Ah, we are back. The New York Jets’ fanbase, and rightfully so, has a reputation for swinging from one polar extreme to the other each week, depending on the team’s result on the field.
For a team whose fanbase has been deprived of a winning season for over a decade, it is understandable. Conversations on head coach Aaron Glenn’s job security have already come and gone multiple times in 2026.
After a 1-2 start to the year, where the Jets were competitive in all three games, the Glenn talks were quiet. However, after a brutal Week 4 loss to the Chicago Bears, they returned, although they were momentarily quieted following a gritty win over the Cleveland Browns.
Well, the topic is back again after a 26-19 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday. The Jets are now 2-4 this season, and 5-17 over Glenn’s tenure.
Let’s just get right to it: should he be fired after this week’s loss?
Should Glenn be fired after Sunday’s showing?
“Should” Glenn be fired versus does he “deserve” to be fired after Sunday’s loss are two completely different questions.
By now, there is certainly a strong enough case to compile that Glenn should not have a head coaching job. There looked to be enough evidence for that after his first year. Bringing him back for Year 2 in itself was a highly questionable decision.
The main reason fans are frustrated with the Jets’ 2-4 start is how they got there. Some could argue the team should be 4-2, or at the very least 3-3, and that coaching is responsible for the team not having a better record. The team keeps letting winnable games slip away, and Sunday’s defeat was another example.
The common denominator has been coaching, and Glenn is at the forefront of it. Not only is he 5-17 over his tenure as the Jets’ head coach, but Sunday’s loss to New England also made him the first head coach in Jets history to lose all seven of his first matchups against in-division opponents.
With all of the head coaches New York has employed that completely flopped, from Rich Kotite to Adam Gase to Robert Saleh, Glenn is the first coach to lose his first seven in-division games. That is inexcusable.
A fair share of blame for the Jets’ slow start also falls on offensive coordinator Frank Reich. However, it all comes back to the head coach. Who decided it was a good idea to bring a 64-year-old back to the NFL after he last coached in the league in 2023 and was fired in-season at both of his prior jobs? Glenn.
The unfortunate part of the NFL is that fighting hard and being close to winning doesn’t matter. Moral victories only matter if they translate to progress afterward, and that hasn’t happened once for the Jets under Glenn’s watch.
The Jets appear to be more talented than the average 2-4 team. Coaching has held them back, highlighted by their inability to execute in big moments.
There is a perfectly reasonable argument that Glenn doesn’t deserve to remain the Jets’ head coach. However, what would firing him today accomplish? What would that change at all?
We are six games into the season, and the Jets are 2-4 with 11 games left. What will an interim head coach do to get the Jets back on track? It would only add to the franchise’s reputation of impatience, like the narrative that emerged after the team fired Robert Saleh following a 2-3 start in 2024, although the situations are completely different. That move is part of what led to the Jets ending up with Glenn in a cycle that included coaches like Liam Coen and Ben Johnson.
There is no benefit to firing Glenn now. All it would do is feed into the “Same Old Jets” narrative. That may not matter, but if anything, it could deter head coach candidates in the offseason. Coaches around the league could read into team owner Woody Johnson firing his past two HCs in season and not want to touch the situation. It’s just not worth it.
The fanbase’s frustration is completely understandable. His record is atrocious, and the same issues keep plaguing his team.
That’s the gamble the Jets took by bringing him back for Year 2, though. Now the organization needs to live with that decision. Give him the rest of the year and decide in January; that is the Jets’ best course of action right now. It would take a miracle for Glenn to deserve a third year, but it would be wise to give him the remainder of the season.
The last thing that the Jets need right now is more drama and chaos surrounding the organization. At the end of the day, fans should just hope that this is yet another learning experience for Johnson. Maybe he won’t bring on a former general manager of his to lead the next HC search. Maybe he won’t bring in another defense-minded HC. Maybe he won’t buy into patience as the only thing to cling to if another of his HCs down the road experiences the struggles Glenn did in his first season.
While the chances of Glenn earning a third year already seem very low, firing him in-season would only cause more organizational turmoil.
