Aaron Glenn's Jets bet on Geno Smith and Frank Reich to escape AFC East basement in 2026

When a franchise goes through coaching turns, multi-year playoff droughts, and bottom-of-the-barrel divisional finishes , finding basic baseline competency becomes the top priority.

Head coach Aaron Glenn enters his second season at the helm, Frank Reich steps in as the new offensive coordinator, and veteran quarterback Geno Smith makes his homecoming under center; New York is aiming to prove that its rock-bottom transitional phase is officially behind them and that they can be a competitive presence in the AFC East .

JETS SAY GENO SMITH DELIVERS 'EXACTLY WHAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR' IN 2026 DEBUT, SO HERE COMES THE OVERREACTION The Jets endured an abysmal 2025 campaign under first-year head coach Aaron Glenn, finishing dead last in the AFC East with a 3–14 record.

Breece Hall provided a rare bright spot, quietly powering his way to a 1,065-yard rushing season to keep the ground game functional.

Unfortunately, the team was non-competitive down the stretch, dropping their final five games by 23 or more points each after mid-season trades cleared out key stars.

The offense cycled through three starting quarterbacks without a single one breaking the 10-touchdown mark, while star receiver Garrett Wilson missed 11 games due to injury.

On defense, the unit set an unwanted NFL milestone by failing to record a single interception all season.

BREECE HALL BECOMES NFL’S THIRD-HIGHEST PAID RUNNING BACK, SO MAYBE JETS OFFENSE WON’T STINK AGAIN Recognizing that his inaugural staff and roster lacked execution, Glenn reshuffled his coaching staff — hiring former Colts head coach Frank Reich as offensive coordinator and Brian Duker on defense—while general manager Darren Mougey utilized massive cap room and draft capital.

The Jets revamped their quarterback room by bringing back veteran Geno Smith to start alongside draft pick Cade Klubnik.

There are still major holes they tried to fill, and I’m not sure they did a great job with it.

INSIDE THE NEW YORK JETS' REVAMPED PERFORMANCE FACILITY AND PLAYER DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY The Jets let quarterbacks Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor walk in free agency, while trading away depth pieces and clearing house on secondary coverage.

They also traded for Minkah Fitzpatrick to try and address the secondary as much as possible.

I suppose it really doesn’t take much for the team to be considered better than last year.

Geno Smith looked awful in Las Vegas, but he still should be a better passer than the run-first combination they had of Fields and Taylor from last year.