The New York Jets looked like one of the worst NFL teams in recent history during the second half of the 2025 season. First-year head coach Aaron Glenn survived the collapse, but a significant portion of the Jets’ coaching staff was overhauled. Ahead of a critical offseason, one veteran player is shedding light on the internal issues.
Speaking to Roundtable Sports on radio row ahead of the Super Bowl, defensive tackle Harrison Phillips said that Glenn “inherited a very cancerous, truculent group” that impacted the team throughout the season. Phillips praised Glenn’s leadership in that environment.
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New York entered the 2025 campaign with one of the worst NFL rosters. It only got worse after the NFL trade deadline, when Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams were moved for future first-round picks. For a team that was already struggling to even be competitive, the front office signaled early that it was essentially tanking, and that certainly seemed to affect the team’s on-field performance thereafter.
Phillips, age 30, has been around the league since 2018. During his tenure with the Buffalo Bills (2018–21), the team went 6–10 in his rookie campaign and then made the playoffs every year after. With the Minnesota Vikings (2022–24), he contributed to a club that posted a 34–17 record in that three-season span.
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An outside perspective can often shed the most light on what is wrong inside a franchise. Phillips has been part of winning cultures for the majority of his career, and he experienced something the polar opposite of that in New York. Likewise, Glenn spent the majority of his coaching career with winning teams before becoming the Jets’ head coach.
Fortunately for Glenn, New York has premium draft capital and ample cap space this offseason to improve the roster. He will be able to bring in players who can offer leadership in the locker room and help instill a better culture while performing better on the field. If the culture does not change and the Jets fail to improve in 2026, a new regime will be brought in.
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