Don, Hahn & Rosenberg Podcast

Hour 1: Jets Reflection — January 2, 2026
Hosts: Ty Butler & Jake Asman (in for Don, Alan, and Peter)
ESPN New York

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the New York Jets’ disastrous 2025 season, featuring a grim but honest postmortem of the organization’s failures. Ty Butler and Jake Asman debate the franchise’s structural issues, the fallout from Aaron Glenn’s first year as head coach, quarterback controversies, and the pessimism permeating the fanbase. Lively banter, sharp analysis, and frustration mark this therapeutic hour—essential listening for Jets fans needing catharsis.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Show Opening, YouTube Return, and Housekeeping

• Show is hosted today by Ty Butler and Jake Asman; Don is out sick.
• Episode is streaming on YouTube after some prior technical issues.
• Plans for NFL picks later in the show; auctioning for “Fraud Alert Friday,” inviting callers to share stories of local sports frauds.
• Lane Kiffin’s antics are briefly roasted as a prelude to main football talk.
  • [02:13] Jake Asman: "Again, you left. Don’t make it about you. But that's the problem. Lane Kiffin always tries to make it about himself."
• Lighthearted banter about “basking in misery” as Jets fans—setting the episode’s cathartic tone.

2. The Jets’ Historically Bad 2025 Season

• The crux: Jets are statistically and spiritually at rock bottom, a season marked by losing, ineptitude, and questionable culture.

• Incredible, Damning Stats:

  • No defensive interceptions the entire season — "something we’ll never see for the rest of our lives again" ([05:19] Jake Asman).
  • NFL-worst December point differential: Jets minus-107 ([05:50] Ty Butler).
  • Winless (0-5) in divisional games, minus 95-point differential in those contests.
  • Rich Cimini, long-time Jets beat, called this the third worst Jets team he’s ever covered ([06:41] Jake Asman).

• Loss of Franchise Direction:

  • Early season win streaks were luck-fueled.
  • Coach Aaron Glenn is seen as having lost the locker room, with lack of effort and accountability a major concern.

• The only “positive”—the special teams MVP (Isaiah Williams)—is comically telling:

  • He was cut midseason and voted team MVP by his teammates ([12:58] Jake Asman):
    • “What does it say about your franchise when your MVP […] is a guy who was cut earlier this year?”

3. Busting the 'Detroit Lions Turnaround' Narrative

• Recurring media/fan comparisons between the Jets and the resurgent Lions are shot down.
• [10:07] Jake Asman: “The Detroit Lions have nothing to do with the New York Jets. The 21 Lions vs. the 2025 Jets aren’t similar at all.”
• Key differences: Detroit kept its continuity and didn’t have dramatic coordinator/player chaos in the first year of the turnaround.
• Jets are not on a parallel track to Detroit—no stability, no young foundational QB as in Jared Goff’s case.

4. Aaron Glenn’s Coaching: A Litany of Failures

• Glenn’s media presence, accountability, and decision making are savaged.
• [14:09] Ty Butler: “You can't be both unlikable and bad.. we can afford you some benefit of the doubt if you're a nice guy.”
• Poor communication, combative with media, unnecessary shade thrown at Aaron Rodgers and misleading QB competitions.
• Firing ex-players (e.g., Steve Wilks), failure at offense and defense, and clinging to field goal protection “achievement” all signal a lost leader.
• [17:16] Jake Asman: “That's where we're at. The bar shouldn't be this low.”

5. Jets’ Roster, Free Agency, and the Future

• Criticism of the argument that no one wants the job/coaches can’t be one-and-done.
• Recent NFL history shows firing bad head coaches after one year often accelerates the path to playoff relevancy:
  • Lists eight teams since 2018 where a one-and-done coach was replaced and the next coach led them to playoffs ([23:12] Asman).
• Despite internal relationships (Woody Johnson sentimentality with ex-Jets), real franchises cut losses quickly.

6. Fan Callers: Raw Pain and Revisiting the Quarterback Disaster

• Jaquan (New Jersey) calls in, blaming the quarterback instability, but the hosts remind him Glenn handpicked (and overpaid!) Justin Fields, who flopped.
  • [35:48] Ty Butler: “Let’s stop acting like Justin Fields was inherited or someone held a gun to Aaron Glenn’s head.”
• Even the most pessimistic Jet fans didn’t see a season this bad coming.
• The coaching and QB situation are intertwined failures.
• Ty and Jake underscore the lack of any upward trajectory or identifiable head coaching strength in Glenn.

7. Looking Ahead: Jets Draft and QB Future

• Callers and hosts discuss potential incoming QBs for the next draft:
  • Fernando Mendoza, Dante Moore, Trinidad Chambliss, Ty Simpson.
  • Mendoza seen as top prospect, but hosts fear that with current coach/structure, even the right pick could go wrong ([46:09] Ty Butler, [46:35] Jake Asman).
• Critical point: Jets cannot afford to waste another young QB by keeping this staff.

8. Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Jake Asman [05:19]: “I think the interception stat is something we'll never see for the rest of our lives again. By accident, every team could get a pick.”
• Ty Butler [12:57]: “What does it say about your franchise when your MVP voted on by your teammates is a guy who was cut earlier this year? You can’t make it up.”
• Ty Butler [14:09]: “…you can't be both unlikable and bad... we can afford you some benefit of the doubt if you're a nice guy. So when you walk in here pretending you're the second coming of Bill Parcells... that's not going to work when you're three and 14 and your team is a disaster.”
• Jake Asman [17:16]: “He lauded the fact they haven’t had any field goals blocked. That came up in his list of the four things. It’s so embarrassing. That’s where we’re at.”
• Jake Asman [23:12]: “There’s this idea that you set the franchise back if you make a coach one and done. It’s actually the opposite.”
• Ty Butler [34:14]: “…Nothing would be same old Jets more than Mitch Trubisky throwing three interceptions, Aaron Glenn gets to break out his sideline celebration, they drop down to seventh in the draft… That would be same old Jets.”

9. Lighter Moments & Show Tone

• Frequent reminders of their “misery as Jets fans” but in a warm, comedic tone—helps the show function as group therapy.
• Light ribbing on show assignments, YouTube streams, and producer Jacob’s haircut (possible “conspiracy theory” about his motives).
• [28:40] Jake Asman: “I thought maybe you were gonna go down the – does he have a new woman in his life perhaps...? No.”
• Banter about the “ass man” nickname, 2026 off to “the best year yet,” and sleeper alarm mishaps give comic relief.

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Jets’ Dysfunctional Season and Stats:
  05:11–06:41 — Unprecedented defensive futility and Rich Cimini’s historic context
• Lions Jets Comparison Debunked:
  10:07–11:59
• Aaron Glenn’s Leadership, Culture, and PR War:
  08:18 (Glenn reflection soundbite); 14:09–17:16
• Case for Moving On from Glenn After One Year:
  23:12–24:05
• Fan Calls: QB Blame, Ownership, Coaching Decisions:
  35:30–39:19
• Jets’ 2026 Draft & QB Prospects:
  44:29–47:25

Final Thoughts

This episode is a candid, occasionally cathartic airing of Jets pain and organizational dysfunction. Ty and Jake offer no easy hope—just straight talk, deep stats, and a reminder of the stakes as the franchise approaches another crossroads. Absolutely essential listening for long-suffering Jets fans and anyone morbidly fascinated by the anatomy of a football disaster.

Ty Butler and Jake Asman stream live on ESPN New York and YouTube, taking your Jets calls, gripes, and laments. Stay tuned for Hour 2, where Giants and more NFL talk await!