Former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is off to a historically bad start in his first season as head coach of the New York Jets.
Following their Week 5 37-22 home loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the Jets are now 0-5, marking the worst start to a coaching tenure in franchise history.
With the loss, the Jets also became the first team in NFL history to start 0-5 and have no takeaways.
Before Glenn, only Lou Holtz (1976) and Adam Gase (2019) shared the distinction of starting 0-4. Glenn surpassed both after last week’s 27-21 loss to the Miami Dolphins, which dropped New York to 0-4.
After the Lions’ divisional-round playoff loss in January to the Washington Commanders, both Glenn and former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson were among the hottest names on the NFL coaching carousel. Johnson landed the Chicago Bears job, while Glenn accepted the opening with the Jets — the team where he played the first eight seasons of his NFL career.
According to ESPN Research, since 2000, 20 first-time head coaches have started 0-4. Of those 20, only four reached the playoffs with that team, and just two -- Kyle Shanahan (San Francisco 49ers) and Zac Taylor (Cincinnati Bengals) -- made multiple playoff appearances. Lions coach Dan Campbell isn’t included in that group because his first experience came as an interim head coach with the Miami Dolphins.
Heading into Sunday’s matchup, the Jets’ 0-4 start had already shrank their playoff odds to 2.7%. Now sitting at 0-5, their postseason hopes are virtually gone, as they would need to win at least 10 of their remaining 12 games to have even an outside chance.
If Glenn can draw any encouragement from his past, it’s that he’s been here before.
During his first year as Detroit’s defensive coordinator in 2021, the Lions started 0-8 under Campbell before eventually showing signs of life.
“It’s not fun being 0-8,” Glenn told reporters on Wednesday. “Man, you get ridiculed, you get talked about. I mean, people are after you in the worst way.”
Entering Week 5, the Jets, Tennessee Titans, and New Orleans Saints were the NFL’s only winless teams.
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