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There is no doubt that Aaron Glenn is the right out of central casting as a leader, disciplinarian, and alpha dog to lead the Jets right now.
So the leadership stuff should be in a good place.
But what about the X’s and O’s?
Some question marks there.
Hey, the Jets could end up doing great playing “chess on grass” as some people like to call football, but there is no doubt Glenn is rolling the dice a little with his three coordinator picks.
On Thursday, all three coordinators spoke with the media for the first time since being hired.
Offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand seemed a little nervous when he took the podium, which is understandable.
This was his first press conference ever as an NFL offensive coordinator, and it just so happened to be the media capital of the world.
Defensive coordinator Steve Wilks and special teams coordinator Chris Banjo were much more comfortable taking the podium. Wilks has been an NFL head coach and defensive coordinator, so he has a ton of press conference experience, as does Banjo, a former safety, who played a decade in the league.
Engstrand probably entered the room with a little trepidation, but likely quickly realized this market isn’t any tougher than anywhere else. He settled in as the press conference progressed.
But who knows if he will be a good NFL offensive coordinator? He’s never done it on this level.
Look, he could turn out to be fantastic. All I’m saying is we don’t know at this point. It’s a gray area.
Same with Banjo, with only two years of coaching experience. He retired as a player in 2022 and was Denver’s assistant special teams coach for the last two years.
Once again, he could be fabulous, but we don’t know.
When you hire somebody to do a particular job he has done for a long time, you kind of know what you are getting. Like, for instance, the San Francisco 49ers hiring Brant Boyer as their special teams coach this offseason. He will be doing the same job he handled for the last nine years with the Jets. You kind of know what you are getting.
We won’t know whether Engstrand and Banjo can do well at their new NFL jobs until they do well at their new NFL jobs. There is no track record.
As for Wilks, we have a much better feel for his work at his current job, because he’s been an NFL defensive coordinator at three different places – Cleveland, Carolina, and San Francisco.
The last DC job, in San Francisco, ended abruptly, with head coach Kyle Shanahan moving on after one year.
Shanahan and Wilks didn’t always seem to be on the same page.
Shanahan called a timeout in overtime of the 49ers’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl two years ago because he didn’t like a defensive play call.
In a loss to Minnesota during the 2023 regular season, Shanahan was not happy that Wilks called a Cover 0 coverage at the end of the first half, leading to a touchdown.
Not looking to pick on Wilks, who is a fine man and a class act, but his last gig as a defensive coordinator was a little up and down. And then last year he was out of he league, working as a volunteer assistant at UNC-Charlotte.
Look, maybe it was just that Wilks didn’t mesh well with the 49ers philosophy and will be better working with Glenn. We shall see.
But right now, you could argue there are question marks about all three Glenn coordinator hires – Engstrand and Banjo, because they’ve never done their new jobs on the NFL level, and Wilks, because his last stop as a DC could have gone better.
However, Glenn has a strong belief in all three men, so as we sit here right now, we should probably defer to the Jets’ head coach. He’s 0-0, and hiring these three men is part of his vision to turn the team around.
All three could turn out just fine. Time will tell.
Just saying, on paper, there are some fair concerns.
May 30, 2025
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