{"id":105261,"date":"2026-01-20T00:46:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/105261\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T00:46:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T00:46:08","slug":"surprise-jets-dc-candidate-becomes-first-with-second-interview-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/105261\/","title":{"rendered":"Surprise Jets DC candidate becomes first with second interview (Report)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the New York Jets continue their search for a new defensive coordinator, a familiar face is now the first candidate to land a second interview for the job.<\/p>\n<p>Chris Harris, who served as <a href=\"https:\/\/jetsxfactor.com\/2025\/12\/18\/chris-harris-has-one-important-goal-in-new-role-with-jets\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the Jets\u2019 interim defensive coordinator<\/a> over the final three games of the 2025 season following Steve Wilks\u2019 firing, interviewed for the job again on Sunday, per Sports Illustrated\u2019s Albert Breer.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Jets interim DC Chris Harris interviewed for the team\u2019s full-time defensive coordinator position yesterday. Harris has been widely seen as a rising star in coaching.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/AlbertBreer\/status\/2013322766657671607?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" data-wpel-link=\"external\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\">January 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Harris originally joined the Jets\u2019 coaching staff last offseason as the team\u2019s defensive backs coach and pass-game coordinator. Under Harris in 2025, the Jets\u2019 secondary and pass defense were horrific. They became the first team in NFL history to record zero interceptions, while ranking dead last in pass defense DVOA.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/jetsxfactor.com\/2025\/12\/15\/ny-jets-fire-steve-wilks-after-continued-defensive-woes\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">After Steve Wilks was fired in-season<\/a>, head coach Aaron Glenn named Harris the team\u2019s interim DC. Throughout those three games, the Jets\u2019 defense allowed 106 points.<\/p>\n<p>While Harris is the first candidate to earn a second interview for the role, Michigan DC Don \u201cWink\u201d Martindale is considered the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/jetsxfactor.com\/2026\/01\/19\/wink-martindale-early-front-runner-for-jets-dc-job\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">early front-runner<\/a>\u201d to earn the job, according to Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic.<\/p>\n<p>Around the league, the perception appears to be that the Jets\u2019 defensive coordinator opening is not among the more attractive jobs this offseason. Additionally, according to Breer\u2019s report, Harris is viewed as \u201ca rising star in coaching.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Despite that, given the struggles of the Jets\u2019 secondary in 2025, <a href=\"https:\/\/jetsxfactor.com\/2026\/01\/17\/new-york-jets-dc-search-ranking-candidates-f-a-tier\/\" data-wpel-link=\"internal\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">it would be difficult to justify<\/a> promoting Harris to the team\u2019s full-time defensive coordinator role.<\/p>\n<p>Following a season in which many fans were calling for New York to go one-and-done with Glenn, promoting Harris to the full-time DC job would only amplify the scrutiny around the 3-14 head coach. This type of move would further reduce the fanbase\u2019s confidence levels in the former Jet\u2019s ability to lead Gang Green back to relevance.<\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As the New York Jets continue their search for a new defensive coordinator, a familiar face is now&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":105262,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[429,41086,7013,9,11,430,10,22,13589,12125,7018],"class_list":["post-105261","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-aaron-glenn","tag-chris-harris","tag-free-content","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-headlines","tag-new-york-jets","tag-new-york-news","tag-nfl","tag-ny-jets-coaches","tag-ny-jets-news","tag-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105261","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105261"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105261\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105262"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105261"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105261"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105261"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}