The New York Jets have confirmed their first round of interviews for the vacant defensive coordinator position.
Gang Green “completed eight interviews this week” over Zoom with the full list of candidates, which featured former Jet Jim Leonhard.
That group included: Mathieu Araujo (Miami Dolphins cornerbacks coach), Ephraim Banda (Cleveland Browns safeties coach), DeMarcus Covington (Green Bay Packers defensive line coach and run game coordinator), Daronte Jones (Minnesota Vikings defensive pass game coordinator and defensive backs coach), Jim Leonhard (Denver Broncos assistant head coach and defensive pass game cooridator), Wink Martindale (former Michigan defensive coordiator), Chris Harris (was the interim defensive cooridator for the Jets) and Jim O’Neil (Detroit Lions defensive assitant).
“The DC candidate list will shorten for in-person interviews, which will happen in the near future,” Jets senior reporter Eric Allen wrote in a press release.
A Former Jet Could Come Back Home
A name that certainly stands out on that list to Jets fans is former player Jim Leonhard.
Leonhard, 43, entered the league as an undrafted free agent in 2005. He crossed over for a season with Rex Ryan with the Baltimore Ravens in 2008. Then when Ryan got the HC gig in New York, Leonhard followed him there.
Leonhard was with the Jets for three seasons during the glory years from 2009 through 2011. The Jets went to back-to-back AFC Championship games during that stretch.
The former Wisconsin product ended up playing for a decade in the league. Leonard’s final season in the NFL was with the Cleveland Browns in 2014. He directly crossed over with Aaron Glenn, who just started his coaching career as an assistant defensive backs coach in 2014.
Once his playing days were over, Leonhard quickly transitioned into coaching.
He has been coaching since 2016. Leonhard started at his alma mater and worked his way up from defensive backs coach to defensive coordinator to interim head coach.
In 2024, he made the jump to the NFL level with the Broncos. That is where he crossed over with who would eventually become the Jets general manager, Darren Mougey. Leonhard is under the leadership of Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who is a mentor to Coach Glenn.
Plenty of connective tissue here.
Looking Into the Numbers…
Seeing the full list now allows us to peek into the mind of head coach Aaron Glenn as he makes his decision.
Here are all of the ages of the coaches the Jets spoke with:
- Mathieu Araujo (32 years old)
- DeMarcus Covington (36 years old)
- Jim Leonhard (43 years old)
- Chris Harris (43 years old)
- Ephraim Banda (44 years old)
- Jim O’Neil (47 years old)
- Daronte Jones (47 years old)
- Wink Martindale (62 years old)
Of these names, 7 of the 8 have experience as a defensive coordinator at some level. Araujo has no experience, and Chris Harris should have an asterisk by his name because he only served as an interim DC, replacing Steve Wilks for the final three games of the season.
Here is a ranking of the coaches with the most experience as a DC at any level of football:
- Martindale (16 seasons)
- Jones (7 seasons)
- Leonhard (6 seasons)
- O’Neil (6 seasons)
- Banda (4 seasons)
- Covington (2 seasons)
- Harris (3 games)
- Araujo (n/a)
It appears head coach Aaron Glenn is casting a very wide net in his search for the next DC of the NYJ.
“Compatibility is just as important as coachability,” Glenn said at the team’s season-ending news conference via Allen. “So, I want to make sure we see things the same way and I want to make sure that we can vibe as far as sitting down and talking about how we see football.”
Jets Release Full 8-Person DC Interview List Including Ex-Player