Jets players sound off on Aaron Glenn, coaching staff after blowout

Winning cures all. That’s the reality across NFL circles. A coach and quarterback’s legacies are directly tied to how often they win.

If a coach brings a winning pedigree, the rest of the roster will follow suit in believing in his leadership. A coach with a losing pedigree, though, is in a much different situation.

As losses pile up, it’s hard to keep a locker room of more than 60 men focused on the good of the team and the organization. Great coaches are able to win consistently, but also keep the locker room together when things go poorly.

For New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, he’s in a different kind of situation.

Following the Jets’ 37-22 blowout loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, New York’s coaching staff has come under fire. Glenn’s team is 0-5 in the regular season, the first coach in Jets history to fail to win any of his first five games to begin a career.

Despite the lack of results, Glenn has found a way to stay positive. The rest of the locker room is following suit.

Jets stay positive

Rich Kotite, Adam Gase and Lou Holtz are just a few leaders in team history whose tenures collapsed early in the process.

While Glenn brought plenty of excitement with him, he has a worse record than any of those infamous names at this point in his career. For five games, the Jets have been outplayed and outcoached.

Despite that reality, Glenn is confident that his message isn’t being tuned out.

“When you guys talk to them, they say the same things that we say in our team meetings,” Glenn said after Sunday’s loss to Dallas. “It’s going to take time, fellas. I’m not throwing any one of these guys out. The only thing that we can do is go back to work and that’s what we have to do.”

It isn’t a good look for Glenn to have to answer questions about whether he still has the pulse of the Jets’ locker room. But it’s also a fair question to ask. New York crumbled late in the 2024 season with Robert Saleh — and later Jeff Ulbrich — leading the charge.

Glenn’s comments are a reminder that it is still far too early to determine whether he is the right man to turn the Jets around. The good news for the 53-year-old is that young leaders continue to have his back.

“I still have that faith that we’re going to be better going forward,” Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson said. “I feel like we are building something in that locker room leading up to Sundays every week.

“We aren’t coming out winning the games on Sundays, which isn’t okay, but the foundation is there, and we are going to keep building on this thing.”

Wilson was part of a group of Jets players who had grown verbally and physically frustrated over the losing he experienced last season. The fact that, at 0-5, he remains as even-keeled as the team could hope for is evidence that Glenn’s message continues to ring true.

Coaching staff questions

Just because the Jets continue to back their head coach, it doesn’t mean he’s off the hook.

Glenn took the head coaching job with the promise of building a team that New York would be proud of. At 0-5, the organization hasn’t lived up to that goal.

In the eyes of some fans and analysts, Glenn may be safe, but changes must be made. Whether it’s defensive play-calling for a unit that gave up more than 300 yards of offense in the first half alone Sunday, or roster adjustments on the fly, New York is expecting more proactiveness from Glenn.

There’s a reason for the young coach’s mindset, though. His past experience is part of why the team won’t be making any coaching changes, at least not yet.

“I always go back to my first year in Detroit when we struggled on defense, too,” Glenn said. “Our head coach had a lot of confidence in me making sure we get it right, and I feel the exact same way.

“I have a lot of confidence in (Steve) Wilks. He’s done a lot of great things in this league as a defensive coordinator. I’m going to allow him to do his job.”

Glenn has used his experience in Detroit and other stops around the league to inform his views on whether switching play-callers actually works. In some cases, it can galvanize a team. In others, it may come off as a rash reaction to losing, a move made just to say something was done.

The Jets know Glenn is a firm believer in trust. Players have to trust the staff to put them in a position to succeed. Coaches have to trust players to execute the game plan.

Right now, there’s a disconnect on both sides. New York wouldn’t be 0-5 if that weren’t the case.

Instead of panicking, though, Glenn remains as calm now as he was when he took the head job in January. He hopes that approach — along with continued instruction — will be enough to finally turn things around in Florham Park.