After a multi-week pursuit, Aaron Glenn got his guy: Frank Reich will be the New York Jets’ next offensive coordinator, league sources told The Athletic.
The Jets parted ways with Tanner Engstrand, last year’s OC, last week. Greg Roman and Darrell Bevell both interviewed for the job in person, as did Reich — and Reich was always considered the favorite for the position. Lunda Wells and Ronald Curry also conducted virtual interviews for the position.
This will be Reich’s first time running an NFL offense since the Carolina Panthers fired him as head coach during the 2023 season. The Jets hired Brian Duker from the Miami Dolphins to be their new defensive coordinator, though Glenn is expected to be the defensive play caller, according to multiple sources.
As for Reich, Glenn started to look into adding a veteran offensive coach to the staff — with the idea that Engstrand would remain offensive coordinator but give up play-calling duties — a couple weeks ago. That included a call to former Las Vegas Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden, now a media personality with Barstool, according to sources (Gruden was not interested). Reich emerged as Glenn’s top target.
Reich, 64, spent the 2025 season as the interim head coach at Stanford and was in line to be a senior adviser for the football program in 2026 when the Jets reached out. People close to Reich believed he was mulling retirement when, according to sources, Glenn pitched him on being “head coach of the offense” so Glenn could focus on fixing the Jets’ defense, and offered Reich a hefty salary for a coordinator. (The highest-paid coordinators in the NFL typically make in the range of $3-5 million per year.)
Ultimately, Glenn won Reich over — perhaps their history together helped. Glenn and Reich were teammates on the Jets in 1996, with Reich starting at quarterback and Glenn at cornerback. (It was a miserable 1-15 season under Rich Kotite.) Thirty years later, they are reuniting with the same franchise.
As for what the Jets are getting, Reich is respected for his ability to develop quarterbacks and for fostering a positive environment for his players. Reich coached Philip Rivers with the Los Angeles Chargers (when the team was still based in San Diego) from 2013-15 as quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator. He was a crucial piece of the 2017 Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl run as offensive coordinator, developing Carson Wentz into an MVP candidate and positioning Nick Foles for the title run once Wentz got injured. He was hired as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2018 and called plays there until his firing during the 2022 season.
In his first four seasons with the Colts combined, Indianapolis ranked seventh in offensive EPA, ninth in scoring, 11th in yards, fifth in rushing, 15th in passing, seventh on third-down conversions and 11th in the red zone. Reich accomplished that with a different quarterback in each season: Andrew Luck, Jacoby Brissett, Rivers and Wentz.
More concerning is everything that came after that: In the nine games in 2022 before he was fired, with Matt Ryan at quarterback, the Colts’ offense ranked 32nd in EPA, 31st in scoring, 27th in yards, 30th in rushing, 12th in passing, 24th on third down and 31st in the red zone. In 11 games with the Panthers, Carolina went 1-10 and Reich was fired midseason. Under Reich, the Panthers’ offense ranked 29th in EPA, 29th in scoring, 30th in yards, 28th in rushing, 30th in passing, 20th on third down and 19th in the red zone. It was even worse at Stanford, where the Cardinal were outmanned talent-wise; Stanford ranked 122nd in scoring and 127th in yards nationally.
It’s not as if Reich is inheriting an ideal situation with the Jets. The team currently lacks a starting quarterback; they have the second pick in a draft where the only surefire top-10 QB, Fernando Mendoza, is expected to go No. 1. It’s possible the Jets dig into Reich’s past and trade for Brissett, now with the Cardinals. Wentz (a free agent) would seem an unlikely option since things didn’t end well in Indianapolis. The Jets will get star wide receiver Garrett Wilson back after an injury-filled 2025 and they’ll have a solid offensive line, but running back Breece Hall is set to hit free agency and the Jets don’t have any other sure things at tight end or wide receiver.
The Jets haven’t had an offensive coordinator last more than two seasons since Brian Schottenheimer (2006-11).