Leonhard and Martindale among 8 candidates interviewed by Jets for defensive coordinator job

By Canadian Press on January 16, 2026.

Denver Broncos assistant coach Jim Leonhard and longtime NFL assistant Wink Martindale were among eight candidates interviewed by the New York Jets for their vacant defensive coordinator position.

The Jets announced Friday they also completed interviews — all through video meetings — this week with Chris Harris, who served as New York’s interim defensive coordinator after Steve Wilks was fired last month, Mathieu Araujo, Ephraim Banda, DeMarcus Covington, Daronte Jones and Jim O’Neil.

Jets coach Aaron Glenn will next shorten the list and meet with remaining candidates for in-person interviews.

New York’s defense was one of the NFL’s worst during a 3-14 season, Glenn’s first as head coach. Wilks was fired after 14 games and Harris, the Jets’ defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator, took over the play calling.

“Compatibility is just as important as coachability,” Glenn said last week when asked about what he’s looking for in a defensive coordinator. “So, I want to make sure we see things the same way and I want to make sure that we can vibe as far as sitting down and talking about how we see football.”

Leonhard, a former safety who played for the Jets from 2009-11, has some familiarity with Glenn. In Leonhard’s final season as a player in 2014 for Cleveland, Glenn served as the Browns’ assistant defensive backs coach.

Leonhard began his coaching career as an assistant at Wisconsin, his alma mater, in 2016 before becoming the Badgers’ defensive coordinator and later the interim head coach in 2022. After one year at Illinois, Leonhard joined Sean Payton’s staff in Denver as the defensive backs coach and pass game coordinator in 2024 before adding assistant head coach to his duties this season.

Martindale was the defensive coordinator at Michigan the last two seasons after a two-year stint in the same role with the Giants. After several college stops to begin his coaching career, Martindale had NFL stints with the Raiders, Broncos and Ravens.

Araujo spent the last four seasons with the Dolphins, first as an assistant defensive backs coach for Mike McDaniel and then as the cornerbacks coach.

Banda coached the Browns’ safeties the last three seasons under Kevin Stefanski after several college stops, including Texas, Mississippi State, Miami and Utah State.

Covington joined the Packers this season as their defensive line coach and run game coordinator after spending eight seasons with the Patriots, including last season as the defensive coordinator.

Jones has spent the last five seasons with the Vikings as the defensive backs coach and also served as the pass game coordinator the last three. He has also had NFL coaching stints with the Dolphins and Bengals.

O’Neil has been with the Lions the past two years, including the 2024 season when Glenn was the defensive coordinator in Detroit. He’s a defensive assistant who also coaches the Lions’ safeties. He was a defensive quality control coach for the Jets in 2009 and their assistant defensive backs coach from 2010-12. O’Neil also has spent time with the Bills, Browns, 49ers and Raiders.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl

Dennis Waszak Jr., The Associated Press