Things have been eerily quiet for the New York Jets.
With three weeks remaining in the 2025 regular season, the Jets fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks. They have been searching for his replacement for a calendar month.
Despite that large amount of time, we have heard very few updates from 1 Jets Drive on who the team has spoken with and who is even in the running.
On Thursday, January 15, NFL Insider Connor Hughes of SNY responded to my question on social media on what the holdup is.
“Conducting interviews this week. Mutual interest with Wink Martindale. They’ll probably release guys they interviewed once they’ve complete first round, as opposed to doing it all individually,” Hughes explained on X previously Twitter.
Jets Have Gone Silent
Typically, as NFL teams are requesting interviews with other teams’ coaches, we hear about it on social media.
For example, on January 8, ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed that the Jets had requested to speak with Minnesota Vikings passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones.
That isn’t going to be the only candidate that they speak with.
***UPDATE***
The Jets interviewed Miami Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo for the vacant DC gig this week.
According to the updated Rooney Rule in the NFL, “Clubs must interview at least two minorities and/or women for all coordinator positions.”
However, instead of getting these individual updates from reporters, Hughes explained that the Jets will likely reveal them in waves. Once the Jets finish their entire first round of interviews for the DC gig, they will then reveal the list of people they spoke with.
Hughes confirmed that the Jets are, in fact, interviewing candidates for the DC job this week, even if we aren’t necessarily hearing who exactly these people are.
Wink Rumors Continue to Churn
Outside of Jones, the only other Jets DC candidate that has leaked to the public is Don “Wink” Martindale.
The mutual interest between Wink and the Jets has been confirmed by ESPN’s Rich Cimini, SNY’s Connor Hughes, and The Athletic’s Zack Rosenblatt.
Martindale, 62, has extensive experience as a defensive playcaller at both the collegiate and NFL levels. The 2026 season would be Wink’s 40th season coaching football.
Martindale Is Not a Popular Jets DC Choice on Social Media
Connor Long of Jets X-Factor wrote an extensive piece on why the Jets “must avoid” hiring Wink as the DC.
“He is outdated schematically … Predictable blitzes … This is a very uninspiring hiring process in my eyes,” Jets analyst Connor Rogers said on “Badlands.”
Joe Caporoso said, “Let’s do better than just settling for Wink Martindale at DC.”
“A defensive coordinator that I think he reminds me of in a way is Gregg Williams. Remember when Gregg Williams was here in 2019 and 2020? That, in my opinion, is what you’re getting in Wink Martindale. An uber aggressive blitzer with a big ego,” Jets analyst Matt O’Leary said.
Martindale would certainly be a big name. He comes with bravado, aggression, an attitude, and an identity.
The Jets didn’t have an identity last season. Whether not it would be a perfect match for the Jets is still very much up for debate.
Insider Explains Why Jets Have Gone Silent Amid DC Search