Former NFL head coach Ron Rivera heaps praise on Jets' interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris
Former Bears safety and current Jets interim defensive coordinator Chris Harris, right, and former NFL coach Ron Rivera, inset. Credit: Getty Images/Mitchell Leff; Jamie Squire
One of Chris Harris’ first coaches and his former boss in the NFL has some advice for him:
“You’ve got nothing to lose and you have everything to gain.”
That is what Ron Rivera told Newsday regarding the Jets’ new interim defensive coordinator. Harris, who had been the team’s defensive backs coach and passing game coordinator, will take over the play-calling for the entire unit on Sunday after Steve Wilks was fired from the job on Monday. It will be the 43-year-old’s first time with that responsibility.
Rivera’s counsel is true. The Jets defense Harris is inheriting is a mess in terms of both structure and psyche. If he fails it won’t be his fault, it’ll be pinned on the guy who was already canned. But if he succeeds? Harris could become the next bright coaching star in league circles. He could become the next Aaron Glenn.
Rivera pumped the brakes on Harris aspiring to any head coaching jobs just yet. “Let’s let him settle into being a coordinator first,” he said.
This chance to do just that – whether it winds up being brief or turns into something extended -- will be telling.
“Why not go out and do what you think is right and do it your way?” Rivera suggested to him. “It’ll be interesting to watch him and see how he does. He’s a guy I always thought had an opportunity to step up and be a good coach because he was a good player too.”
Rivera would know. He was the defensive coordinator for the Bears in 2005 and 2006 when Harris entered the league as a sixth-round safety for Chicago and became their starter. Harris would go on to play for the Panthers where he led the league with eight forced fumbles in 2007 and became a second-team All-Pro player in his return to the Bears in 2010 when he had five interceptions.
“He was all-in,” recalled Rivera, the two-time NFL Coach of the Year who led the Panthers to an appearance in Super Bowl 50. “He’s somebody whose focus in everything he does is always all about football and getting prepared and ready. He is that kind of guy. To me he was one of those guys who knows it and loves it.”
After Harris’ playing career ended in 2012 he went straight into coaching. In 2020 when Rivera became the head coach in Washington, Harris was hired to his staff and served as defensive backs coach for three seasons.
“He’s a smart guy,” Rivera said. “He knows the game, understands the game. He has always been successful at everything he has tried. He had a tremendous playing career and he coached for me and I thought he handled that very well too. Chris is a bright young guy. I think he is a guy who has some growth and development to do still, but he is also very mature and a good decision-maker. I loved the way he prepared his players.”
Now Harris will get three weeks with this new title, three games to turn around an underachieving defense as best he can.
It won’t be easy. The secondary has been hit hard by injuries to the point where three of their better potential players at those positions may be on the sideline with headphones rather than on the field with helmets. Harris, Glenn, and special teams coordinator Chris Banjo, all former players, might be able to give the Jets better production than some of the active ones they have. They certainly would have a better chance at forcing some takeaways and ending the astounding streak of 14 straight games without an interception. Those three coaches alone had 62 combined picks in their careers; the four projected starters for Sunday’s game have just two.
But there is also some talent up front that has gone largely untapped because of the schemes the Jets had been employing. Edge rushers Will McDonald IV and Jermaine Johnson have both seen their sack numbers dip this year and neither Jamien Sherwood nor Quincy Williams has been able to duplicate the kind of numbers they have posted in the past. If Harris gives them more freedom to react rather than tether them to certain responsibilities perhaps they will be able to flourish through these last few games.
Harris also has one other advantage: Glenn.
The head coach said he will be working closely with Harris to help fix a defense that has allowed 82 points in the last two games, ranks 30th in points allowed on the season (28.4 per game), and is 29th in run defense (137.2 yards per game). Glenn was defensive coordinator for the Lions for four seasons before he came to the Jets. In 2023 his team allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in the league and in 2024 they finished tied for second in fewest passing touchdowns allowed.
“I want to see consistent improvement,” Glenn said of his expectations from Harris. “I want to see structure that's consistent, I want to see play that's consistent, and I want to see the culture of this football team come together.” He also said he wants to see “tighter” coverage in the passing game and more focus on stopping running backs.
If Harris can accomplish that, he might be back in this new role next year too.
“This is his opportunity to shine,” Glenn said.
Rivera, who is currently the general manager of the football team at Cal, his alma mater, said he isn’t worried about Harris.
“I think Chris will be fine,” he said. “Chris is a solid defensive coach, a young coach who has done some really good things. I think he’s got an opportunity here to show everybody what he is capable of.”
Harris has always taken advantage of those in the past. There’s no reason to believe he won’t this time as well.
Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.
