As Aaron Glenn prepares for his second season as Jets head coach, the focus is on continuing to find ways to move in the right direction.
"We're still a long ways away," Glenn told reporters at the Annual League Meeting in Phoenix, AZ, on Tuesday. "I mean, obviously, when you finish a season 3-14 and you go into this year and you feel good about some of the things that you've done, you want to see how all those things come together. … We still have a long way to go, but I do like the direction that we're going right now."
Roster additions and coaching changes have taken center stage during the first few months of the offseason. The Jets have brought in veteran playmakers -- including QB Geno Smith, S Minkah Fitzpatrick and LB Demario Davis -- and bolstered the staff with a healthy balance of experience and fresh perspective.
In addition to bringing in new personnel, though, Glenn said self-evaluation has also been a critical piece of a "process-oriented" puzzle.
"All self-reflection was not on the negative part, to be honest with you," Glenn said. "It's just looking at some things -- practice, for example. There are things I want to do differently when it comes to practice. I want to be able to maximize our reps as much as I can and also make sure there's recovery for the players."
Game management and execution are also front of mind for the head coach, who will take over defensive play-calling duties in 2026. Offensively, Glenn shared confidence in the identity of the team, stressing "the foundation of our offense is pretty good right now." With Smith at the helm, and new offensive coordinator Frank Reich in place, Glenn believes the unit is primed to take a step forward in 2026.
"There are some things offensively that I want to make sure that we take advantage of," Glenn said. "And that's one of the reasons Frank was high on the list -- to be able to understand exactly how he is going to create these matchups that we want to create."
Acknowledging that it's a "pressure-packed business," and sharing that "I always put pressure on myself," Glenn plans to leave no stone unturned. Even as a head coach who prides himself on having open and honest interactions dialogue with his players, Glenn said there is still room for improvement to ensure "there's clarity on what we're trying to do, and how we're trying to do it."
"There's a number of things [to improve on] and those are just a couple examples that I sit back and I look at," Glenn said of his self-evaluation process. "I think every year you want to improve on those things."
As he continues to navigate each step of his second offseason as head coach, Glenn said that finding ways to put his players in position to "get over that hump" remains top priority.
"How do we keep that sustainable for years to come? I want to leave a legacy, I do," Glenn said. "When I'm gone, I'm looking at this team being a team that consistently puts themselves in a place to win. But every day, there's not a day, not an hour, not a minute goes by that I don't think about that. And I look forward to trying to make that happen."
