There hasn’t been a former or current head coach who has had anything bad to say about Aaron Glenn on the New York Jets.
Whether it’s former mentors like Bill Parcells or others who had Glenn on their staff like Sean Payton, the current head coach of the Jets carries an impressive pedigree of respect from around the league.
Respect won’t turn the Jets around, though.
Jets Get Glowing Review
Speaking to reporters during league meetings earlier in the week, Lions head coach Dan Campbell made it clear that Glenn was the perfect hire for New York this coaching cycle.
“As long as he has the support, AG will turn that thing around,” Campbell said. “He’s an unbelievable leader, and he’s an even better person. He’s the type of guy who makes people rally around him and do things to help him have success. He is going to bring the right type of people around him. He already has done that with the coaches and he’ll bring the right kind of players.
“If he can’t do it, nobody can, and that’s my opinion.”
It’s easy for Jets fans to get excited about quotes like this from Campbell. The way Glenn has spoken about the kind of team and systems he wants to run – all in an effort to make players better – is something the organization hasn’t had in years.
That is especially true when it comes to actually teaching at the NFL level.
“That’s the No.1 trait you look for in a coach – No. 1 is being able to teach, and No. 2 is being able to develop,” Glenn said. “I hold that to a very high standard in every coach that I have, and that’s one of the things I vet up on every coach is how are they developing and really that’s what coaching is – teaching and developing.
“Every player that we have is not going to be ready-made, and that’s okay, but we look forward to that.”
That doesn’t mean everything is about to be fixed for the Jets, though.
Reviews Mean Nothing
Glenn has said and done all the right things you want from a first-time head coach in his first offseason.
He’s made it clear that everyone will have to earn their way on his roster, the team won’t be beholden to former schemes he once ran as a play-caller before, and that the organization’s culture is the first point of change.
All of this sounds good. Yet, the offseason praise means absolutely nothing until the Jets prove it on the field.
And Glenn knows it. He said as much in Florida.
“It is by design,” Glenn said, describing the Jets’ relatively quiet offseason approach. “Listen, I’m just a huge believer in just moving in silence and you let things play out the way they need to play out. I think our staff has done a really good job of that just overall. Let’s just make the moves we need to make. This doesn’t need to be a big hoopla with what we’re doing.”
The Jets haven’t had a winning season in nearly a decade and haven’t reached the playoffs in the last 14 years. Changing an organization’s culture cannot happen overnight with that kind of history of losing.
But if Glenn can turn the Jets around in Year 1, he will reinforce every former and current coach’s review of him.
At this time, though, it’s all but words. And luckily for the Jets, they have a coach who understands it.
