The biggest misconception about Jets’ DC search

The New York Jets’ search for a defensive coordinator is ongoing.

Recently, the team announced eight candidates who had interviewed for the position. Further reports indicated that Michigan’s Wink Martindale is considered a “front-runner” in the race, while the Jets’ interim defensive coordinator, Chris Harris, became the first candidate to receive a second interview.

As head coach Aaron Glenn continues his search, here is the most glaring misconception going around.

“Chris Harris is a poor candidate”

With no experience as a defensive play-caller at any level and brutal production from his Jets position group in 2025, it’s understandable why Harris is viewed by some as a weak candidate.

Brought aboard as the Jets’ defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator in 2025, Harris oversaw a unit that had zero interceptions and finished last in pass defense DVOA. Over his three-game stint as the interim defensive coordinator, the Jets’ defense only got worse.

However, it would be unfair to use the Jets’ 2025 results as a definitive indictment on Harris’ coaching skills.

Harris was third in line among the Jets’ coaches with their fingerprints on the defense. New York had a defensive-minded head coach and a veteran defensive coordinator who called the defensive plays.

If we’re going to claim Glenn and Wilks deserved to be canned for their roles in New York’s historically poor defensive performance, it would be somewhat unfair to push the same degree of criticism all the way down to a position coach, whose job is to teach the philosophies and schemes established by the men above him on the coaching ladder.

That’s not to say Harris is absolved of the Jets’ woes against the pass, but the fact is, we simply do not know what his role was. We know that Glenn and Wilks deserve blame; they are the heads of the snake (I suppose it’s a hydra in this scenario). Harris, though, might be a solid coach who was made to look bad by poor work from his higher-ups and poor talent within his unit.

The “best” player in New York’s 2025 secondary was cornerback Brandon Stephens, who allowed the second-most yards of any cornerback in the NFL the year before he came to the Jets (and an 8:0 TD:INT ratio in 2025). After Stephens, the lineup was littered with young players who were taken after the second round.

As a collective unit, the Jets’ defense was atrocious, and there is no excuse for that. Glenn and Wilks deserve blame for their poor schemes and predictable play-calling; zero interceptions and a 32nd-ranked pass defense are inexcusable, no matter the talent level. These are the NFL players, and if the scheme/play-calling is good enough, it is always possible to field a unit that is at least semi-respectable (rather than record-settingly bad), even if there will be a capped ceiling due to the talent.

But it isn’t exactly fair to blame a position coach for failing to work any player-development magic with a group that does not feature any particularly special talents. The only remotely impressive talent in the Jets’ secondary was rookie third-round pick Azareye’h Thomas, and he was actually progressing quite nicely during his brief stretch as a healthy starter.

If the Jets believe in Harris as a man and coach, he deserves as fair a shot at the job as anyone.

Now, does that mean Jets fans should trust Glenn’s judgment in the event that he hires Harris?

Of course not. After watching Glenn coach the third-worst team in NFL history on plays from scrimmage, fans have no reason to trust that any decision made by Glenn is the right one, let alone the call to promote an in-house assistant to defensive coordinator after he contributed to a unit with zero interceptions in 17 games.

Choosing Harris would be an understandably controversial decision. I’m not here to tell Jets fans they should trust the move; they should not, in fact.

Nonetheless, it would also be unfair to Harris to write him off because of the results we saw in the 2025 season. Outsiders know little to nothing about his coaching chops and leadership. If Glenn gives all eight candidates a fair shake and ultimately decides that Harris is the best coach for the job, he should hire him.

No fan or media member would wave pom-poms about the decision upon its announcement, but if it truly is the right call, it will be revealed by the on-field results when the ball is kicked off in January.

And if Glenn screwed up by hiring someone he is familiar with instead of going outside the box, we’ll see that on the field, too.

Nobody can say whether a hiring was right or wrong until we see the on-field results, because, ultimately, the results are what coaching is all about. They’re not hired to be the players’ friends; they are hired to win football games. You could be Vince Lombardi behind the scenes, but if your resume does not display the type of results that facilitate victories, no team or fan is obligated to trust you.

Still, when talking about coaching candidates at the positional level, it should never go overlooked that outsiders do not know what is happening behind closed doors, and that the on-field results of a coach’s unit may not be the most accurate indicator of how good a coach he truly is.