Estimated reading time: 9 minutes
Admittedly, defensive football coaches are forced to perform some variation of a tap dance these days. These fellas find themselves swimming in a sea of offensive madness while simultaneously trying to prove their value.
Think about it, genuinely …
Today’s National Football League is an entirely different beast from the one Rex Ryan found himself coaching the New York Jets pre-John Idzik. A combination of the offensive bonanza and concussion-prevention rule changes has led us to this modern era, featuring the “offensive thinking man.”
Therefore, defensive-minded coaches find themselves on the devalued end of the spectrum. How one handles this quandary is quite the sticky issue.
On one hand, game after game, day in and day out, defensive coaches must show up at the party wholly prepared, in a league that continuously attempts to stomp them down. On the other hand, those very same defensive minds screw themselves if the mindset is not thoroughly adjusted when taking a head coaching gig.
The very same attitude that lays claim to the defensive coach’s value—preaching just how critical defensive football still is, how physicality still matters, and how a team’s defensive unit can still be relied upon—directly contrasts with what wins today.
If that weren’t enough, football coaches are often stubborn by nature. New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn is seemingly no different.
The 2025 Jets are the only winless team in the league that plays for pay. Aside from a tremendously positive effort in Week 1, Glenn’s Jets exhibit everything teams do not want to showcase in this current version of the game.
How? Why? Well, when uncovering every bit of evidence up to this point in the season, Aaron Glenn’s messaging priorities are the appropriate place to start an examination.
Preaching physicality: Wrong
Whenever an NFL head coach mentions physicality in the modern league, a skeptical view is warranted. That’s just the way it has to be.
Indeed, physicality remains an aspect of the game we call football; there’s no question about it. However, it’s still a part of the game, akin to the onside kick.
“If it’s in the game, it’s in the game,” says EA Sports (and, apparently, Aaron Glenn). But we all know that’s nonsense.
Today’s version of the onside kick is laughable when compared to the one of yesteryear. To such an extent that it drastically alters end-of-game strategies.
Those who don’t view physicality in the same light are doomed to fail.
Quick, think fast: Who are the most physical teams in the NFL today? The Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens qualify, perhaps. Who else?
Once your brainstorming period finishes, the only logical conclusion is that it’s never a question worth asking … anymore. While physicality will always be an element of football—unless/until Roger Goodell and the powers that be officially turn it into flag football—it’s no longer a meaningful reason why a team finds sustained success.
As everybody remembers, Glenn famously ran live open-field tackling drills this past summer at Jets camp. Although nobody will confuse these sessions with Bear Bryant’s infamous Junction Boys days at Texas A&M, they were, indeed, to-the-ground tackling drills.
“The principles of this game will never change,” Glenn said after the Jets’ July 28 training camp session. “This game is about running, blocking, and tackling, and if you don’t practice that, me, as a head coach, how am I giving our guys a chance to win? The only way to get better at something is to rep it.”
Personally, I loved it. I praised it then, and I’ll continue to honor it moving forward. As I also mentioned at the time, however, it means nothing in today’s league if physicality is one of the head coach’s top messaging priorities.
It must be complementary.
SEE ALSO: Aaron Glenn's head coaching success hinges on 2 key questionsPreaching discipline: Wrong
The New York Jets are currently tied for 22nd in the NFL by committing 8.4 penalties per game. They find themselves 29th in penalty yards per game (70.4).
Not only is this team still making the same insane, bone-headed moves this season, but they are doing so despite the head coach’s relentless preaching of discipline. What gives?
Preaching discipline to this extent, particularly in today’s game with modern athletes, only exacerbates the issue.
Why in the world would any coach continue to shine light on such a mental issue at this stage of the game? The Jets’ brutal Monday night loss to the Miami Dolphins really highlighted the concern, as nearly every player showcased a panicked vibe.
They were all tight, all anxious, all waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The only way to reduce penalties is to place players in the best positions to succeed. Repeat this line over and over and over and over again. And then do so continuously, no matter where you may be, and no matter the time of day.
It’s not a matter of being “disciplined” anymore; playing football today is about advantageous positioning. The absurdity of the rules has led to this outcome, and believing otherwise is to live in denial of reality.
That yellow laundry will fly from all directions at all times, no matter the teams and location of the game.
Any 1v1 scenario down the sideline places a cornerback at the mercy of the official. Any rush attempt on the ground places the offensive line at the mercy of the official. Any quarterback pressure places the defensive line at the mercy of the official.
Discipline surely exists in this game, yet it’s only complementary by nature.
Preaching identity: Wrong
Time and again, we hear Aaron Glenn talking about his vision for the New York Jets. Even if he didn’t speak, we’d know what his goals actually are.
Glenn wants a rush-first team while utilizing Justin Fields’s athletic abilities. He also places a lot of emphasis on special teams and craves physicality on defense.
Forget about guessing; he’s said as much.
Cornerback Brandon Stephens currently leads the team with 16 solo tackles. Sauce Gardner has also improved in the tackling area. Neither of these things is inherently harmful, but if these stand out as one of the few positives, something is very wrong.
