Early Favorite Emerges for Jets' Open DC Job

The New York Jets have one of the more intriguing openings in the National Football League heading into the 2026 season.

New York's defensive coordinator job is still open after the Jets opted to move on from Steve Wilks during the season. The Jets announced on Jan. 16 that they completed interviews with Mathieu Araujo, Ephraim Banda, DeMarcus Covington, Daronte Jones, Jim Leonhard, Wink Martindale, Chris Harris and Jim O'Neil for the open defensive coordinator job. But there hasn't been much information out there since.

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SNY's Connor Hughes andThe Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt had a bit of an update on "Jets Final Drive" as they reported that New York reached out to "two of the big-name" defensive coordinator candidates, but were shut down.

The Jets still are looking

Nov 22, 2025; College Park, Maryland, USA; Michigan Wolverines defensive coordinator Wink Martindale stands on the sidelines during the first half against the Maryland Terrapins at SECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

ESPN's Rich Cimini also gave a brief update on the opening and noted that Martindale should be viewed as the early favorite at this time.

"Is there any early favorite? Probably Martindale, who has seven years of coordinator experience with the Broncos, Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants. He presided over top-tier units with the Ravens (2018 to 2021)," Cimini wrote. "His defense was good enough to help the 2022 Giants advance to the divisional round of the playoffs, although their defensive EPA (Expected Points Added) was only 28th. (In fact, Martindale hasn't fielded a top-10 unit in EPA since 2020.) He reportedly had a falling out with then-coach Brian Daboll, leading to his departure after the 2023 season.

"The [2023] Giants tied for the league lead with 31 takeaways, which has to intrigue the turnover-starved Jets. Glenn jumped on Martindale early, interviewing him before the Jets' season ended. They have no previous working experience together, which raises the compatibility issue. We're talking about two Type A personalities, which would make for an interesting dynamic."

There hasn't been pen put to paper yet and there isn't an end in sight. But Martindale would be an intriguing option simply because of his extensive experience and the takeaways, that Cimini pointed out. The Jets had just four takeaways in total in 2025. That is not a typo. The Jets went the entire season without an interception, which set unwanted history for the franchise.

If there is a candidate that can come to town and change this, that already would be a big win.

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