It’s early, but the Cowboys hit on their coach — and Jets missed on Aaron Glenn | Opinion
Of the head coaching hires made in the offseason, the New York Jets received an A for their selection, while the Dallas Cowboys were handed a C.
The A is for Amazingly Accurate.
The C is for Cheap.
Texas A&M alum and former Dallas Cowboys defensive back Aaron Glenn may enjoy better days as the head coach of the New York Jets, but so far his first year is Rich Kotite/Adam Gase-level bad. Glenn’s opening weeks as an NFL head coach are thus far embarrassing, and would be closed if they were on Broadway.
Meanwhile, the nepo baby in Dallas is making the guy who hired him look like he knew what he was doing, or Jer’ Bear just found himself an acorn when he said, “I’ll take my shot with Schotty.”
On Sunday in New Jersey, Brian Schottenheimer’s Cowboys easily defeated Aaron Glenn’s Jets 37-22. After the Jets took a 3-0 first-quarter lead, the Cowboys scored 30 straight points.
The Schottenheimer Cowboys are 2-2-1, and Glenn’s Jets are 0-5.
Of the seven teams that changed head coaches in the offseason, Glenn and his former colleague in Detroit, offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, received the majority of positive coverage. Neither is doing great in their new job; Johnson is .500 with the Chicago Bears.
All seven inherited teams with “issues,” as is the case with nearly all new head coaches. The guy before him was fired for a reason.
Aaron Glenn comes in with high expectations
Glenn walked into the job he desperately wanted and thus generated high expectations based on his playing career, and coaching tenure as the Lions’ defensive coordinator under Dan Campbell. The Jets still look like the Jets.
It’s only five games, but Glenn looks like another man who could just be devoured by what has historically been one of the NFL’s worst jobs. This was a bad team, and remains a bad team.
Glenn’s forte is defense, and the Jets’ defense is wet trash. Glenn’s Jets are the first team in NFL history to start the season 0-5 without generating a single turnover.
It’s only five games, but of the many complaints that fans could throw at the Cowboys, it would be hard to find one to fire at their head coach. This is not a perfect team, but through the offseason, training camp and the first month-plus of the regular season, the hire of Brian Schottenheimer is not a problem.
He was born and raised to be in this position, and even if he jumped the line because of his last name, he thus far has proven he can do the job.
Schottenheimer inherited a roster with major issues on defense, and days before the start of the regular season had no choice but to approve a trade of his best player to the Green Bay Packers.
Brian Schottenheimer battles through injuries
Heading into the game against the Jets, Schottenheimer’s offensive line was wrecked by injury. Starting center Cooper Beebe, left tackle Tyler Guyton, and guards Tyler Booker and Tyler Smith were all out.
When four-fifths of your starting offensive line are backups, your team should lose. Combine that with the absences of starting receivers CeeDee Lamb and KaVontae Turpin to injury, and the offense should score no more than seven points rather than 37.
The state of the Cowboys’ offensive line turned the Jets from the underdogs to the favorites on Sunday morning. This will be the last time the Jets will be the favorites until the 2026 season. At the earliest.
Behind the line of backups, running back Javante Williams ran 16 times for 135 yards and a touchdown. Backup-backup-backup receiver Ryan Flournoy caught six passes for 114 yards.
Glenn should get a particle of benefit of the doubt in one area here: Schottenheimer has a proven NFL quarterback who is playing well, while Justin Fields of the Jets is not anywhere near Dak Prescott.
The Cowboys are only .500, and the expectations for this team from their resigned fan base are so low that a playoff appearance will qualify as a good year.
It’s only five games, but it does look like the Cowboys hired a solid head coach, while the guy in New York is struggling to distance himself from the legion of guys who flopped in the same job.
This story was originally published October 5, 2025 at 4:22 PM.
