The New York Jets\u2019 search for a new defensive coordinator is officially underway.<\/p>\n
According to ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter<\/a>, the Jets have requested to interview Minnesota Vikings defensive pass-game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones for the vacancy.<\/p>\n Jets have requested to interview Vikings passing game coordinator\/DB coach Daronte Jones for their defensive coordinator position.<\/p>\n Jones is also slated to interview with the Cowboys for their DC position as well. pic.twitter.com\/S6LGw0m7uU<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) January 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Jones, 47, joined the Vikings\u2019 coaching staff in 2020 as a defensive backs coach before leaving the organization a year later and taking LSU\u2019s DC job. <\/p>\n After he went one-and-done in Baton Rouge as the Tigers\u2019 defensive coordinator, he returned in 2022, where he picked up the same title. In 2023, he was promoted to defensive pass-game coordinator, a role he has held for three full years.<\/p>\n The 47-year-old is Brian Flores\u2019 right-hand man in Minnesota. So much so that Jones is widely viewed as the successor if Flores lands a head coaching job this cycle.<\/p>\n Under Jones\u2019 watch in 2024, the Vikings led the league in interceptions (24), passes defensed (95), and interceptions per attempt (3.8%), while tying for the league lead in takeaways (33).<\/p>\n In 2025, the Jets became the first team in NFL history to go a full season without an interception since the league began tracking statistics in 1993, while they logged just four total takeaways, the fewest in the league.<\/p>\n While Minnesota regressed overall this season, evidenced by their drop from 13 to nine wins, Jones\u2019 secondary still ranked third in pass-defense DVOA. <\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure that whoever the guy that we do have in, there\u2019s a lot of synergy between that coach and me,\u201d Jets head coach Aaron Glenn<\/a> said earlier this week, regarding what he is looking for in the team\u2019s next defensive coordinator. \u201cAnd I\u2019m not saying there wasn\u2019t synergy between (Steve) Wilks and me, it\u2019s just I want to make sure, as I go through this process, that that\u2019s a step that I don\u2019t miss.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to make sure that it\u2019s collaborative between all of us, and we just want to get the best guy,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n With the search officially underway, who the New York Jets hire to be the team\u2019s next DC will play a pivotal role in their approach to rebuilding a struggling defense this offseason.<\/p>\n