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The more I analyze the Jets’ hiring of Brian Duker, the more it makes sense.
Duker and Aaron Glenn are in lock step with their defensive philosophies, having worked together in Detroit for three years.
Glenn made a big mistake a year ago, not only hiring a defensive coordinator who had been fired after one year in two places, but also somebody with whom he had never worked with before.
This scenario might be unprecedented in the NFL. Hear me out.
You hire a head coach who made his bones as a defensive coordinator, a gig that helped him land the HC job. Then he goes out and hires a defensive coordinator whom he has no background with and who has a different playbook.
Now, of course, there are some similarities in Glenn and Steve Wilks scheme, some crossover – there often is, but I challenge anybody out there to find me an example of a new HC, who got his job because of his work as a defensive coordinator, then hiring somebody he never worked with to run his defense.
If a defensive coordinator gets a head coaching job, of course, he might decide, like Glenn did, that he wants to be a CEO coach, focus on managing the game, and not calling plays.
That certainly has happened, but wouldn’t you hire somebody you had a past with, who will run the scheme that helped you land the head coaching job?
Look, I’m not looking to beat up Glenn over this. It’s in the rearview mirror now. He’s admitted his mistake by moving on from Wilks.
So this is why the hiring of Duker makes a lot more sense. Same system. Worked three years together. They will work in lockstep with each other on this defense and are philosophically aligned.
Also, while I don’t know a ton about Duker, and I don’t judge coaching hires based on whether I know the name or not, I think he did a heck of a job holding that Dolphins secondary together with baling wire and duct tape last season.
Entering the season, they were ravaged on the back end of their defense. They traded their best cornerback, Jalen Ramsey, to Pittsburgh. They lost another starting cornerback, Kader Kohou in training camp and three nickel corners got hurt in camp, including veteran Artie Burns.
But the unit got better as the season progressed, with some street free agents, under the watchful eye of Duker.
Honestly, you could say Duker did a better job of dealing with his secondary injuries than the Jets did last year.
The Jets had so many blown coverages in the back seven last year, that is something that Duker and Glenn must fix, and Duker showed last year he can take replacements off the street and get them on the same page pretty quickly.
We will see who Glenn and Duker add as their linebacker coach, because that is an area where the coverage must be fixed, perhaps with some new players in the draft and free agency.
Look, none of us have any idea if Duker will be successful as DC, working with Glenn, who will call the plays.
But the fact that he did a terrific job with a patchwork secondary last year in Miami, and playbook-wise, amd he and Glenn are on the same page, the hire certainy makes sense on paper.
Now, they need to use the money saved on the DC hire and spend it on a high-level, experienced offensive play-caller.
January 29, 2026
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