{"id":2720,"date":"2026-01-17T06:48:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-16T22:48:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/the-jets-head-into-a-potentially-difficult-search-for-the-next-defensive-coordinator\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T13:13:13","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T05:13:13","slug":"the-jets-head-into-a-potentially-difficult-search-for-the-next-defensive-coordinator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/17\/the-jets-head-into-a-potentially-difficult-search-for-the-next-defensive-coordinator\/","title":{"rendered":"The Jets head into a potentially difficult search for the next defensive coordinator"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The Jets made it clear on Friday that they are actively searching for a defensive coordinator, announcing that they have interviewed eight candidates for their vacant position.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Aaron Glenn needed to be hired shortly after his first choice, Steve Wilks, didn&#8217;t fit his scheme and was fired in the middle of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Among those interviewed were Dolphins linebackers coach Mathieu Araujo, Browns safeties coach Ephraim Banda, Packers coach DeMarcus Covington, Vikings linebackers coach Daronte Jones, Broncos coordinator and pass defense coordinator Jim Leonhard, Michigan defensive backs coach Wink Martinevensi and linebackers coach Chris Martinevensi. assistant Jim O&#8217;Neil.<\/p>\n<p>Because Glenn enters 2026 on a short leash based on a 3-14 record in his first season, this could be a tough search \u2014 especially with so many head coaching jobs open.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Jets coach Aaron Glenn speaks to the media in Florham Park, NJ on Jan. 6, 2026. Bill Kostroun\/New York Post<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Martindale, who was the defensive coordinator at Michigan last season, and coached the Giants defense, is impressive because of his extensive NFL experience. He is also known for being aggressive in his plans, which is something Glenn said he wants to bring out in his DC.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Covington has recent DC experience in New England. Jones is widely viewed as Vikings DC Brian Flores&#8217; right-hand man and future coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>Leonhard is a former Jet who has a relationship with Glenn. He is in his second season with the Broncos, who had one of the best defenses in the NFL this past season, and his first as their defensive pass coordinator\/assistant head coach of one of the top defenses in the NFL this season.<\/p>\n<p>Araujo, who was the Dolphins&#8217; linebackers coach the past two seasons, spent the past four seasons with Miami after coaching seven years in college, while Banda coached the Browns&#8217; safeties from 2023-25.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"content-figure\">\n<div class=\"content-image\"><img alt=\"Mathieu Araujo of the Miami Dolphins reacts to a play during an NFL preseason football game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on August 10, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"639\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"standard-img\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/BPlWkDLUNQEY4jQaAUQPcQ--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTYzOTtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/ny_post_sports_articles_389\/85baf4d12af515ac23e1a2f6417fce28\"\/><button aria-label=\"View larger image\" class=\"lightbox-btn\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\"><span class=\"lightbox-expand\"><svg viewbox=\"0 0 22 22\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"size-4 lg:size-6\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\"><path d=\"M12.372.92c0-.506.41-.916.915-.916L21 0l-.004 7.712a.917.917 0 0 1-1.832 0V3.183l-6.827 6.828-1.349-1.348 6.828-6.828h-4.529a.915.915 0 0 1-.915-.915M1.835 17.816l6.828-6.828 1.349 1.349-6.829 6.827h4.529a.915.915 0 0 1 0 1.831L0 21l.004-7.713a.916.916 0 0 1 1.831 0z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/button><dialog aria-label=\"Image Lightbox\" class=\"lightbox-overlay\" aria-modal=\"true\"\/><\/div><figcaption class=\"fig-caption\">\n<p>Mathieu Araujo of the Miami Dolphins reacts to a play during an NFL preseason football game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on August 10, 2025, in Chicago, Illinois. Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Covington was hired as the Packers&#8217; defensive backs coach\/running backs coordinator last February through the 2025 season after spending eight seasons with the Patriots, including one as defensive coordinator in 2024.<\/p>\n<p>Advertisement<\/p>\n<p>Harris took over as the Jets&#8217; defensive coordinator for the final three games of the regular season after the team fired Wilks. Before being fired, he was the Jets defensive backs coach\/pass game coordinator this past season, a role he held with the Titans for the past two seasons.<\/p>\n<p>Jones just completed his fifth season with the Vikings as defensive backs coach and third as passing coordinator.<\/p>\n<p>O&#8217;Neil, who worked under Glenn when he was the Lions&#8217; defensive director, just finished his second season with Detroit after adding a safety to his defensive roster in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>This may not be a full field of candidates for the Jets because they may be waiting for a number of other candidates as head coaching positions are filled.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Jets made it clear on Friday that they are actively searching for a defensive coordinator, announcing that they have interviewed eight candidates for their vacant position. Head coach Aaron Glenn needed to be hired shortly after his first choice, Steve Wilks, didn&#8217;t fit his scheme and was fired in the middle of the season. &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2721,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2720"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2722,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2720\/revisions\/2722"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.insightresearcher.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}