Winners and Losers of New York Jets Hiring Aaron Glenn as Head Coach

Well, another domino has fallen.

After serving as the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions for the past four years and helping lead Detroit from the NFL's outhouse to the NFC's best record, Aaron Glenn has agreed to become the head coach of the New York Jets, per ESPN's Rich Cimini.

Bill Parcells, who coached the 52-year-old Glenn as a player, believes the first-time head coach will handle the bright lights of the Big Apple just fine.

"I think Aaron is going to be himself," Parcells said. "He's very straightforward. He's a very candid guy. I don't think that will be a problem, I really don't. I think he'll just be Aaron Glenn, and I think that will be fine. He's a very honest, principled guy. I have a high regard for him. I really do."

For Glenn, it's a career come full-circle—back to the team where he began his playing career 30 years ago. For the Jets, it's the continuation of a theme—dating back to Rex Ryan, New York has favored defensive-minded head coaches. For the Lions, it means replacing both coordinators in the offseason. And for the teams searching for a head coach, it's one more name off the list of available candidates.

Glenn's hiring will send ripples across the league—from the NFC North to the AFC East. It's good news for some—and bad news for others.

Here's a look at who's who—including what the new gig means for Glenn himself.

Not much has gone right for the New York Jets over the past decade-plus. The team last won a postseason game since 2010. In fact, that was the last time New York made the playoffs at all.

The arrival of Aaron Rodgers in 2023 was supposed to change things, but midway through a disappointing 2024 campaign, Robert Saleh was let go.

Now, the Jets have found Saleh's replacement in another up-and-coming defensive coach.

For Glenn, it's a homecoming of sorts—he was a first-round pick of the Jets in 1994 and earned two Pro Bowl nods over eight seasons with Gang Green. Over his playing and coaching career, Glenn has worked with a who's who of NFL masterminds, from Bill Parcells to Mike Tomlin and Sean Payton. But per ESPN's Ben Solak, Glenn said the Jets won't be getting a copycat of those coaches.

"Obviously, Parcells had a huge influence on me. Payton had a huge influence on me. Mike Tomlin has a huge influence on me. But at the end of the day, I'm Aaron Glenn. Even though I take bits and pieces of every one of those coaches as a part of me, I know who I am. The players are going to get an authentic Aaron Glenn. I think that speaks volumes more than anything else."

If his time in Detroit is any indication, that bodes well for the Jets, who need a steadying hand badly after last season's chaos.

We knew that the Detroit Lions were all but certainly going to lose both coordinators this offseason. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was arguably the hottest name in this coaching cycle. Aaron Glenn may well have been the most coveted defensive-minded head coach available.

Now both are gone, with Glenn off to New York and Johnson joining the rival Chicago Bears.

In true Dan Campbell fashion, the Lions head man told reporters that Detroit won't let the turnover at coordinator affect the team's fortunes in 2025.

"We've got guys on staff that are more than qualified to be outstanding in those roles, but that does not mean I'm not looking outside either," Campbell said. "I want what I believe is going to be as close to what we have been as possible. We don't lose what we're about and our identity. We're gonna stay true to who we are."

But there's no sugarcoating the impact of this loss on the Lions. It's just one more thing. First, it was the devastating Divisional Round loss to Washington. Now the team also has to replace both coordinators. And that's without even taking into consideration player attrition due to free agency.

Oftentimes, it can be even harder to stay on top than it is to get there.

At least the Lions get third-round compensatory picks in the 2025 and 2026 drafts.

Of all the problems the Jets had last season, defending the pass was not one of them—the Jets were fourth in the NFL, giving up just 192.6 aerial yards per game. That was in no small part due to the play of young cornerback Sauce Gardner, although for the first time in his career, Gardner wasn't named a first-team All-Pro.

Gardner told reporters that another disappointing season in 2024 has him laser-focused in the offseason.

"In all three of my years, this is the most adversity that we faced as a team. For me individually, all the adversity that we face as a team, I put it on my shoulders. It makes it hard for me to sleep at night even if it's stuff that doesn't have anything to do with me directly. This year has definitely helped me. I've grown a lot going through all of this adversity, and now I realize adversity is a gift. It shows you who you truly are and who the ones around you truly are as well."

