Bill Parcells remains the only head coach in New York Jets history to have a winning record with the team while coaching more than one season.
Aaron Glenn is the next man who will seek to join him, and “The Big Tuna” himself believes that the Jets’ new head coach has a great chance of pulling it off.
Speaking to NFL Network’s Judy Battista after the hire, Parcells spoke highly of Glenn, who played under the Hall of Fame coach with the Jets and Cowboys. Describing Glenn’s coaching style, Parcells said, “He’s not afraid to be contentious. He’s just feisty. Not rude or impolite. He’s just willing to get his point across.”
Glenn will be tasked with turning around a downtrodden Jets franchise that has not made the playoffs since 2010 or had a winning record since 2015. Fortunately for New York, it’s not a task that Glenn is unfamiliar with. He was a part of achieving it with this very same franchise, and he did it under Parcells’ leadership.
After drafting their future head coach in 1994, the Jets went 10-38 over Glenn’s first three NFL seasons, missing the playoffs each year. They were becoming a laughingstock, having not won a playoff game since 1986. Then, Parcells took over as head coach in 1997, and the turnaround began. Inheriting a 1-15 team, Parcells led New York to a 9-7 record in 1997 and followed it up with a 12-4 season in 1998, reaching the AFC championship game.
While Parcells only coached three seasons with the Jets, he succeeded in changing the Jets’ culture for the long haul. His arrival kickstarted a decade-plus run of respectability for the franchise. From 1997-2010, the Jets made the playoffs seven times, won eight playoff games, and had a .500+ record in 11-of-14 seasons.
With a similarly assertive mentality to his former head coach – the type of coaching style that has been lacking in Florham Park for quite some time – Glenn is hoping to pull off a culture-changing overhaul of his own.
