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So much happened this off-season in Jet-land, this story seems like years ago – the hiring of Brian Duker as defensive coordinator.
This move was made on January 28, 2026, and caught many by surprise.
It looked like the Jets were close to hiring veteran defensive coordinator Don “Wink” Martindale for the job, but seemingly at the last minute pivoted to Duker, who nobody knew was on the radar. He wasn’t among the eight coaches they had initially interviewed for the job.
This 11th-hour decision to hire Duker, instead of one of eight other candidates, after a Zoom interview, led to speculation that Jets owner Woody Johnson was behind this decision.
“Glenn had attended organizational meetings at owner Woody Johnson’s home in Palm Beach, Florida,” wrote ESPN’s Rich Cimini in January. “The timing of those meetings, coupled with the seemingly abrupt end to Martindale’s candidacy, fueled speculation that Johnson, who has a reputation for meddling, had instructed Glenn to run the defense himself.”
Long-time New York sports talk host Mike Francesa said on his podcast that he believes it was Jets GM Darren Mougey who stopped the hiring of Martindale.
“Wink said last week… ‘Hey, it was out of Aaron’s hands.’ And I think that’s correct,” Francesa said. “When really, my understanding is it’s Mougey’s decision to not have Martindale here, not Woody’s. That it was Mougey that put the kaibos on it.”
So Mougey has the power to do that? According to a Francesa source, he now does.
“If you’re paying attention, that has shifted dramatically there,” Francesa said. “Mougey’s now in charge and clearly, my understanding is Woody made a decision that Mougey’s in charge.”
If you believe the Johnson angle, some have speculated that it could have been partly related to money. With Johnson having to pay off the rest of former DC Steve Wilks ‘ contract, reportedly another two years for a reported $3 million per, that he made a business decision and basically said, “Aaron you do it.”
After all, one of the reasons Glenn got the job was because of the work he did as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator.
As for the Mougey angle. First of all, the reported power shift story has been basically ignored by the beat writers. Like, nothing to see here. A couple of shot it down on X via a source, but who knows where the truth actually lies. Perhaps somewhere in the middle. In other words, Glenn still has power, but not as much. That hiring of Wilks, and the way it turned out, and the big checks the owner now has to write after firing the assistant late last year, had to tick off the big guy quite a bit. That hiring made little sense. That decision could not have helped Glenn with the owner.
As for Duker, I’m not sure what to make of him.
He’s had two press conferences with the media that were underwhelming. He seemed petrified of saying the wrong thing.
Now, I’m not big on having to win press conferences. That is overrated, but there is something to said for commanding the room in these outings, which helps send strong messages to your players and the fans, like Frank Reich has done in his two press conferences with the Jets.
But it’s only fair to cut Duker some slack since he’s only 36, and has not been in the spotlight much in his previous positions. Reich has been around the game a lot longer, and he was a three-time head coach.
However, attending these two press briefings, it’s pretty clear that Glenn is running the defense, and Duker has the DC moniker by title only.
So it’s unclear if Duker even needs to address the media. We will have access to the true defensive boss in press conferences 4-5 times a week once camp starts through the season. Unless the league mandates it, perhaps not make Duker address the media weekly during the season.
Duker’s job is essentially helping Glenn game plan during the week, and giving him some assistance on the head set on game day.
Those are very important jobs, but it’s really not a defensive coordinator job; it’s kind of something else.
Glenn is the defensive coordinator.
Why he is, only those who were at that January meeting in Woody’s house in Florida truly know why things turned out this way.
But hey, it could turn out fine.
We will find out starting in September.
June 26, 2026
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