Why Jets Reportedly Missed Wink Martindale, Jim Leonhard

If you have been following along with the Jets' search for their new defensive coordinator, this decision may seem out of left field. New York announced on Jan. 16 that the team interviewed eight candidates for the open job: Mathieu Araujo, Ephraim Banda, DeMarcus Covington, Daronte Jones, Jim Leonhard, Wink Martindale, Chris Harris and Jim O'Neil.

Martindale was viewed as the "favorite" for the job. Leonhard is another guy who got a lot of buzz on social media, but there wasn't a lot of concrete information after the reported interview.

Duker wasn't a part of that initial crew that interviewed for the job and Martindale specifically seemed to have the inside track to the job. So, what happened? SNY's Connor Hughes broke it down and pointed to head coach Aaron Glenn wanting to call plays on defense as a reason why things didn't work with Martindale or progress with Leonhard.

"Aaron Glenn began telling candidates recently that he wanted to call plays defensively," Hughes wrote. "This was different from original plans and discussions, having spoken to sources close to those who interviewed for the Jets DC job. That’s among the reasons things fell through with Wink Martindale, and why Jim Leonard was never an option.

"Glenn is now expected to call plays for New York with Brian Duker as DC, something he stressed he wasn’t interested in at various points last year."

It's been a bit of a surprising process, but the search is now over, at least. The Jets have their new defensive coordinator in Duker and it sounds like Glenn is going to be the team's defensive play caller.