And then there were seven.
Miami Dolphins cornerbacks coach Mathieu Araujo, who was in the running for the New York Jets’ vacant defensive coordinator role, has a new gig.
National NFL reporter Matt Zenitz of CBS Sports revealed on social media that the Jacksonville Jaguars are “expected” to hire Araujo for a role on their staff.
Has worked in Miami the last four seasons and had recently interviewed for the Jets defensive coordinator job.
That means obviously he has been eliminated from the Jets’ search for their next DC. Last week, the Jets revealed an eight-person list of candidates with whom they conducted Zoom interviews for the defensive coordinator role.
That now leaves the Jets with seven possibilities from the first round to sift through.
Jets Are Moving to the Next Round of the Interview Process
The Jets will now cut that list of eight people down to a smaller number, and they will conduct in-person interviews this week with those candidates.
Araujo was an outlier on the Jets’ list. He is only 32 years of age and was the only candidate with zero games of defensive playcalling experience that interviewed for the job.
The remaining seven candidates from the initial round of the Jets search have all at least called defensive plays at some point.
Now, the least experienced person remaining from that list is Jets defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator Chris Harris. Harris’ only experience in a DC role came in the final three weeks of the Jets’ 2025 season.
After Steve Wilks was fired, Harris was promoted to interim defensive coordinator to finish off the season. In those three games, the Jets were outscored 106 to 24. Things didn’t go well.
In fairness to Harris, what did you expect? The hay was in the barn. Harris can’t change the scheme with three weeks remaining in the season, and he is limited on what personnel decisions he could have made considering all of the injuries.
Harris Moves to Next Round of Interviews
NFL Insider Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated shared on social media that Harris “interviewed for the team’s full-time defensive coordinator position yesterday. Harris has been widely seen as a rising star in coaching.”
This is Harris’ second interview with the Jets for the position. The first interview was virtual, and the second interview was in person.
Another Name That Is in the Running for the Jets DC Role
ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter revealed on social media that Minnesota Vikings passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones interviewed in-person for the Jets’ DC role.
That would also be his second interview with the team, with his first coming over Zoom.
The Jets have plenty of competition for his services, with the Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants having interviewed him for their vacant DC gigs.
Another potential threat to the Jets is the Vikings themselves. Brian Flores, who has served as Minnesota’s DC for the last three years, has been interviewing across the league for head coaching gigs.
If he were to ditch the Vikings, Jones could simply be promoted from within to replace Flores.
Jets Lose DC Candidate After Getting Hired by Jaguars: Report