Harrison Phillips Says 'Cancerous' Group Sunk Aaron Glenn's Jets Coaching Debut

Aaron Glenn’s debut season with the New York Jets was an unmitigated disaster. The first-time head coach’s hand-picked quarterback struggled mightily before being benched. And the Jets’ defense collapsed, ranking 25th in total yards allowed after three straight top-four finishes. The Jets became the first team to go an entire season without an interception. And their five straight losses by 23 or more points to close out the year was also an NFL first.

But defensive tackle Harrison Phillips doesn’t blame Glenn for the Jets’ poor showing in 2025. “Culture matters," Phillips told Roundtable Sports. “I think A.G. inherited a very cancerous, truculent group, top to bottom.”

Phillips believes the toxic environment has an insidious effect on the locker room. “I was there for one season and… I almost wanted to waver on some of my thoughts and my beliefs and my optimism. And so I can't imagine being there for year after year after year after year and not seeing the results that you wanted,” Phillips noted.

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Harrison Phillips goes on record about Jets’ culture problem

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn — New York Jets Head Coach Aaron Glenn, is shown at MetLife Stadium, Sunday, September 14, 2025, in East Rutherford. | Kevin R. Wexler-NorthJersey.com / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“It tainted people, because ‘my coach is going to get fired,’ ‘my teammate's going to get fired,’ ‘I'm going to be a free agent,’ ‘I might get fired,’ ‘I have to play for me’ … Then, young players come in and see, 'Oh, that's my vet, that's how they're acting, so I'm going to act like that too.' So, it's a long chain of things and it can't be fixed like that,” Phillips added.

Glenn and company may have reinforced, or possibly addressed, the very mindset Phillips described by abruptly moving veteran defensive stars Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner at the trade deadline. The midseason change obviously sapped New York of talent but it also crushed morale, functioning as a clear sign of surrender.

Before joining the Jets, Phillips spent four seasons with Sean McDermott and the Bills and three seasons with Kevin O’Connell and the Vikings. Over his first seven years in the league, Phillips’ teams made the playoffs five times with a combined record of 74-42.

The Jets have a 39-94 record over that same seven-year period. New York went 3-14 in Phillips’ debut season with the team. The Jets extended their playoff drought to 15 straight seasons. And they haven’t had a winning record since 2015.

Still, Phillips believes Glenn has the “mindset” to change the organization. The veteran defender expects to see progress in 2026. “More of his people in the building, more of his thumbprint on the culture, I think we have to win more games.”

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