The Aaron Glenn Effect: A hero's return, and a new hope for the New York Jets

By the time Aaron Glenn shook Woody Johnsons hand and walked out of the New York Jets facility on Jan.

21, he knew what was coming next.

There was no written agreement, not yet, just a handshake between coach and owner, a potentially transformative one for an organization seeking a new leader.

And this leader, in a way, had been sitting under their nose for 31 years.

Glenn hopped in Johnsons private airplane and flew home to Detroit to spend the night with his family before signing on the dotted line.

It was the last time hed go to bed as anything other than the head coach of the team that drafted him.

Advertisement In the morning, he got a phone call from one of his mentors in coaching, a man who first saw his coaching potential with the Dallas Cowboys 20 years ago, and the first person to entrust him with real responsibility as a position coach in the NFL.

I said, Aaron, Im not calling with any rooting interest here, Broncos head coach Sean Payton told The Athletic .

Im just calling to say, Hey, Im fired up for you.

I told him to remember all the things that we know relative to what wins, to trust your gut, trust your instinct.

By Wednesday afternoon, it was official.

This was all it was ever going to be for Glenn.

He has a practice of visualizing what he wants, vivid imagery.

The past few years, even as he interviewed for other jobs, hed pictured himself as the head coach of the Jets.

When they drafted him in 1994, the only thing Glenn knew about the organization was that Ronnie Lott, one of his heroes, was on the team.

Glenn was 22, naive about what was in front of him.

In his first four years, he played for three head coaches and endured one of the worst stretches of losing in team history.

He came out of that on the other side, Bill Parcells side.

Glenn outlasted most of his contemporaries, becoming a three-time Pro Bowler, enjoying a long career for an undersized cornerback.

He bounced around the league after eight years in Gotham Green he even signed a one-day ceremonial contract to retire as a Houston Texan (hed joined Houston before its inaugural season).

But his first NFL job after retiring as a player: a Jets personnel scout.

His compass always pointed back here.

Now, hes 52, grey in the beard.

He needs glasses to read.

But the core of who he was then ferocious, committed, passionate is still there.

Theres a presence about him, Payton said.

As gifted and as skilled as he was, man, theres a grinder element, and a work element to him and a toughness and mental toughness to him that ...

When you start combining all those things, you end up with one of these special people.

Advertisement Glenn is here to change a top-down mindset, like Parcells his role model, friend and mentor did 28 years ago.

Former Jets players, some who havent followed the team in years, say they are fully invested again.

This is where I started, Glenn said.

You cant write a better story than that.

Glenn walked into the locker room in Hempstead, N.Y., with stars in his eyes.

For his rookie year, 1994, his locker was next to Lotts.

Glenn held Lott, one of the NFL greatest safeties in NFL history, then at the end of his career, in such high regard that he had a hard time speaking to him like they were teammates.

Hed call him a father figure.

Lott put him at ease.

He told Glenn to be cool, that he was just another player.

When they got out onto the practice field, Lott admired Glenns competitive fire, not to mention his speed.

Glenn ran a 4.39-second 40-yard-dash coming out of Texas A&M, a big reason why general manager Dick Steinberg and head coach Pete Carroll traded up to draft him in the first place.

You cant buy that speed, Lott said at the time.

I wish I could buy some of his speed.

Lott would tell Glenn, though, that it takes more than athleticism to survive, let alone thrive, in the NFL as long as he had.

He was going to have to fight for everything, to earn it.

Glenn earned a starting spot that fall.

He had a few rookie moments, but Lott remembers one play during an early season game, when Glenn lined up on the wrong side of the field, got into position just before the snap and then made a play on the ball, forcing an incompletion.

Its moments like that that you remember him fighting for that ball, fighting for that moment, Lott said.

Thats the great thing about him.

Lott watched Glenn earn it as a rookie, then watched from afar as he earned it again as a coach.

He has the fight, he has the desire, Lott said this week.

The best part about it is, you get to sit back and go, he earned that .

He fought for a lot of things to get to where hes at.

Losing is bad, especially when it persists.

For two years, it felt like the Jets were stuck trying to walk the wrong way up an escalator.

Carroll was one-and-done, fired by then-owner Leon Hess after a 6-10 season in 1994, replaced by Rich Kotite.

The move failed spectacularly; the Jets went 3-13 in 1995 then went 1-15 in 1996, the worst two-year stretch in franchise history (no small feat for a franchise that has been through its share of darkness).

Advertisement The constant losing felt impossible to overcome to keep trying, and keep failing, can be debilitating.

The plane trips back after road losses were silent, and home games in front of a nearly empty stadium often felt worse.

It was hard to find the fun in football.

There was a moment halfway through the 96 season where Im just like: I would gladly give up a game check just to win, said Chad Cascadden, a Jets linebacker.

When you lose youre not smiling.

Youre not happy.

Youre not laughing on the plane ride home.

Its kind of somber.

Its almost like going to a funeral.

Its not the appropriate time to enjoy life.

