The hay, finally, is in the barn. Aaron Glenn has chosen his coaching staff. No matter the road it took to get here — and it was a bumpy one — it is now complete.

It is only Glenn’s second season, and he’s already overhauled his staff, replacing the offensive and defensive coordinators he hired just one year ago, plus five key position coaches and other assistants. It would be hard to blame him for making such significant changes when you look at how his first season went — a 3-14 campaign that ended with a historically poor five-game losing streak.

And yet, there isn’t much precedent for a coach turning over his staff this much after one year, and then succeeding. But Glenn is banking on this new-look staff, an interesting mix of old-timers and youngsters, getting things back on track in time for him to survive beyond 2026.

A year ago, Glenn spoke confidently about the coaches he hired — he’ll probably do that again when he speaks publicly for the first time since making all these changes (likely at the NFL combine later this month).

At the end of the 2025 season, the only known opening was at defensive coordinator, and this is what Glenn said about filling that role: “When it comes to the coaches, man, I like to be aggressive. I want to make sure that whoever the guy that we do have come in, that there’s a lot of synergy between me and that coach. … I want to make sure, as I go through this process, that that’s not a step that I don’t miss. And there will be a number of coaches that we will take a look at.”

As for the coaches the Jets landed on? Let’s dive in:

Offensive staff

Frank Reich, offensive coordinator: The 64-year-old was likely headed for retirement if not for a push from Glenn to stick it out a while longer. It’s the second straight year Reich is doing a favor for a friend; last year, he unretired to be the interim coach at Stanford, where Andrew Luck is general manager. Reich isn’t taking this job for the glamor of being an offensive coordinator (ask any former Jets O-coordinator, it’s not a glamorous position) or the possibility of being a head coach again. He’s doing it because he believes in Glenn — and believes he can help him.

It’s fair to wonder what Reich will bring to the table as a coordinator after two years out of the NFL, and five years since he was at the helm of an effective offense (the 2022 Colts, 2023 Panthers and 2025 Stanford offenses were mostly a mess). But he has a documented history of success calling plays and putting quarterbacks in position to succeed. The offense will be entirely his show, and he’ll play a heavy hand in helping the Jets decide whom to pursue at quarterback this offseason. The offense — and the offensive style — will look different than it did under first-time offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand last year.

Reich said this about his goals for the Colts’ offense when he was hired as head coach in 2018: “It’s going to be a multiple, attack, up-tempo offense. We’re going to be aggressive.”

Seth Ryan, pass game coordinator: It is undeniably cool that Ryan is joining the Jets staff, following in the footsteps of his dad (Rex Ryan) and grandfather (Buddy Ryan) as coaches for this franchise. He was around the Jets a lot when his dad was a head coach and has steadily worked his way up the ladder — though he is taking a pretty notable leap from his position on the Detroit Lions’ staff (assistant tight ends coach) to this one.

Still, removing his family ties to the organization from the conversation — there are worse offensive staffs to poach from than Detroit’s, and Glenn clearly spent enough time with Ryan there to understand what he’s about as a coach. Ryan was with the Lions through Glenn’s entire tenure as defensive coordinator (2021-24) as an assistant wide receivers coach before moving to tight ends last year. He also learned under Ben Johnson, who credited Ryan as one of three coaches in charge of trick plays. “They have a ton of creativity,” Johnson said when he was in Detroit. “They’re certainly deserving of more responsibility.”

Bill Musgrave, quarterbacks coach: Where were you in 1997? Musgrave was in his first year as the quarterbacks coach for the Raiders, guiding Jeff George. In the ensuing 29 years, he’s been an offensive coordinator for eight teams and the quarterbacks coach for nine — make that 10 now that he has the Jets’ job. Suffice it to say, the 58-year-old is well-traveled. His most recent gig was with the Browns the last three years, including a 2025 season as QBs coach tutoring Shedeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel.

Musgrave should prove to be an upgrade over Charles London, who was a questionable hire at the time, but it has been a while since Musgrave has provably made a quarterback better — probably not since he was coaching Derek Carr with the Raiders in 2015-16. (Coincidentally, Carr is viewed as a potential option for the Jets at quarterback this offseason if he unretires, the Saints are willing to trade him and Carr is willing to waive his no-trade clause.)

Musgrave was also around for the first few years of Matt Ryan’s NFL career with the Atlanta Falcons, and at minimum he brings a wealth of knowledge and experience for when the Jets inevitably bring a rookie quarterback into the fold.

Carr said this about Musgrave in 2018: “He’s one of the smartest people I’ve ever been around when it comes to analytics numbers and percentages and things like that.”

As for his philosophy on quarterbacks, Musgrave said this last year about the balance between being smart and being aggressive: “We don’t want to be like, a batter goes up to the plate and just doesn’t want to strike out — then you never pull anything, you just hit little nubbers to the first baseman. So, we want to be able to take our cuts, take our chances, try to fit it in tight windows, throw with anticipation, take a chance. But there’s just a balance there of also being smart, and knowing when there’s a safe place to ditch it when I need to. Also, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

Right now, the Jets have no viable starting quarterback, assuming Justin Fields is released at some point.

