What\u2019s your message to the fans who are tired of losing?<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a question that every losing coach gets asked at some point, especially the ones at programs that have gone through prolonged stretches of losing. Some handle it better than others. Joe Judge, for example, went on an 11-minute rant<\/a> after a 2021 loss to the Bears in response to that exact question \u2014 it contributed to his downfall.<\/p>\n Jets coaches, for obvious reasons, have been fielding some version of that question for a while. Their answers hover around the same message: patience.<\/p>\n During the preseason, Glenn\u2019s message to the fans was that they would be proud of this Jets team. As their struggles and their losing went on, Glenn\u2019s message changed: They\u2019ll be proud of the team eventually. He said that on Nov. 5. More recently, he\u2019s gone back into the same playbook, with a message he\u2019s now repeated on multiple occasions: \u201cDon\u2019t let go of the rope.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI will continue to say don\u2019t let go of the rope because there is a plan, there is a vision,\u201d Glenn said Monday, the day after a 29-6 loss to a four-win Saints team<\/a>. \u201cFrom day one, we\u2019ve been trying to set the foundation of what we want this team to be, and a lot of that is from an in-house perspective for the most part.\u201d<\/p>\n Glenn is asking for trust from a fan base that is watching this Jets team struggle in worse ways than it has in a long time \u2014 and in a way that, by some statistical measures, very few teams have ever struggled. The tenor of that trust is shaky, at best.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the fans, listen, it\u2019s going to be a tough road, and we knew that, but man, the thing is we know exactly what we\u2019re doing, and we do have a plan,\u201d Glenn said. \u201cDon\u2019t let go of the rope.\u201d<\/p>\n Glenn says that\u2019s an expression he remembers hearing Sean Payton tell the Saints when he first joined Payton\u2019s staff in 2016. The Saints missed the playoffs that season, for the third time in a row, but were back in 2017. It was Dan Campbell\u2019s message with the Lions, too, after a 3-13-1 season with Glenn as defensive coordinator. They turned it around.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though no one else can see it, (players) see it and they trust it, and we have to continue to go down that path of: We have a vision, we know what that vision is, and man, we\u2019re going to do everything we can to be able to chase that and get it,\u201d Glenn said.<\/p>\n Those examples, particularly the Lions since Campbell was in his first season in Detroit and Payton had already won a Super Bowl by the time Glenn got there, are examples of that message paying off. But history is not in Glenn\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n The Jets punted on this season a while ago, but it\u2019s verged on tanking in recent weeks as they\u2019ve stuck with undrafted rookie Brady Cook at quarterback, even as he\u2019s looked increasingly overmatched. They\u2019ve lost three games in a row, each by more than 20 points \u2014 and they\u2019ve had four losses of at least 20 points this season. They have the third-worst scoring margin (-144) in the NFL. They\u2019ve gone 15 straight weeks without recording an interception, an NFL record, and they\u2019ve forced four turnovers with two games remaining (the all-time NFL low for a season is seven). Whatever progress they showed during a five-game stretch from Week 8 to 13, when they went 3-2, feels as if it\u2019s evaporated over the last three games, all blowouts.<\/p>\n Their combined offensive and defensive DVOA (-42.2 percent), per For the Numbers, is on pace to be one of the 10 worst combined marks in recorded history (dating back to 1978) and the worst in franchise history. DVOA (Defense-adjusted value over average) \u201cmeasures a team\u2019s efficiency by comparing success on every single play to a league average based on situation and opponent.\u201d The Jets are also 29th in offensive EPA and 28th in defensive EPA and have given up 27 or more points 10 times.<\/p>\n And there\u2019s the history of struggling coaches \u2014 in their first year and beyond. In the last 10 years, six first-time coaches started 0-6 or worse \u2014 Glenn started 0-7 and has lost by 20 or more points four times. In 2016, Hue Jackson\u2019s Browns started 0-14 and finished 1-15 with four losses of 20 or more points; Jackson was fired midway through his third season. In 2017, Kyle Shanahan\u2019s 49ers started 0-9, finished 6-10 (with five wins in a row at the end of the season), and he\u2019s still coaching in San Francisco (the 49ers lost by 20 or more three times). In 2019, Brian Flores\u2019 Dolphins started 0-7, finished 5-11 and won three of their last five games \u2014 they lost by 20 or more four times, in each of their first four games. Flores was eventually fired despite two winning seasons. Also in 2019, Zac Taylor\u2019s Bengals started 0-11, finished 2-14 and lost by 20 or more points four times. The Bengals drafted Joe Burrow in 2020, so Taylor remains in Cincinnati. And then there\u2019s Campbell: He started 0-10-1 in 2021, finished 3-13-1 and lost by 20 or more four times.