The New York Jets and Aaron Glenn agreed to terms on making the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator their head coach on Wednesday, according to a person with knowledge of the hiring.

Glenn, who oversaw the Lions’ defense the past four years, beat out 15 other candidates for the job as the Jets went through an extensive search to find their next coach.

And they ended up choosing one of their former players — a first-round draft pick in 1994 who now gets the chance to try to turn around the fortunes of the franchise 31 years later as its coach.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team had not yet announced the hiring. ESPN first reported that Glenn agreed to coach the Jets.

The 52-year-old, who turned Detroit’s defense into one of the best in the league, has been one of the most sought candidates during the NFL’s past two hiring cycles. He interviewed with Washington, Atlanta, Tennessee and the Los Angeles Chargers last year, and he met with the Jets, Jacksonville, Las Vegas and Chicago this year.

Glenn spoke with the Jets during a video call on Jan. 9 and then interviewed in person Tuesday.

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Glenn would become the third Black head coach in the franchise’s history, joining Herm Edwards and Todd Bowles. He’s also the first Black coach to be hired to lead an NFL team during this year’s hiring cycle.

The Jets also are going through a lengthy search for a general manager, and Washington assistant general manager Lance Newmark also was at the team’s facility Tuesday.

Newmark, one of 15 candidates to interview for the GM job, was the first to get a second meeting with the Jets — like Glenn — but hasn’t agreed to a deal.

Jets Have Missed Playoffs 14 Straight Seasons

Glenn and the new GM will be tasked with trying to revamp a franchise that has the NFL’s longest active playoff drought at 14 seasons.

Glenn played eight seasons with New York and was selected as one of the cornerbacks on the franchise’s All-Time Four Decade team in 2003.

He later had stints with Houston, Dallas, Jacksonville and New Orleans and finished his career with 41 interceptions, including six returned for touchdowns, and made the Pro Bowl three times.

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Namath Approves of the Hiring

Joe Namath, the quarterback who led the Jets to their only Super Bowl victory, in 1969, was pleased with the hiring of Glenn.

I’m hoping all @nyjets fans are as thrilled as my family and I are that Aaron Glenn is our new Head Coach. I wish the season would start next week!

— Joe Namath (@RealJoeNamath) January 22, 2025

“I’m hoping all @nyjets fans are as thrilled as my family and I are that Aaron Glenn is our new Head Coach,” Namath wrote on X shortly after the news broke. “I wish the season would start next week!”

Glenn would become the sixth first-time full-time head coach to be hired by the Jets since the end of the 2000 season.