Aaron Glenn’s New York Jets surrendered a 23-14 halftime lead to lose 38-33 to the Las Vegas Raiders at MetLife Stadium. The Week 8 loss to the Raiders dropped the Jets to 2-6 and put further pressure on the head coach in his second season in charge.

After the game, analyst Tommy Lugauer argued that the Jets should pursue former Alabama Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban as a potential replacement for Glenn.

Analyst Pinpoints Aaron Glenn’s Ideal Replacement

During this week’s segment of the “After Hours” show on WFAN Sports Radio, Lugauer detailed why he believes Saban would be the ideal Glenn replacement in New York.

“If I’m the Jets, I would go after Nick Saban. I think Nick Saban is the guy that can build this Jets team back into a winner. Build this program up,” Lugauer said. “He is a great head coach, he is a proven commodity, and a guy that to me would be interested in the job because of what happened in Miami.

“And if the Jets have the talent that everybody seems to think that they have and they have the assets, like all the money in free agency and all these picks, then the Jets are gonna be sitting pretty talent-wise next season.”

Saban retired in January 2024 after a legendary college football career, during which he won seven national championships during stints at LSU and Alabama. In addition, Saban won 12 conference championships, posted a 19-12 bowl record, and retired with a 297-71-1 overall record without ever posting a losing season. He was later inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame.

Since his retirement, Saban has carved out a role as an analyst on ESPN’s popular “College GameDay” show.

During the show on Monday, Lugauer further explained why he believed Saban could be interested in the Jets job despite his retirement.

“All they need is somebody to oversee everything,” Lugauer added. “A guy that has overseen and got the best out of great talent many times over, and a guy with a chip on his shoulder and a reason to come to the NFL because he did not succeed in a bad situation with the Dolphins, and that is Nick Saban.

“He checks a million boxes, and he’s not a good or great head coach, he’s a legendary head coach… That’s the guy that can get you to the promised land.”

Despite being best known for his iconic college football career, Saban also spent time in the NFL as the Houston Oilers’ defensive assistant/secondary coach from 1988-1989 and the Cleveland Browns’ defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick from 1991-1994.

Saban became the Miami Dolphins’ head coach in 2005 after spending five seasons at LSU, where he led the Tigers to the 2003 national championship. Saban stayed in Miami for two seasons before being hired as head coach of the Crimson Tide after Mike Shula’s dismissal, and he finished his NFL head-coaching tenure with a 15-17 record, missing the playoffs in both seasons.

On the other hand, Glenn led the Jets to a woeful 3-14 record in his first season. Even after overhauling his offensive and defensive coordinator positions, with Frank Reich and Brian Duker taking over those roles, New York has not improved enough to avoid further scrutiny.

This season, the Jets boast a PFN Offense Impact score of 74.6 (No. 14 in the NFL) and a Defense Impact score of 71.2 (No. 20 in the league).

The Jets job would prove difficult for any coach willing to take on the challenge of a franchise that hasn’t posted a winning season since 2015 and hasn’t reached a Super Bowl since winning Super Bowl III following the 1968 season.