<\/p>\n The hope for the Jets is that Glenn winds up being more like Campbell and Taylor \u2014 though there are two important caveats for them. The Lions already had their quarterback (Jared Goff) on the roster, and the Bengals got theirs (Burrow) in the following offseason. Glenn\u2019s Jets will have paid $30 million for nine miserable games from Justin Fields, who was just placed on injured reserve<\/a>, ending his season. Fields averaged 139.9 passing yards per game and was worse as a passer than at any other point in his career.<\/p>\n Looking beyond first-year coaches: If the Jets finish with three wins, which is likely with the Patriots and Bills looming, most coaches don\u2019t survive very long with that outcome. In the last 10 years (2015 to 2024), 22 teams have won three or fewer games in a season.<\/p>\n \u2022 13 of those coaches were fired during or immediately after those seasons. That doesn\u2019t mean Glenn will fail. He saw how Campbell turned things around in Detroit and played a significant part in helping the Lions\u2019 resurgence. Many players expected to be back in 2026 have publicly expressed belief in what Glenn is building, including defensive tackle Harrison Phillips, center Josh Myers, tight end Jeremy Ruckert, defensive end Jermaine Johnson and running back Breece Hall (though Hall will be a free agent this offseason). Cornerback Jarvis Brownlee recently tweeted that Glenn was the \u201cbest HC in America. Watch him work.\u201d<\/p>\n Saints running back Alvin Kamara spoke on a podcast in the days after the Jets\u2019 loss to the Saints in Week 16 to say that he sees a similar process with Glenn \u2014 they crossed paths in New Orleans \u2014 that he saw with Payton in New Orleans and Campbell (another former Saints coach) in Detroit.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even want to speak, I just want it to happen,\u201d Kamara said. \u201cBecause I know AG. You hear things, you see things people are saying, that it\u2019s terrible. But I\u2019m like: They don\u2019t know what we know. It\u2019s a process. You just wait for the process to be executed and then you\u2019re like: Shoot, I ain\u2019t surprised.\u201d<\/p>\n The problem for skeptical Jets fans: It\u2019s all theoretical. There have been some positives this season \u2014 Chris Banjo\u2019s special teams unit; the development of players like Brownlee, defensive tackle Jowon Briggs, cornerback Brandon Stephens, wide receiver Adonai Mitchell, wide receiver\/returner Isaiah Williams and cornerback Azareye\u2019h Thomas (now injured) among them. Plus, there\u2019s the continuity of what appears to be a solid offensive line.<\/p>\n But there are more negatives outweighing that.<\/p>\n Glenn said he has \u2014 and has had \u2014 a plan for turning the Jets around. But some aspects of his plan have irrefutably already failed. He hired Steve Wilks to call the defense and that went terribly. A group that entered the season with three All-Pros (Sauce Gardner, Quinnen Williams, Quincy Williams), a Pro Bowler (Jermaine Johnson) and one of the NFL\u2019s highest-paid linebackers (Jamien Sherwood) produced a product so poor that Wilks was fired before the end of his first season<\/a>. Quinnen Williams and Gardner were traded away<\/a> and Quincy Williams is not planning on returning to the Jets in 2026. Glenn might have a difficult time convincing top coordinators to take a job leading a defense lacking star talent \u2014 Johnson, Sherwood and Will McDonald have all regressed this season \u2014 not to mention Glenn might feel pressure to take over play-calling at some point next season.<\/p>\n The other failure: The Jets banked $30 million guaranteed on turning Fields into a viable NFL quarterback. They built the offense around his skill set. It didn\u2019t work. So now they\u2019ll have to try again at quarterback in 2026, with a draft class that might only have one or two quarterbacks worthy of a high selection, without any particularly enticing free-agent quarterbacks to speak of. Campbell went 9-8 in his second season in Detroit. Glenn needs the same sort of luck that Taylor found in Cincinnati \u2014 that the Jets are able to land Fernando Mendoza or Dante Moore, and they quickly turn into stars.<\/p>\n Otherwise, this Jets roster doesn\u2019t look like a 9-8 roster. They\u2019ll have plenty of cap space ($90 million) and draft capital (four picks in the first two rounds) to load up on talent. There will be significant roster turnover \u2014 especially on defense. And then it will be on Glenn to show real signs that a turnaround is happening. That they\u2019re on the right track.<\/p>\n History is not in his favor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"What\u2019s your message to the fans who are tired of losing? 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\u2022 Six of those coaches were fired either during or following the next season, including Brian Daboll (Giants) and Brian Callahan (Titans) in 2025.
\u2022 Browns coach Kevin Stefanski went 3-14 in 2024 and hasn\u2019t been fired in 2025 \u2026 yet.
\u2022 Two of those coaches survived beyond the next season (Campbell and Taylor).<\/p>\n