The New York Jets officially have a defensive play-caller.
After weeks of speculation that head coach Aaron Glenn would take over defensive play-calling duties, Glenn confirmed those rumors while speaking at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine.
“To me, play calling is my superpower, really,” Glenn said. “Doing it for four years in Detroit, and, man, just look at the maturation of those four years, of how we improved every year, and how I improved as a play caller. I really missed doing that. I think it’s a huge part of helping us become the team that I see us becoming.”
In his first year as the Jets’ head coach, Glenn delegated defensive play-calling to coordinator Steve Wilks, who was fired after the team’s Week 15 loss in Jacksonville. Defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Chris Harris took over play-calling over the final three weeks.
New York finished 31st in points allowed per game (29.6).
The Jets hired former Miami Dolphins secondary coach and pass game coordinator Brian Duker, 36, as their new defensive coordinator. Duker has no play-calling experience at any level, which fueled the speculation that Glenn planned to call defensive plays.
Now, those rumors have been confirmed by the Jets’ head coach himself. Glenn will have the play sheet in hand on game days in 2026.
Glenn called plays for the Detroit Lions across his four years as the team’s defensive coordinator (2021-24). According to the defensive DVOA metric, Glenn’s units ranked 29th, 27th, 13th, and fifth across his four seasons in Detroit.
