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INDIANAPOLIS – Aaron Glenn puts his cape back on.
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The Jets coach confirmed Tuesday what had been expected for weeks: Glenn will take over as the team’s defensive playmaker in 2026 — something he called his “superpower.”
Glenn fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks midway through his first season with the team. This led to a search for a replacement in January.
At first, it wasn’t clear if Glenn would take over the play or if his new defensive coordinator would handle it. He hired Brian Duker, with whom he worked in Detroit, as his new defensive coordinator with the idea that Glenn would be in charge of calling the defense.
“For me, acting is really my superpower,” Glenn said. “Doing that for four years in Detroit and man, just looking at the maturation of those four years, the way we’ve gotten better every year and how I’ve gotten better as a playmaker. I really miss that. I think that plays a huge role in helping us become the team that I see us becoming.”
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Glenn is coming off a 3-14 rookie season on the job and needs to quickly make the team respectable if he wants to see a third season on the job.
Taking over defense, a role he held from 2021-24 with the Lions, makes sense. It wasn’t clear the Jets would head in that direction initially, leading to speculation that owner Woody Johnson stepped in and told Glenn to call the plays.
Glenn flatly rejected this idea. Glenn said he thought there was a false narrative that Johnson was interfering with the team. He said Johnson always offered support but did not order him to do anything.
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“I would really like to see that narrative change that he’s trying to force me and (general manager Darren Mougey) to do certain things,” Glenn said. “He’s there to support us. He’s always been there to support us. The only thing I can talk about is myself and my relationship with him and it’s been exceptional. I guess to answer your question, he doesn’t push me to pick coaches, he doesn’t push me to run this team a certain way. The only thing he does is support it and I feel lucky to have an owner like that.”
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Glenn said he was hesitant to cancel games last year because he wanted to focus on managing games as a first-time head coach. But that has changed.
“As the season progressed and I started to get to the end of the season, I started to feel like I could still call it and be able to handle it just as well,” Glenn said. “And again, I’ll be honest with you, I missed being the playmaker. I missed being able to be in the heat with these guys, being able to talk to linebacker Mike, being able to be in the meeting rooms and trying to come up with a game plan to be successful against another team. All those things came into play for me. I’m excited about this opportunity. I’m excited to move in this direction. “
Jets head coach Aaron Glenn speaks to the media during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on February 24, 2026. Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
One thing that was difficult to reconcile with Glenn’s decision to cancel the games was his decision to interview veteran coach Wink Martindale twice.
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It would seem unlikely that a longtime play-caller like Martindale would want to take on a coordinator role that doesn’t include play-calling.
Glenn said that during the first round of virtual interviews, he had not yet decided whether to call the defense. By the time he interviewed Martindale in person, it was already done.
“When I brought Wink in and told him (Glenn would call plays), he was always up for it,” Glenn said. “But then again, thinking about the whole situation, Brian Duker was with me for three years. Man, he walked through the fire with me. We weren’t a team that brought a lot of guys early to Detroit. He walked through the fire. He knows exactly how I wanted to operate and man, I think there’s nothing more valuable than having that type of relationship with someone. Listen, I thought Wink was going to do a really good job but I just thought Brian Duker was the guy for this job.”
