Just days after the conclusion of another dismal season, the Jets began reaching out to candidates for their vacant defensive coordinator role. Gang Green has requested to interview Vikings defensive passing game coordinator and defensive backs coach Daronte Jones. The Cowboys have also asked to spe ak to Jones for their defensive coordinator position, according to ESPN. Jones, 47, first became an NFL assistant in 2016 when he was the Dolphins’ assistant defensive backs coach under then-coach Adam Gase. This was after working 15 years in the college ranks in various roles. After his time with the Dolphins, and then the Bengals working as their cornerbacks coach, Jones joined the Vikings in 2020. He returned to Minnesota in 2022 following a one-year stint working as LSU’s defensive coordinator. In addition to his defensive backs role, Jones added the title of defensive pass game coordinator in 2023 and has held both roles ever since. Jones, along with defensive coordinator Brian Flores, helped transform the Vikings into one of the better defenses in the NFL this season. Minnesota finished third in yards (282.6) and seventh in points allowed (19.6). The team also forced a league-high 13 fumbles and was tied for 10th in takeaways (21). Jets coach Aaron Glenn fired defensive coordinator Steve Wilks after 14 games in which the unit’s production plummeted from the previous season. In 2024, the Jets were third in yards allowed. However, in 2025, they finished 25th in yards and 31st in points allowed (giving up 503 this season, second-worst behind only the Cowboys). Glenn replaced Wilks with defensive backs coach Chris Harris for the final three games. But the Jets allowed 35.3 points per game under Harris and became the first team in NFL history to lose five consecutive games by 23 points or more. The Jets defense also set an NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season (four) and became the first team in NFL history to end a season without registering an interception. Glenn says he is looking to have “a lot of synergy” with the next defensive coordinator. “I’m actually really evaluating .. [and] making sure that I am really thorough on whoever that guy is,” Glenn said at the end of the season press conference on Tuesday. “Is it an experienced guy that’s done it before, or is it a guy that hasn’t? And do I trust the fact that he can do it? “And to me, that’s something, I just don’t sit up here and say that right now, that I go through the whole process and make sure that the answers that I’m really getting from that whole evaluation will be good enough answers to where I can pick this guy and say, ‘Ok, he’s going to be a guy that can do it.'” ...read more read less