Alfredo Roberts, tight ends: The 60-year-old Roberts spent the last five years on Mike Tomlin’s staff with the Steelers, helping to develop 2021 second-round pick Pat Freiermuth. He’ll be tasked with doing the same for the Jets with Mason Taylor, drafted in the second round last year. Taylor showed some flashes of talent as a rookie but had trouble staying healthy and finding a rhythm with the Jets’ uneven quarterback play.

As for Roberts, Freiermuth said this about him in 2023: “Best coach in the world. He’s in my ear about doing the extra things because he’s played in the NFL and he knows what it takes to be successful. It’s awesome to have a coach that cares that much.”

Returning offensive coaches: Nic McKissic-Luke (running backs), Shawn Jefferson (wide receivers), Steve Heiden (offensive line)

Defensive staff

Brian Duker, defensive coordinator: He emerged somewhat out of nowhere in the Jets’ defensive coordinator search — he wasn’t on their initial interview list, met with the team remotely nearly two weeks after that list was released and then was hired the following day. Duker does make sense in the context of Glenn taking over as the primary play caller. Duker (36) is a young coach but viewed as a bright mind in coaching circles — both Glenn and former Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver raved about him publicly.

Duker was in Detroit with Glenn and played a role in the development of star players such as safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph — a position group the Jets desperately need to better develop. The real appeal in hiring Duker, though: He can help to incorporate whatever defense Glenn plans on running, likely incorporating concepts from their time together with the Lions with things Duker learned under Weaver in Miami. The Dolphins ran a 3-4 defense, as did the Steelers, so it’s notable that Glenn hired one defensive coach from Pittsburgh and two, including Duker, from Miami.

“As far as fit, as far as how I see defense being played, all those things are huge because, and I’ve said this before, compatibility is just as important as coachability,” Glenn said in January, while the position was still vacant. “So, I want to make sure we (Glenn and the defensive coordinator) see things the same way and I want to make sure that we can vibe as far as sitting down and talking about how we see football.”

Karl Dunbar, defensive line: This was viewed by many in league circles as the best hire that Glenn made this offseason. The 58-year-old Dunbar has been in this position for the Jets before — from 2012 to 2014, he coached up players, including Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson. He spent the last eight years on Tomlin’s staff, helping coach up one of the NFL’s best defensive fronts.

This was a crucial hire for a defensive line that significantly regressed in 2025 under Eric Washington, especially edge rushers Jermaine Johnson and Will McDonald. The Jets had 26 sacks in 2025, which ranked No. 31, while the Steelers were sixth with 48.

The Jets are expected to add an edge rusher early in this year’s draft, perhaps with the No. 2 pick — and they can feel better about developing that player with Dunbar in the fold. Among the players he helped bring up in Pittsburgh: T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward and Alex Highsmith.

Heyward said this about Dunbar in 2024: “When you talk about Karl Dunbar, he’s just an unbelievable teacher. He takes time to really help you study. I can definitely say that he helped me continue to grow in my development as a player and as a person off the field. He’s constantly challenging us. You look at our group … he’s all helped us achieve so much. What we do throughout the week is what you get in the game. It allows us to stay consistent because he’s so good.”

Ben Bolling, linebackers: Quincy Williams and Jamien Sherwood regressed significantly last year — neither got along particularly well with Aaron Curry, the position coach — so hiring a new linebackers coach wasn’t a difficult decision for Glenn.

It’s never a bad idea to pluck a coach from DeMeco Ryans’ staff, especially since the Texans consistently perform as one of the best defenses in the NFL. Bolling, 32, was the assistant linebackers coach in Houston in 2025 and spent the four years before that as a defensive assistant. Linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, it should be noted, made his first Pro Bowl in 2025.

Ryan Slowik, safeties: The 46-year-old Slowik is the brother of Dolphins offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. He spent the last four years on Mike McDaniel’s Dolphins staff as the defensive backs/pass game specialist (2024-25), outside linebackers coach (2023) and defensive assistant (2022).

Weaver had this to say about Slowik in 2024: “I view (Slowik) as a tremendous asset because he’s coached on every level of the defense, so when you have that guy … he’s incredibly selfless.” Weaver also praised his “football acumen.”

Slowik will work with returning coach Chris Harris — defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator — in the secondary.

Ronald Booker, nickels/defensive assistant: Booker replaced Alonso Escalante, who did a nice job working with Jarvis Brownlee after Brownlee was acquired in a trade from the Titans in September. Booker was a defensive quality control coach for the Cardinals the last three years, after two years with Arizona as a Bill Walsh coaching fellow.

Returning defensive coach: Chris Harris (defensive backs/passing game coordinator)