jets were widely viewed as a less than ideal landing spot for head coaching candidates with options. Then Glenn, one of the top candidates in that cycle, showed interest in joining the team, citing “unfinished business” from his time as a player.

Glenn’s hire was announced with fanfare. He was considered a badly needed stabilizing force for the organization. And Johnson vowed to step back and allow Glenn to build a new culture in New York.

Given the unique circumstances of Glenn’s arrival, it would have been awfully difficult to fire him after one season, no matter how disastrous.

But the pressure is now on. Glenn needs to show that the Jets are headed in the right direction in 2026. Unfortunately, coaches focused on justifying their jobs in the present don’t always make the best decisions for the franchise’s future.

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