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We can add two additional names to the Jets coaching search. The team has requested interviews with 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Saints defensive backs coach Aaron Glenn per Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport.
The #Jets plan to interview #49ers DC Robert Saleh for their head coaching job Friday, per source.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 7, 2021
That's five teams in on Saleh, who interviewed with the #Falcons on Monday, has the #Lions today, and #Jaguars and #Chargers still to come.
The #Jets have requested permission to interview #Saints secondary coach Aaron Glenn for their vacant head coaching job, and it should happen next week, source said. An up-and-coming candidate.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 7, 2021
As Pelissero notes, Saleh is one of the hottest names on the market. He is generating a lot of interest after his defense helped carry the 49ers to the Super Bowl last season. Saleh also kept the unit afloat this season in spite of suffering injuries to numerous key players.
Glenn is a familiar name to Jets fans. He was the team’s first round pick in 1994 and played eight years with the team making the Pro Bowl twice. He also had a two year stint with the Jets as a scout after his playing days ended.
Glenn is fairly inexperienced for a head coaching candidate. He has only six years of coaching experience and has never been a coordinator. He is highly regarded, however, for his work with the New Orleans secondary and is considered a rising star in the profession.
Is he ready to be a head coach? I don’t know, but I’m not sure a lack of experience is necessarily disqualifying. Experience is a means to an end, not an end itself. Some coaches will never learn the qualities it takes to be a capable head coach. Some require years and years of working in the league before they learn the tools. Some are naturals and figure it out immediately. The interview process is here to see whether Glenn is ready for the job.