Aaron Glenn May Poach Detroit Lions Defensive Coach

The New York Jets have completed a round of interviews for their vacant defensive coordinator position.

Among those interviewed were Detroit Lions defensive assistant/safeties coach Jim O'Neil.

Others the Jets are considering to take over for Steve Wilks, who was fired before the conclusion of Glenn's first season, include Michigan defensive coordinator Wink Martindale, Broncos assistant head coach and defensive pass game coordinator Jim Leonhard, Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo, Packers defensive line coach Demarcus Covington, Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda, Jets defensive backs coach and interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris and Vikings defensive pass game coordinator Daronte Jones.

According to the Lions team website, "O'Nel earned his first NFL coaching position with the New York Jets, spending four seasons with the club from 2009-12. He originally joined as a defensive quality control coach before being promoted to assistant defensive backs for three seasons. In O'Neil's four seasons, the Jets defense combined to rank first in the NFL in opponent passer rating (71.0), completion percentage (52.6) and passing yards per game (186.3), while yielding the second-fewest yards per game (294.8). They finished in the top 10 each season in opponent passing yards per game, including a League-best mark (153.7) in 2009."

With the Jets, cornerback Darrelle Revis flourished, while Antonio Cromartie and safety LaRon Landry each earned a spot in the Pro Bowl in 2013.

O'Neil was credited for being able to get the backup safety unit to play at a high level, even without Brian Branch and Kerby, who both missed action throughout the 2025 season with injury.

“One of the first lessons I learned from Rex Ryan when I was a younger assistant coach was he told me, ‘You’re not going to be evaluated by your starters. You’re going to be evaluated by how your backups play.’ That’s always kind of stuck in my head," O'Neil said. "I think our entire coaching staff does an unbelievable job coaching everybody on the roster.

“So when we get in those situations, and just in the year and a half that I’ve been here, especially on defense, we’ve been decimated at every level of the defense," O'Neil added. "Guys have stepped up and gone in and played at a high level.”

The veteran coach just finished his second season in Motown.

He previously served as Northwestern's defensive coordinator (2021-22), spent three years (2018-20) with the Raiders, was the defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers (2016) and the Cleveland Browns (2014-15).

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