Now Gardner will have an opportunity to work with a coach in Glenn who was a Pro Bowl cornerback in his own right—despite being undersized by NFL standards for the position. Given D.J. Reed's shots at the organization of late, it appears he won't be back in 2025—so Glenn should have more than a little input on who the Jets bring in to replace him.

Defense hasn't been New York's problem of late, but given what Glenn accomplished with the defensive personnel he had in Detroit, the Jets could have one of the most formidable secondaries in the league in 2025.

And Gardner could be headed for a career year.

Aaron Rodgers' first two seasons in New York were essentially a disaster. An Achilles tear wiped out the first before it ever really happened. The second was an uneven mess.

Now, Glenn is head coach in New York. We don't yet know who the offensive coordinator will be, but it ain't gonna be Rodgers' handpicked guy like Nathaniel Hackett was.

For that matter, as ESPN's Rich Cimini wrote, we don't really know how Glenn feels about Rodgers as the team's starter at all.

"Glenn still considered Rodgers an 'elite' quarterback at the time of his trade to the Jets, a source said; it's unclear how he feels now," Cimini wrote. "This is a tough decision for Glenn and his new GM. They will be hard-pressed to find a better quarterback in the offseason market. On the flip side, it might be tricky to create a team-first culture with Rodgers (and everything that comes with him) in the building."

It's a sticky wicket for Glenn. The Jets don't have a high enough draft pick to land one of this year's elite rookies. Outside of Sam Darnold, the free-agent market under center isn't great. Rodgers may well be the best option for the Jets in the short term. But turning around the culture in New York won't be easy with 52 players playing by one set of rules and one playing by another.

The smartest play here is probably for the Jets and Rodgers to part ways—even if it means starting over under center in Glenn's first season in charge.

The champagne is flowing at Florham Park, but that's not the only building where celebrations are going on Wednesday.

They are living it up at Halas Hall. And in Eagan, Minnesota. And on Lombardi Avenue. Because while Aaron Glenn joining the Jets may be good news in New York, it's bad news in Motown.

And what's bad news in Motown is good news for the rest of the NFC North.

In Chicago, new Bears head coach Ben Johnson doesn't have to worry about taking on a defense twice per season he's been practicing against for years. The Minnesota Vikings will now be trying to dethrone a Lions team that will be breaking in a pair of new coordinators. Ditto for the Green Bay Packers.

Mind you, the Lions aren't suddenly going to become a bad team. There are still talented players on both sides of the ball, especially on offense. Dan Campbell is an excellent head coach. And there will be no shortage of assistants who (both in Detroit and elsewhere) would jump at the chance to be part of a Lions team that just had their most successful regular season in franchise history.

It's within the realm of possibility (albeit unlikely) that the Lions will come out of this even better than before. Or at least tread water (which ain't bad for a 15-win team). But it's just as possible (if not more so) that the Lions will backslide a bit in 2025.

And a step backward for the Lions is a step forward for every other team in the division.

This last one may turn some heads. It's certainly not an indictment of Glenn's abilities as a coach. While addressing the media, Glenn said that he intends to make his impact known—on both sides of the ball.

"Here's the one thing that I will say about myself: I'm a coach, I just happen to be on defense," Glenn said. "I understand the offense just as well as a number of people, so if you want to hire me, you're going to hire a coach; you're not going to hire a defensive coach. I'm going to talk to the offense just as much as I'm going to talk to the defense."

That could be Glenn's first pitfall. Head coaches—especially first-timers—need to know what they don't know. How important it is to delegate.

Then there's the matter of the Jets job itself. Was it the worst available gig in this coaching cycle? Not at all. There's talent on defense in Gardner and defensive tackle Quinnen Williams. On offense in running back Breece Hall and wide receiver Garrett Wilson.

But this team's last winning season came in 2015, its last postseason appearance came in 2010, and it plays in America's largest media market, where every move is scrutinized to New Jersey and back again.

It's a team with no clear plan at quarterback whose owner recently refuted reports that Madden ratings and the input of his grandsons played a major role in personnel decisions.

Here's what one former player told Zack Rosenblatt, Dianna Russini and Michael Silver of The Athletic about playing in New York.

"There are organizations where it is all set up for you to win," said the player. "It feels completely different (with the Jets). It's the most dysfunctional place imaginable."

It's laudable that Glenn wanted to return to where his NFL career began and turn the Jets around.

But the cold reality is that history says he's being set up to fail.