Title.

To be clear upfront, I am not on the “Fire AG!!!1!” train, I don’t think he’s been impressive and I’m also not convinced our defensive struggles are primarily his fault either, but I do understand why a lot of fans are not happy with him and want him gone. However, one big reason not to fire Aaron Glenn, or any coach for that matter, is that there’s no guarantee that his replacement is going to be any better.

So, realistically, who is out there that would be both a clear upgrade and available at season’s end? Keeping in mind that it’s very unlikely that any team would allow us to poach their own talented DC or assistant coaches, so we’re really limited to guys who won’t have a job after the Super Bowl. I’m not sure there’s anyone that stands out to me, but I also am not an expert with encyclopedic knowledge of the NFL coaching oligarchy.

A few possibilities:

  • Current head coaches with defensive backgrounds who might get fired: Staley (LAC) is supposedly a defensive guru but the Chargers’ defense is in a similar boat to ours with significantly better talent, so hard pass for me. Robert Saleh (NJY) would be a clear upgrade but I don’t think the Jets will fire him this year, assuming Rodgers comes back for 2024.

  • Current DCs who might be out with their head coaches: again, I don’t know names, but Ejiro Evero (CAR) could be considered here, the Panthers pass defense looks a lot better than their record indicates at least on paper (maybe this is because their run defense sucks though, I don’t know) and this is the area most of the fans complain about so he could improve that unit. However, Panthers fans seem to think the coaching staff has not done a good job developing players which would be a big concern. I’m sure there’s other potential names out there.

  • Assistant defensive coaches (e.g., position coaches) on teams that might be willing to let them do interviews. I think most teams will rather lock down their most talented guys, but some teams are willing to support their coaches moving on with their careers so maybe there are some guys available here?

  • I would probably not want to go after any DC who was fired by a team which kept their head coach, since those guys are probably not good at their jobs, but if anyone knows an exception to this rule feel free to chime in.

  • Similarly, I would prefer not to go after a college coach since the game is so different at the NFL level, but college to NFL is a legitimate coaching talent pipeline so I’m open to being wrong here.