Don’t look now, but the New York Jets and first-year head coach Aaron Glenn seem to be figuring things out.
After a dismal start to the season and the first 0-7 record for a rookie coach in franchise history, Glenn has led the Jets to three wins in their last five contests, including two hard-fought losses to playoff teams in New England and Baltimore.
As the Jets continue to build their fledgling culture, Glenn has maintained his focus.
Even as the team shows progress, the former Pro Bowl cornerback is anything but complacent.
Glenn looking for more
For any normal Jets fan, the improvement shown by the team over the last few weeks, particularly defensively, is something to celebrate. At one point in the 2025 season, New York was arguably the worst team in football.
The group has looked significantly more competitive over the last month, even after trading two of its best players, a sign of proper coaching and player development.
But that doesn’t mean the Jets are pleased with where they are. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday before practice, Glenn made it clear that there is still a lot of work to be done.
“When we win, I want to make sure I don’t sit here and think everything is rosy,” Glenn said. “There’s some bad stuff that comes out of wins, also. So, I want to make sure that we don’t overlook those things.
“Because, sometimes, you can overlook those issues that you have when you win, because you’re happy that you win. I think the good teams that I’ve been on, listen, we’re happy with the win, but there’s some things we got to fix, and we don’t want to overlook those things from our players’ perspective.”
Glenn specifically focused on the team’s intention to continue improving defensively. While the unit has come a long way from its days as one of the worst groups in football, Glenn isn’t satisfied.
“We are playing better, but we’re still not where we need to be at,” Glenn said. “I’m a huge fan of trying to be top 10 in every defensive category, but I know that sometimes it’s just not totally realistic, but we shoot for that.
“I like the way that we’re trending, but we’re still not where we need to be.”
New York has a long way to go before they are considered a top 10 defense in each statistical category. Glenn’s benchmark, though, is attainable in 2026, considering the wealth of resources (over $100 million in cap space and four picks within the first two rounds of the 2026 draft) at their disposal.
As a coach and player with a defensive background, Glenn has been more open about what he wants to see from that side of the ball.
From a run defense that shut down several top running backs like Derrick Henry to the arrival of Brandon Stephens as a legitimate starting cornerback, New York has seen many players on the unit progress throughout the year.
It’s setting the foundation for long-term success.
Jets remain committed to their process
Managing a young team through incremental improvements isn’t easy. Sometimes, an upstart team will try to skip steps in its rebuilding process, only to end up hurting its long-term chances.
That is what happened to the Jets after the 2022 season. They tried to skip through the rebuild process after a three-win jump and ended up as one of the worst teams in the league over the next two years.
After the previous regime was kicked to the curb, the new-look Jets are committed to building the organization the right way.
While that meant the 2025 season would likely feature growing pains, it also means that the group is laying the groundwork for sustainable future success, both on and off the field.
“Effort has never been a problem for us,” Glenn said. “I’m not happy about the record at all, but I am happy about the way that we’re trending in certain areas.”
The Jets aren’t where they want to be yet. But as they continue to improve to end the 2025 season, and with plenty of resources ahead of them, the foundation is being built one brick at a time.
It won’t be long before New York is back to playing competitive football late in December if they stay on the honest path.
