The New York Jets interviewed or wanted to interview many top coordinators around the NFL for their head coaching position. They landed one of the hottest candidates, former Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn.
Now, Glenn’s placement in the Assistant Coach of the Year voting demonstrates exactly why multiple teams were interested in him. Glenn received six first-place votes, ranking second behind only fellow Lions coordinator Ben Johnson (29), who ran the offense.
Both Glenn and Johnson landed head coaching jobs this offseason with the Jets and Bears, respectively. That came on the strength of a Lions team that finished fifth in FTN Fantasy’s defensive DVOA metric and second in offensive DVOA.
Glenn received particular acclaim for how well his defense held up despite a laundry list of defensive injuries. Aaron Schatz’s Adjusted Games Lost metric (which estimates each team’s number of games lost to injury when accounting for playing time) has not been released yet, but the Lions’ defense will undoubtedly lead the league.
No injury was more devastating than the broken leg edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson sustained during the Lions’ fifth game. Hutchinson was the runaway favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, posting 7.5 sacks and 45 pressures on just 198 pass-rush snaps (per Pro Football Focus) — a 22.7% pressure rate that would have led the league.
Other key defensive starters to miss time included defensive tackle Alim McNeill, cornerback Carlton Davis, and linebacker Alex Anzalone.
Although the Lions’ injuries proved too steep to overcome in the playoffs, Glenn still rightfully received credit for his work during the regular season. The Jets need far more than just defensive prowess from Glenn (and new defensive coordinator Steve Wilks), but this vote demonstrates what put Glenn on their radar in the first place.
