The New York Jets hired former Miami Dolphins and Detroit Lions assistant Brian Duker as their new defensive coordinator. Head coach Aaron Glenn is expected to take over defensive play-calling duties, according to league sources.

Duker was a late arrival to the Jets’ process, though his familiarity with Glenn likely helped him secure the job quickly. The Jets announced eight virtual interviews with defensive coordinator candidates on Jan. 16, and Duker was not one of the coaches interviewed.

Wink Martindale was originally viewed as the favorite for the job and interviewed in person Saturday. But plans changed when, according to multiple team and league sources, Glenn changed course and decided to take on play-calling duties for 2026.

After that, Chris Harris — who filled in as interim defensive coordinator after New York fired Steve Wilks in December — was viewed as a top contender for the job. Then, the Jets added Duker to the mix Tuesday. Now, the team has two coordinators locked in — Duker on defense and Chris Banjo on special teams — as Glenn works to fill his vacant offensive coordinator position and other roles. Tanner Engstrand, the team’s offensive coordinator in 2025, parted ways with the franchise Tuesday.

As for Duker, he and Glenn go way back. They worked on the Cleveland Browns staff together in 2014-15, and again with the Lions from 2021 to 2023, where Duker held roles as a defensive assistant, safeties coach and defensive backs coach.

Duker spent the last two years on the Miami Dolphins staff working under defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver, who was also on the Browns’ 2014-15 staff. Duker worked under Martindale as a defensive assistant with the Ravens from 2018 to 2020.

Glenn called Duker “cerebral” in a 2023 interview, and Weaver called him a “tremendous football mind” when Miami hired Duker.

Glenn is expected to take over play-calling duties as he fixes one of the worst defenses in Jets history, setting NFL records for fewest takeaways (four) and interceptions (zero) in 2025 while ranking near the bottom of the league in most other categories, too.

When Glenn called plays in Detroit, the Lions were known for running a man-coverage-dominant scheme that deployed a lot of blitzing.

The Lions’ defense ranked seventh in EPA in 2024, but spent the first three years of Glenn’s tenure in the NFL’s bottom half, including 31st in 2021 and 2022. Those early Lions teams were rebuilding, which the Jets’ defense finds itself in. Over Glenn’s four years, the Lions ranked sixth in blitz rate and 10th in pressure rate, but only 28th in sack rate. His defense ranked seventh in scoring in 2024, 23rd in 2023, 30th in 2022 and 31st in 2021.

Now, Glenn will take control of a young Jets defense that needs to get up to speed — and fast.