Long gone are the days of the identity-driven football teams.
The days of recognizing an uber-aggressive, defensive-first team like the 1985 Chicago Bears are dead. The days of fearing the quarterback attacking, running-the-ball-for-time-of-possession New York Giants teams of Bill Parcells’s ilk are gone. The days of marveling at the quick-timing passing game of Bill Walsh’s San Francisco 49ers are buried.
Every NFL team in 2025 must have a buttoned-up three-step passing game. Every NFL team must pressure the quarterback. And yet, no team can call itself “defensive first.”
Quick, think fast (again): Name the last truly dominant defense in the NFL? Was it perhaps Peyton Manning’s 2015 Denver Broncos, or maybe the Legion of Boom Seattle Seahawks? I’m not entirely sure.
What I am sure about is the idea that no successful team today can feature its defense as the unit that wins games.
Actually, it’s pretty acceptable to believe that defensive football is as dead as rock and roll. What’s called “defense” today is more akin to throwing stuff at the wall in the hopes that something sticks—bending but not breaking (red zone defense) and making the opposition uncomfortable with pre-snap games.
Defense, and more appropriately, identity, comes as a result of the only critical top-of-list priority that drives success in today’s league.
Preaching strategic deception: Correct
Physicality, discipline, and team identity are just three items that result from the actual needle-mover in today’s game: strategic deception.
Everything about today’s league boils down to the thinking man’s on-field strategy—particularly from an offensive viewpoint.
As much as that sucks to admit aloud for defensive coaches—and yes, I am most definitely one of those at the high school level via the New York state champion Port Jervis (NY) Raiders—it’s the truth. This doesn’t mean a defensive-first coach cannot succeed as a head coach in this league.
Guys like Mike Vrabel, Mike Tomlin, and Sean McDermott are excellent coaches. Throw John Harbaugh into that mix as well. What all the above translates into is the keen awareness that the head coach needs to live fully in today’s reality.
John Harbaugh made his bones as a special teams coach. However, when he was faced with the quarterback controversy between Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco and the young Lamar Jackson, his ultimate decision demonstrated an ability to understand the current and future landscape of the football world.
Once upon a time, Sean McDermott’s Buffalo Bills were struggling mightily on offense—with Josh Allen at the helm. Instead of waiting one game longer, McDermott appropriately pulled the trigger during the 2023 season, replacing then-offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey with now-play-caller Joe Brady.
Buffalo hasn’t looked back since.
Other guys, such as Nick Sirianni and Dan Campbell, don’t call the offensive plays. Despite that fact, both individuals are uncannily aware of their surroundings.
Much like McDermott, Campbell replaced his offensive coordinator after one season. The 2021 Detroit Lions won just three games with old-school, rush-first mind Anthony Lynn calling the offensive plays. When they turned the ship around a year later, it was Ben Johnson steering the ship.
Campbell saw just how well Johnson understood today’s league that thrives on offensive deception.
Preaching offense first: Correct
Then there’s the list of successful and/or up-and-comers who are all of the offensive mindset and call the plays:
- Andy Reid
- Sean McVay
- Kevin O’Connell
- Kyle Shanahan
- Sean Payton
- Matt LaFleur
- Zac Taylor
- Kevin Stefanski
- Brian Schottenheimer
- Shane Steichen
- Liam Cohen
- Ben Johnson
Some, such as Mike McDaniel and Brian Callahan, are seemingly on the outs. Meanwhile, others, such as Dave Canales and Kellen Moore, could be placed in the “too early to tell” category.
No, it’s not required to employ an offensive-minded head coach to find success; that’s not the point here. It’s instead about understanding what process makes the most sense.
Based on the odds, what works best—whether unintentionally or not—is to ensure that the offensive strategy is the team’s most prudent focus. If that is, indeed, the mindset, then everything else trickles down from that singular notion, complementing the offensive approach.
Any formula that treats all three units on the same level finds it much more challenging to finish the three-piece puzzle. When one of the three is the lead horse, the other two know what’s required to polish the result cleanly.
The new-age rules have decreased physicality in an inarguable fashion. Therefore, every play becomes much more predictable for the offensive play-caller. (Decreasing physicality means the randomness of 1v1 battles has diminished, which then, in turn, implies speed becomes the most significant variable.)
The franchises that understand this notion deploy the football teams that have the most success. Nobody will ever confuse Andy Reid or Ben Johnson with William Wallace of Braveheart fame. It’s doubtful that either has delivered a “fight for your freedom” speech before a game this year.
It’s not up for debate that both use their brains to put their players in the best position on the field, and both understand that the offensive viewpoint has surpassed anything and everything else.
For Glenn, the top-of-mind priorities are all wrong. Forget about physicality, discipline, and team identity. At the very least, forget about preaching it so incessantly and then discussing it with the media so relentlessly.
Keep those matters in mind, but do so in the name of what wins in today’s league. Until Aaron Glenn begins discussing opponent-specific tactics publicly and starts tirelessly working on new deceptive strategies—while not treating offense, defense, and special teams as equals—the New York Jets are going nowhere in a hurry.
