Jets’ Defensive Coordinator Search Raises Red Flags

The New York Jets still have an open defensive coordinator job to fill and it sounds like the interest around the league is light, to say the least.

New York has handled its search a bit differently than most teams around the league. Rather than announcing each interview or candidate, the team announced on Jan. 16 that it already completed eight interviews for the open job. Again, this is uncommon. Most teams announce each interview as they come, but the Jets have been keeping the process close to the vest.

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SNY's Connor Hughes and The Athletic's Zack Rosenblatt did shed some light on the process on "Jets Final Drive," though. Hughes noted that the Jets reached out to "two of the big-name" defensive coordinator candidates and were shut down.

The Jets are still looking for a new defensive coordinator

Dec 14, 2025; Jacksonville, Florida, USA;New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn stands on the sideline against the Jacksonville Jaguars at EverBank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Travis Register-Imagn Images | Travis Register-Imagn Images

"They did reach out to, what I heard, two of the big-name defensive coordinator candidates who were available and both candidates were just not interested in working for the Jets and Aaron Glenn at this time," Hughes said. "Which understand, like it's a team that's not going to be very good next year. If you're a major name defensive coordinator, you're going to have like major, major suitors. So they were just not interested in talking to the Jets. That's not entirely uncommon. People got super angry about the Jets not putting in a request to interview Ben Johnson last year. Ben Johnson let it be known to the Jets that if you send an interview request, I'm not going to take it."

Rosenblatt followed up and noted that he has heard the number is actually higher than two.

"I've heard that broadly, like coaches have been, beyond even the two that you mentioned," Rosenblatt said. "I think there's been more than that that were like, 'No thank you, I don't really want to take that interview.'"

That's certainly not what you want to hear if you're a Jets fan. The Jets had a tough 3-14 season in 2025 and now at least some of the top defensive coordinator candidates reportedly are avoiding the job entirely.

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