Added defensive end Hugh Douglas: Nobody cared about us.

Nobody cared about the Jets.

Glenn never let that change his approach.

Aaron was that one cat that came to play every week, Douglas said.

Glenn wasnt a rah-rah leader, at least not early in his career.

But he always showed up.

In 1996, struggling as the losses piled up, Cascadden remembered a solemn, respectful Glenn.

Any frustration he was feeling never came out.

That year, Glenn had four interceptions and returned two of them for touchdowns.

It felt like the Jets had enough talent to win, but something was missing.

This was a roster that had Douglas and Glenn, both future Pro Bowlers, plus defensive stalwarts like Victor Green, Marvin Jones, Mo Lewis and Ray Mickens.

The quarterback play was poor, sure, but it was more than that.

The Jets lacked direction.

Kotite was fired after the 96 season.

Parcells replaced him.

Everything changed.

It was Day One, Cascadden said.

Finally someone was there to put people in their place and set the parameters of whats expected from you.

So when he came in and set the tone and described what his culture is going to be like.

I was like O.K., good.

Its about time.

Advertisement Day One was stressful for Glenn because Parcells was known for having very specific parameters for the kind of players he wanted on his roster.

He liked his quarterbacks to act a certain way, and to have a certain background.

Depending on the position, he also wanted his players to come in at a certain size.

Glenn, at 5-foot-9, did not fit the mold of a Parcells cornerback.

When Glenn learned this, he stormed into Parcells office and asked his new coach if he was getting traded.

As the story goes, Parcells calmly closed the door and told Glenn to sit down.

Everybody has a price, he said.

My own wife can get traded.

But if you play the way I think you can, what are you worried about? That conversation was the start of a lifelong mentorship that continues now.

Glenn quickly became one of Parcells favorite players, known for competing as hard in practices as he did on Sundays.

His practice battles with wide receiver Wayne Chrebet became appointment viewing for teammates two hard-nosed, undersized players, going at it.

That was one of those things where, as a young player, youre like: Wait a minute, these guys are teammates? said Nick Ferguson, a Jets defensive back.

You always hear the cliche about man sharpens man like iron sharpens iron.

You got to do it in practice in order to be able to get to do it in the game.

And youve got to create that intense environment thats competitive.

AG set that tone.

Parcells cultivated a culture of competition, responsibility and accountability.

He got rid of players who didnt fit the culture he was creating, and brought in ones that did.

He got rid of guys that were only there to cash checks, Cascadden said.

He preached meritocracy: You get what you earn.

It worked, almost immediately.

The Jets started 1-2 and then won five of their next six games.

Football was fun again.

They finished 9-7, narrowly missing the playoffs.

Glenn made the Pro Bowl that year, then again in 1998, when the Jets went 12-4, beat the Jaguars in the playoffs and then went to Denver for the AFC Championship.

Advertisement Bill Parcells came in and he just totally brought a different mentality, and different people, and to me thats what really changed the culture, Glenn said.

Heres what I learned: I can stand in front of a group of men and I can give as many Rah, Rah speeches as I can, but culture is about people, and getting the right people in the building, and I saw that first hand with what Bill Parcells did, and thats why the turnaround was so fast.

What happened in the Broncos game, though, still stings.

The Jets went up 10-0 in the third quarter on a Curtis Martin touchdown.

After that, the Broncos took over, capitalizing on repeated Jets blunders.

Parcells always said the team that made the fewest mistakes would win; the Jets turned it over six times in a 21-10 loss.

The Jets only made the playoffs one more time with Glenn on the roster, 2001, his last year with the team.

But Glenn thought about that Broncos game when he took the Jets job.

Ill be damned if Im not going to come back here, Glenn said, and get that back.

GO DEEPER Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey bring the Jets hope if Woody Johnson stays out of their way Whats up, Angry Man? Glenn knew how to cut the tension.

Ferguson needed it.

Special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff used to walk with a cane and, during a 2001 game, Chad Morton returned a kick to midfield.

However, an official threw a flag.

On who? Westhoff screamed.

The official turned around and pointed at Ferguson.

Westhoff threw the cane like it was the sword from Braveheart, Ferguson said, and started to yell at the Jets safety and special teamer.

The penalty was actually on someone else, Ferguson insists, so he bellowed in anger.

Glenn started laughing.

Im gonna call you Angry Man, Glenn said.

He still calls me that to this day, Ferguson said.

This game can be frustrating and intense.

And the pressure mounts when theres an expectation for you as a team or you as an individual to perform at a high level.

And having unique ways to break that tension is so vital and so important.

There are certain coaches who dont understand that.

When Ferguson arrived in New York that offseason, a 26-year-old rookie who had bounced around NFL practice squads and the Canadian Football League, he got a quick education in expectations and responsibility.

Glenn a stickler for details, Ferguson said pulled him aside and told him that the Jets had a certain standard.

If you want to stick around, Glenn told him, you need to live up to our standard, every single day.

