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Rookie head coach Aaron Glenn had a rough go of things during his first year with the New York Jets, and if his recent comments are any indication, year two won’t be much better for either him or Jets fans.
Glenn went 3-14 in his first season in New York, setting multiple records for incompetence along the way. He then followed things by literally getting caught sleeping on the job at the NFL Combine.
But have no fear, Jets fans. Glenn seems to believe he has a secret weapon that will turn things around in 2026: new quarterback Geno Smith.
Aaron Glenn Says Geno Smith Will Lead The New York Jets To The ‘Promised Land’
Smith notoriously flamed out in his first stint with the Jets after they selected him with the 39th pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
He then bounced around the league for a couple of seasons before landing with the Seattle Seahawks in 2019, where he developed into a two-time Pro Bowler in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to the 2025 season, the Las Vegas Raiders acquired Smith for a third-round pick and handed him a two-year, $75 million contract extension. That deal quickly proved to be a disaster, as Smith went just 2-13 as a starter, throwing for 3,025 yards, 19 touchdowns, and a league-high 17 interceptions along the way.
However, the Jets found themselves desperately in need of a quarterback after the failed Justin Fields experiment in 2025, and turned to Smith, whom they acquired in a trade that sent a sixth-round pick to Las Vegas.
The outlook for Smith and Jets isn’t exactly rosy for the 2026 season. But Glenn doesn’t see things that way.
“He’s the guy that’s going to lead us to the promised land”
– Aaron Glenn on Geno Smith pic.twitter.com/NK13KNXj5P
— Jets Videos (@snyjets) March 31, 2026
“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 then tried to explain himself.
“Listen, I know he had his struggles,” Glenn said. “I think a lot of quarterbacks, they have their struggles.
“But I do know this: He understands exactly what happened last year. I don’t want to get too far into that because I wasn’t there, obviously, with the Raiders. But I do know that, man, there are some things that he knows he can correct. He’s at fault on some of those, but there are some things that he knows that he’s going to get better at, and I look forward to him doing that.”
Could Smith bounce back in 2026? Sure, it’s not impossible. And it’ll be hard to be worse than the Jets’ quarterback situation in 2025.
But it’s hard to believe that Geno Smith is leading any team to “the promised land” in 2026, let alone the New York Jets.