Why Jets are reportedly more likely to move on from Aaron Glenn this winter than during the season

A recent report claimed that "the hot seat conversation" regarding New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn "is real" after the Jets suffered a 28-25 loss to the previously winless Miami Dolphins in East Rutherford, N.J., that dropped New York to 2-5 on Oct. 25. 

Fans and multiple New York media members openly wondered during the week whether Jets owner Woody Johnson could fire Glenn if the club loses at home to the 3-4 Las Vegas Raiders this coming Sunday. For a piece published on Friday, Jets reporter Zack Rosenblatt of The Athletic shared that it's "more likely" that Johnson will wait until the end of this season before he possibly shows Glenn the door. 

Woody Johnson, Aaron Glenn "have a close relationship"

"Johnson...wants Glenn to succeed," Rosenblatt explained. "They have a close relationship dating back to Glenn’s playing days and when Glenn was a scout for a couple years in 2012-13. Johnson believed in him enough to make Glenn the highest-paid head coach in team history."

In that portion of Rosenblatt's piece, he noted that Johnson wanted the Jets to "not become a national punchline" under Glenn this fall. Earlier this month, Glenn went viral when he seemed to be confused about which team started the second half of a game with possession of the ball. He was then widely criticized after the Jets lost to a Dolphins side that is in the early stages of a multi-year rebuild.

Despite all of that, Rosenblatt detailed how Glenn has "proven an ability to develop young talent on defense" over the past two years. 

"Cornerback Azareye’h Thomas has made a significant jump from his rookie season," Rosenblatt wrote. "Safety Dane Belton has been one of the Jets’ best players after four years mostly as a backup with the Giants, cornerback Brandon Stephens is playing better than last year or at the end of his Ravens tenure, and fourth-round rookie defensive tackle Darrell Jackson is starting to make an impact."

Aaron Glenn hasn't lost Jets players...yet

That's all well and good, but Glenn's overall record with the Jets fell to 5-19 on the final Sunday of October. Coaches with higher winning percentages over their first two seasons have been fired by owners in the past, and those instances didn't involve a team being linked with former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach and big-name candidate Mike Tomlin. 

"This isn’t a situation where he’s lost the locker room," Rosenblatt added about Glenn. "By all accounts, this is a group that believes in him as a leader, and key veterans on the roster seem to genuinely believe that they are close to breaking through. Ten games is a lot of proving ground for Glenn to show an ability to turn the Jets around."

History shows that the belief players have in a coach can decrease over time with each loss a club endures. As of Friday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Jets as 1.5-point home favorites over the Raiders. 

While it sounds like the Week 8 matchup isn't "must-win" regarding Glenn's tenure with the Jets, one would think he needs to add at least a couple of wins to his resume over the next month to keep his job through New York's Week 13 bye.