The New York Jets came into the 2024 NFL season with Super Bowl aspirations and at a minimum wanted to end one of the longest playoff droughts in sports. Just a few months into the season, however, both head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas were fired. Now it’s time to evaluate Jets coaching candidates.
New York’s issues start at the top with owner Woody Johnson. He wasn’t initially expected to be a massive influence in the Jets coaching search in 2025 when it was presumed he would be brought back on by President-elect Donald Trump as an ambassador. However, that opportunity never came and Johnson is now overseeing New York’s coaching search amid NFL rumors of dysfunction in the franchise centered around him.
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It’s certainly going to have a negative influence on the Jets coaching search, even more so in pursuit of a new general manager. However, this is one of just 32 head-coaching jobs in the NFL and the coach who eventually turns New York around will be a household name. With that in mind, let’s dive into our Jets coaching candidates for 2025.
Aaron Glenn, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator
A theme with our top Jets coaching candidates is bringing in a culture change. While the biggest issues are at the top of the organization, New York lost its way this year. Replacing Aaron Rodgers would also be a step in the right direction, but the Jets need someone who can command a locker room and have its respect.
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That’s Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. A former Pro Bowl cornerback, primarily with the Jets (1994-2001), Glenn worked his way up from assistant defensive backs coach with the Cleveland Browns to coaching the New Orleans Saints defensive backs (2016-’20). In New Orleans, he developed one of the NFL’s best secondaries and was mentored by future Hall of Fame coach Sean Payton.
When Detroit hired Dan Campbell as its head coach, hiring Glenn to run the defense was one of the first moves he made. The 52-year-old defensive coordinator showed his coaching prowess this season, maintaining a top-10 defense even amid a myriad of injuries. He’s also highly regarded as a leader who is beloved by players. Glenn can help elevate the Jets defense to a top-10 level in 2025 and he can bring traits the franchise needs. Plus, it would be a great homecoming to the team that drafted him and where he later was a scout (2012-’13).
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Mike Vrabel, former Tennessee Titans head coach
The Jets coaching search reportedly was going to include looking into Bill Belichick, but he opted to become the North Carolina Tar Heels coach. From a long-term perspective, former Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel is a far superior option to Belichick.
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Vrabel, who turns 5 in August, won NFL Coach of the Year in 2021 after leading the Titans to a 12-5 record in a season where they were riddled by injuries. It came a season after Tennessee made an unexpected run to the AFC Championship Game. Vrabel posted a. 41-24 (.631) in his first four seasons as the Titans head coach. Then the roster fell apart, but he still managed to win six-plus games in each of his last two seasons.
Vrabel provides New York with a defensive-minded head coach who can fix that side of the ball all while bringing accountability and leadership inside the building. Just as important, he has a history of making strong offensive coordinator hires (Matt LaFleur and Arthur Smith), which bodes well for who he’d pick as the Jets offensive coordinator in 2025. Vrabel and Glenn are easily our two favorite Jets coaching candidates.
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Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator
Another theme among our Jets coaching candidates is defensive-minded coaches. While New York might want to go in the opposite direction of its last hire, the fall-off on defense after Saleh was fired was one of the biggest problems in the second half of the season. We’ve also seen a higher correlation of top leaders coming from the defensive side of the ball.
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Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores isn’t a flawless candidate. As Tua Tagovailoa can attest to, Flores’s head-coaching stint with the Miami Dolphins included some harsh treatment of the young quarterback. Furthermore, Flores had a difficult time finding the right offensive play-caller.
However, he also vastly exceeded the expectations anyone had from a Dolphins franchise that was starting a complete rebuild when he took over. Yet, Flores posted a 19-14 record in his final two seasons. He’s since spent a year learning from Mike Tomlin and has now spent the past two seasons working alongside Kevin O’Connell. That’s a valuable insight into how to lead a team, with Tomlin providing a great example, while his time with O’Connell provides insight on how to run an offense. He could even poach a top assistant on the Minnesota Vikings coaching staff to become the Jets offensive coordinator.
Liam Coen, Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator
Ben Johnson isn’t becoming the next Jets head coach. It’s been widely reported that he is a quieter coach, more prone to shy away from the media when possible. He is also being very careful before taking a head-coaching job, seeking an organization with great stability. The Jets don’t offer anything he’s looking for. That leads us to Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Liam Coen.
Coen, age 39, replaced Dave Canales after he became the Carolina Panthers head coach. This was Coen’s first opportunity to become a play-caller in the NFL, having done it twice at Kentucky. He also worked as an assistant under Sean McVay (2018-’20) before returning to become the Los Angeles Rams offensive coordinator in 2022. Coen’s offense is faring even better than Canales’ group did.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense (2023):Â 5.1 yards per play (20th), 20.5 PPG (20th), 41.5% third-down conversion rate (10th), 0.008 EPA per Play (12th)
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- Tampa Bay Buccaneers offense (2024): 6.1 yards per play (5th), 28.8 PPG (4th), 48.3% third-down conversion rate (3rd), 0.111 EPA per Play (5th)
It’s even more impressive with added context. Chris Godwin missed the second half of the season and Mike Evans missed three games, but Coen is overseeing one of the best NFL offenses in 2024. Plus, Tampa Bay is averaging far more rushing yards per game (88.8 to 144.4) and a significantly higher yards-per-carry average (3.4 to 5.2 ypc) year-to-year. If New York wants an offensive-minded head coach, Coen would be our choice for the Jets coaching candidates.
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