Aaron Glenn proved why Jets should've cut bait with Geno Smith 'promised land' quip

Normally, firing a head coach after just one season wouldn't make much sense. It's hard to know for sure whether a bad year is the coach's fault or not, with so little data to go off of and so many variables at play. It sure felt like Aaron Glenn did more harm than good in his first season as the New York Jets' head coach, though, and opting to keep him despite that could come back to haunt the franchise for years to come — with his most recent comments as the latest proof.

"I just feel like he's the guy that's going to lead us to the promised land," Glenn said Tuesday morning at the NFL's annual meeting.

Glenn wasn't saying this about Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen. He said this about his team's new starting quarterback, Geno Smith. Yes, that Geno Smith, the one who looked washed beyond. belief with the Raiders in 2025. Aaron Glenn believes that version of Smith can lead the Jets to the "promised land." I understand and even support having unwavering confidence in your quarterback. Did Glenn really have to take it this far, though? It's continuing to feel like he just doesn't get it.

Aaron Glenn refuses to acknowledge reality of Jets situation

Optimism is a great thing, but this is beyond that; this is foolishness. The Jets went 3-14 in 2025, and haven't made the playoffs since 2010. They haven't even had a winning record since 2015 — over a decade ago. If New York had somehow acquired a proven, trajectory-altering star, perhaps making outlandish statements like this could make sense. Geno Smith is far from that.

Smith led the NFL with 17 interceptions and 55 sacks taken despite only appearing in 15 of the 17 games the Las Vegas Raiders played in 2025. He had such a brutal year that the Jets were able to acquire him essentially for free. Smith's struggles were not all his fault, and I think the Jets' situation is even a bit better than the Raiders' was in 2025, but this is still not a situation conducive to winning right now.

Garrett Wilson is an elite receiver, but he's also coming off an injury-riddled campaign and has little help other than Breece Hall at the skill positions. The defense, even with some major improvements this offseason, might be in even worse shape than the offense. This is a bad football team, no matter how you slice it.

Which is fine! GM Darren Mougey clearly wants this to be a methodical build, and it's perfectly acceptable to bide time with short-term contracts and a veteran placeholder at quarterback while waiting for the 2027 draft class to roll around. Everyone understands the reality of this situation, even Jets fans.

Well, except the head coach. Why couldn't Glenn simply say something like "we expect to be better in 2026," or "we're excited to see what Geno can do"? Saying what he did sets unrealistic expectations that this team almost certainly won't deliver on, which has been a constant in the Glenn era.

Aaron Glenn continues to write checks he cannot cash

Remember when Glenn promised he'd field a disciplined football team? New York was anything but that in 2025. Remember when Glenn was all-in on the Justin Fields career revival? He didn't even last half the season as the Jets' starter before being benched and later traded. Remember when Glenn was dubbed one of the brightest defensive minds in the NFL? New York's defense was an unmitigated disaster in 2025. I can go on, but a constant theme since Glenn took over just last year is a lot of talk and not a lot of action.

Just this offseason, Glenn has said play-calling is his superpower. If that's the case, why didn't he call plays when the defense was in such brutal shape last season? Now, he's adding even more fuel to the fire with the "promised land" comment.

Obviously, one comment in March won't be the reason the Jets win or lose games from September to January, but he makes everyone's jobs harder by setting unreasonable expectations — and he's doing this completely unprompted. Nobody is making him say these things.

Aaron Glenn takes away any hope Jets fans had with Geno Smith reunion

What really stinks is that the Smith trade made a lot of sense for the Jets. All New York had to do was swap Day 3 picks with Las Vegas to acquire a guy who looked like a viable NFL starter just 18 months or so ago, and they're only paying him $3.3 million for this season. It was a perfect buy-low opportunity: If Smith has another brutal year, the Jets can easily replace him; if he plays well, maybe there will be more hope with this franchise than there's been in quite some time (or at least he'll fetch something via trade). I'm not sure there was a better realistic option out there, given the uncertainty in this year's QB class behind Fernando Mendoza.

Setting unrealistic expectations, though, makes the Smith experiment feel like a failure if he comes up shy of delivering on Glenn's promise. I don't know whether the "promised land" means a Super Bowl or even getting to the playoffs, but anything short of that will have fans wondering what went wrong, even if Smith cuts down on the mistakes and the Jets make real signs of progress.

Working for the Jets is hard. Woody Johnson might just be the worst owner in sports. These realities don't excuse head coaches like Glenn from setting unrealistic expectations that won't be met for no reason. It gives reason to believe that he just isn't the right guy, and that's a shame for a franchise that's lacked stability for as long as the Jets have.

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