Reporting from Florham Park, NJ—In the final years of the Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas era, the New York Jets were an organization that looked to add any veteran to bolster their roster.
The decision to focus on a more veteran-laden roster backfired. Now, both Saleh and Douglas are with their former teams in lesser roles. The Jets, meanwhile, are looking for a new regime to fix what the previous regime created.
That’s exactly what Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey have done.
After years of having an older roster, the Jets have focused heavily on adding young talent with high potential. As the team begins its first few practices of OTAs, it has just four players currently over the age of 30.
What caused such a significant shift? According to the team’s head coach, it was one key meeting over a decade ago.
Aaron Glenn shares Super Bowl secret
Before being hired as the New York Jets’ head coach, Aaron Glenn was a Pro Bowl cornerback, turned scout, turned defensive assistant for many of the great head coaches of the age. From Bill Parcells to Sean Payton to Dan Campbell, Glenn has seen some of the biggest turnarounds in league history over the years.
He firmly believes New York’s youth movement can spearhead historical turnarounds.
His evidence? His experiences with the New Orleans Saints and Sean Payton that ultimately helped extend their own title window in the late 2010s.
“I learned this maybe 10 years ago, that you can’t be afraid of the young player,” Glenn said during team OTAs on Wednesday. “I think our main purpose as far as building this roster is more let’s get the players we feel like can help us play, and that can help us win and be successful.”
Glenn mentioned his time with the Saints and Super Bowl-winning head coach Sean Payton as a reason for his push to get younger. He also recognized scouting director Jeff Ireland for his impact.
Through it all, his prior teachings have taught Glenn one key thing.
“It’s a young man’s game, you can’t be afraid of a young player, and we trust the
players that we have,” Glenn stated. “So, regardless of their age, we’re going to put them out there and let them play.”
New York has focused all offseason on getting younger. They believe that is the only path forward to being a sustained winner.
Why the Jets can make the most of a youth movement
The Jets have done what they needed to do this offseason to improve from recent years. They have upgraded key parts of the roster, and the coaching staff appears more put-together than in previous years.
New York has a plan to get better than the disaster that was their five-win season in the rear-view mirror. Part of that plan was to get younger across the board.
As the team continues to grow on the practice field, only time will tell if that plan will work in Florham Park, as it has for many other teams around the league.
