Can Aaron Glenn be the man to fix the New York Jets?
By Andy Davies
Aaron Glenn had quite the introductory press conference as head coach for the New York Jets.
“Put your seatbelts on and get ready for the ride,” said Glenn back in January. “We are the freaking New York Jets, and we’re built for this s—.”
Before the Super Bowl had even taken place, the Jets already had their new head coach, with Glenn given the job after a successful period as the Detroit Lions defensive coordinator. Can he be the guy to turn things around?
The past decade has been a tough one for New York Jets fans.
In fact, it has been a tough 50 years and more for the franchise, something Glenn will be hoping to change. Aside from back-to-back Conference Championship appearances in the 2009 and 2010 seasons, they have never been able to replicate their Super Bowl III glory. Since being renamed the Jets in 1963, they have had just 18 winning seasons.
Their droughts go on further than just making the playoffs, with the third longest for a Divisional Round appearance, seventh longest for the Conference Championship and third longest for Super Bowl appearances, the biggest for teams who have made at least one appearance in the big game.
In all this turmoil, arguably the most frustrating period for Jets has been the past two seasons. Going 4-13 and 7-10 in 2021 and 2022 respectively, it was felt that all the team needed was a quarterback to have success.
Despite signing Aaron Rodgers, the Jets finished 5-12 in 2024, a season that cost head coach Robert Saleh his job and which saw Rodgers leave the organisation. Justin Fields is now the new starting quarterback, reunited with former Ohio State teammate Garrett Wilson. However, there is no suggestion from Fields’ first four seasons in the NFL that he can be the guy to turn around the franchise, resulting in more of the same for the perennial strugglers.
NFL fans react to resurfaced Glenn podcast appearance
A clip from Glenn’s appearance on Pivot Podcast resurfaced around the time of his appointment, one that had plenty of NFL fans talking.
He said: “I owned eight restaurants from 2008 to 2011. They were doing well. I was at home and I’m watching Sports Centre. I’m cursing the TV out, I’m watching somebody play, they should have done this, they should have done that. My wife is in there and says go coach. It’s cool you’re doing your restaurant thing and you like that, but you love ball.
“A weight was off my shoulders. I was doing something I liked, but didn’t love, I want to make sure if I do something, my heart has got to be in it. I didn’t stick my toe in the water to see if it was cold, I jumped right on in there and I scouted, in house scout for the Jets a couple years, and then I went on the road driving for hours, college scouting.
“Then, I went right to being an assistant DB coach, I did my QC thing because I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss one step. I wanted to start from the bottom and told everybody that was it, don’t treat me different to everyone else, I want to understand everything there is about the scouting process, about being a QC, about being an assistant coach to a lead DB coach to a defensive coordinator that I am right now and I’m hoping to be a head coach at some point. I didn’t want to miss one step so you can‘t tell me I missed it, just like a player”.
There were some mixed opinions on Glenn’s seemingly imminent hiring. Some feel it is a great appointment. One fan tweeted, “Thank you for sharing that. Makes me want him even more for our coach.”
“Gonna miss him in Detroit. Same type of guy as Dan Campbell. A leader of men, which I think will be good for the Jets to get things moving in the right direction.”, tweeted one Lions fan. Another tweeted, “Dude’s a stud. Some team’s gonna be lucky. Signed…Lions fan.”
Whilst the majority feel it is a good hire, there are some who do not feel the same way. One fan tweeted, “Can the NY Jets get a proven / experienced coach!?! Nothing against Aaron Glenn. He may be a decent defensive coordinator but I don’t want to watch him learn how to be a head coach for 3-4 yrs”.
Another tweeted, “Story is very similar to Saleh’s.”
Jets fans can be optimistic about Glenn appointment
The last tweet should allow Jets fans to be cautiously optimistic. After all, Saleh came to the Jets off the back off a better job as a defensive coordinator than Glenn.
The San Francisco 49ers were one of the top defenses in Saleh’s last two years in the role, ranking second in 2019 for total yards allowed per game and fifth in 2020. The Lions defense has never ranked inside the top 18 in this stat since Glenn took over as Defensive Coordinator in 2021.
They ranked 29th in 2021, 32nd in 2022, 19th in 2023 and 20th in 2024.
We have seen plenty of great defensive coordinators go into head coaching roles and fail. For every DeMeco Ryans, there has been a Matt Patricia and Vic Fangio. Even Brian Flores and Mike Vrabel, who had some success as NFL head coaches, were fired as the league leans towards the offensive side of the ball.
The future remains as to whether Glenn will be the guy to change the mindset in the organization, just as colleague Dan Campbell did in Detroit, or if he is just going to be the next in a long line of failed coordinators turned NFL head coaches.
Similarities to Dan Campbell
In similar fashion to Campbell, Glenn’s aforementioned introductory press conference was jaw dropping.
Like Campbell, Glenn has been hired by a former team from his playing days. He was picked 12th overall in the 1999 NFL Draft. He played 121 games for the Jets across eight seasons. During that period, he recorded 24 interceptions for a return total of 294 yards, three pick sixes, five forced fumbles and 396 total tackles.
In the press conference, Glenn showed his passion for the role. He said: “I wanted this job. I interviewed for a number of them, but I wanted this job.
“I look forward to this. I look forward to it. It’s going to be a great ride. It really is. There’s nothing better than having your start here as a player, here as a scout, and now here as a head coach. And I’m ready for it.
“Sean (Payton) taught me what sustained winning is all about. Dan Campbell, outstanding man. Going to Detroit with Dan, we were at the very bottom.
“But you know what we did? We took them to the top. So here’s the one thing, in my last nine years I was able to do is to take a team from the top and reach the pinnacle, and also be able to sustain that. That’s what we’re going to bring here to this team.”
“The small things about this game is what really wins games. The smartest teams win games. Situational awareness wins games. It’s our job as coaches to make sure we do that because that’s the difference between winning and losing is the small things.”
It is yet to be known how good a job Glenn will do as the Jets head coach. At time of writing, there is a mixture of excitement and trepidation in the air as to whether he can live up to his exciting press conferences or if he is just another Saleh.
ANDY DAVIES
NFL ANALYST
ANDY IS A SPORTS JOURNALISM GRADUATE WITH OVER FOUR YEARS EXPERIENCE OF NFL WRITING AND PODCASTING. ANDY HAS BEEN TO EVERY NFL STADIUM AND IS THE HOST OF THE ACROSS THE POD PODCAST. HE HAS PRESS PASS EXPERIENCE AT THE LONDON GAMES AND MANY OTHER NFL BASED EVENTS SUCH AS THE SUPER BOWL, HAVING INTERVIEWED THE LIKES OF AARON RODGERS, JASON BELL, OSI UMENYIORA, PATRICK MAHOMES, TRAVIS KELCE, DERRICK HENRY, SAQUON BARKLEY AND JALEN HURTS.