The New York Jets are once again dipping into Detroit’s coaching tree.
According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, the Jets are hiring Brian Duker as their new defensive coordinator. Duker, 36, most recently served as the Miami Dolphins’ pass game coordinator and secondary coach and now reunites with Jets head coach Aaron Glenn, a coach he has deep history with dating back to their time in both Cleveland and Detroit.
Duker’s path to an NFL coordinator role has been rapid and well-earned.
He was originally hired by Dan Campbell in 2021 as a defensive assistant with the Detroit Lions, working closely with the secondary. His ties to Glenn go back even further, to 2015, when Duker was an intern with the Cleveland Browns while Glenn served as an assistant secondary coach.
In 2022, Duker was promoted to safeties coach and quickly took on expanded responsibility when Aubrey Pleasant was dismissed midseason, effectively overseeing Detroit’s entire secondary. The following year, in 2023, he was elevated again, this time to defensive backs coach, with former Pro Bowl corner Dre Bly added to help coach the cornerbacks under Duker’s direction.
That steady climb continued in Miami, where Duker became the Dolphins’ pass game coordinator and secondary coach, helping develop one of the league’s more aggressive and detail-oriented coverage units.
Now, the Jets are handing him the biggest opportunity of his career: running the entire defense.
For Glenn, the hire brings in a trusted lieutenant who knows his system, his terminology, and his expectations. For Duker, it’s the culmination of a rise that began under Dan Campbell in Detroit and now places him in charge of an NFL defense at just 36 years old.
The post New York Jets Land Former Detroit Lions Assistant to be Their Defensive Coordinator appeared first on Detroit Sports Nation.
