Two days after finalizing their offensive coaching staff, the New York Jets have done the same on the defensive side of the ball.
On Thursday morning, the Jets officially announced the hirings of four defensive assistant coaches.
- Collin Bauer (defensive assistant)
- Ben Bolling (linebackers)
- Ronald Booker (defensive assistant/nickels coach)
- Ryan Slowik (safeties)
The most notable of the bunch is Ben Bolling, who will be tasked with turning around a linebacker group that struggled mightily in 2025. The Jets’ previous linebackers coach, Aaron Curry, was fired after one season.
Bolling, 32, spent the last five seasons on the Houston Texans’ staff. He was brought in as a defensive assistant ahead of the 2021 season under head coach David Culley. In 2022, Bolling stayed in the role under Lovie Smith, and he stuck around for the next three years under DeMeco Ryans.
In 2025, Ryans promoted Bolling to the Texans’ assistant linebackers coach.
Ryan Slowik, the Jets’ new safeties coach, is not a new face in Florham Park. He worked as the Jets’ assistant defensive line coach in 2015.
Over the last three seasons, Slowik, 45, worked for the Miami Dolphins alongside Brian Duker, the Jets’ new defensive coordinator. Slowik was the Dolphins’ defensive backs coach and pass game specialist from 2024-25.
Ronald Booker arrives in New York as the Jets’ nickels coach, an ascending role in the NFL due to the recent rise of nickel corners as a starting position on defense. Booker spent the last five seasons with the Arizona Cardinals, working as a defensive quality control coach over the last three seasons.
Collin Bauer is coming over from the UFL, where he served as the Michigan Panthers’ defensive coordinator and defensive line coach (2024-25). He previously served as the defensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Towson State from 2018-22.
