There are 31 franchise owners in the NFL. The Green Bay Packers are uniquely owned by a publicly held non-profit organization. Meanwhile, the other teams, like the New York Jets, are owned by an individual, like Woody Johnson.
Of course, not all NFL team owners are the same. Johnson has been known to meddle with his team’s football decisions, and he’s been highly criticized for it over the years.
Now, according to ESPN’s Jets insider Rich Cimini, Johnson is back at it again. The Jets appeared close to hiring Don “Wink” Martindale to be Glenn’s new defensive coordinator, but plans apparently changed after the description of the job changed too.
“Martindale’s interest was based on his ability to run his own defense, and he came away from the second meeting under the impression that Glenn had changed the parameters of the job, according to a source close to Martindale. About a week earlier, Glenn had attended organizational meetings at owner Woody Johnson’s home in Palm Beach, Florida. The timing of those meetings, coupled with the seemingly abrupt end to Martindale’s candidacy, fueled speculation that Johnson, who has a reputation for meddling, had instructed Glenn to run the defense himself.”
ESPN’s Rich Cimini on Aaron Glenn
The Jets went from being close to hiring a highly respected and experienced defensive coordinator to one who has never called plays before. It’s a fairly significant change, but we can see why candidates like Martindale, who has been an NFL defensive coordinator for seven seasons, were no longer interested in the job, leaving the Jets to pivot to Brian Duker instead.
The Jets interviewed eight candidates for the position, but Duker landed the job just a day after he met with the team. Either way, it may not matter, as Glenn is planning to call the team’s defensive plays in 2026 anyway, but now he won’t have an experienced right-hand man to pass the duties off on, just in case things go awry in New York again.
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