To someone whos not familiar with it, being around AG, it sounds harsh to them, Ferguson said.

But thats love.

Thats someone seeing something in you, to push me past the point of what people said I could be.

He was trying to push me to a point I never thought was possible.

Thats how you get good.

Advertisement And Ill tell you this: I didnt see that in the Jets team last year.

Al Groh, who Glenn still spends time with every summer, was the head coach in 2000 before resigning to take a job at the University of Virginia.

Herm Edwards took over, and the Jets made the playoffs in 2001.

Then the Texans stole Glenn away in the 2002 expansion draft.

Glenn stopped back for one more stint with Parcells, in 2005, with the Dallas Cowboys.

Payton was the offensive coordinator of that team.

In Week 1, Drew Brees marched the San Diego Chargers down the field with less than two minutes to go in a tight game.

He got as deep as the Jets 7-yard line.

On fourth down, Glenn, lined up in the slot, picked him off, clinching a win.

To that point, Glenn had already been through different iterations of his career, adjusting each time.

Payton marvels at how seamlessly he transitioned from being a No.

1 corner, to a No.

2 corner, to a nickel.

Payton quickly understood why Parcells was so fond of him: One of the things Bill used to say about players, the ones that played 14, 15, 16 years, they always knew who they were.

Often players lose track of who they are and it actually shortens their career.

Aaron had that football IQ and a tremendous work ethic.

GO DEEPER D.J.

Reed, Haason Reddick, and Jets' 10 best free agents When Glenn retired after the 2008 season, spent with Paytons Saints, something was ...

missing.

He focused on business ventures he was a restaurateur in Houston and family, driving his kids to school, and spending more time with his wife, Devaney.

He remembers watching an NFL game on ESPN one night and he started cursing at the TV.

Devaney knew what he needed in his life: Football.

She told him to go coach.

It was like a weight off my shoulders, he said.

So he called Parcells, who gave him a directive: Dont coach, not yet.

Youre going to scout .

Glenn was resistant.

He says Parcells told him, Thats what youre going to do because I think you have a chance to be a head coach, and the best head coaches are really the guys that are the best evaluators.

Advertisement The Jets hired him.

Glenn spent two years in-house, he said, learning about the salary cap and how to evaluate players already in the building, then two years on the road scouting college players, driving his Honda Accord from Texas all the way up through North Dakota, he said.

He brought that experience with him to his first coaching job, as an assistant defensive backs coach for the Cleveland Browns.

But his first job with real responsibility came from Payton, who hired him as the Saints secondary coach in 2016, where Glenn spent five years.

He was instrumental in the development of players like Vonn Bell, Marshon Lattimore, Marcus Williams and C.J.

Gardner-Johnson.

Dan Campbell was on that Saints staff too.

He brought Glenn with him as defensive coordinator when he was hired as the Lions head coach in 2020, tasked with turning around one of the NFLs most tortured franchises.

As the Lions built up their roster, Glenn changed up his defensive scheme to fit the teams personnel.

A 3-13-1 debut season turned to a 9-8 record in Year 2.

They went 12-5 in 2023 and made it to the NFC Championship, narrowly losing to the 49ers.

In 2024, the Lions went 15-2 and Glenns defense was never better, thriving even as key starters and backups were lost to season-ending injuries.

Players were pulled off the practice squad and free agents were signed off the street, thrust into key roles at big moments.

And yet, Glenns unit finished as the seventh-best scoring defense in the NFL, and ranked 10th in defensive EPA.

He interviewed for practically every head coach opening this offseason except for the rival Patriots, who he turned down.

If you asked whats great about Aaron, his characteristics center around playing as hard as you can.

Hell get the same out of the guys with the Jets that he did with the Lions, Lott said.

I think that respect factor that Aaron hes going to get it.

Its the same thing that Pete (Carroll) tries to get, and the same thing that Jimmy Johnson tried to get, the same thing that John Robinson tried to get, the same thing Bill Walsh tried to get.

All those guys find ways to tap into a characteristic that is really important in football: You always have a little bit more inside yourself than you know, and we saw that with Detroit.

We saw that with how hard they competed for him.

Glenn was flanked by new general manager Darren Mougey, a 6-foot-6 former wide receiver, but at their introductory press conference, Glenn was the one towering over the room.

His message echoed through the halls of a facility that has known more futility than triumph.

Lott watched the press conference in San Francisco, Ferguson in Denver, and Douglas in Philadelphia.

Cascadden sat in the front row as Glenn spoke.

Chrebet and a handful of other former teammates joined him.

All over the country, former Jets players are now rallying around a team that many of them had ignored.

Glenn has that effect.

Advertisement I told him Ill visit, said Douglas, who was traded to the Eagles in 1998 and hasnt been around the Jets since.

This will be the first time Ive done anything associated with being a New York Jet.

Im excited for the direction theyre going in, excited for my teammate to be in that position and Im just excited for the organization.

AGs teammates came out in full force today pic.twitter.com/DrLl3LkpkM New York Jets (@nyjets) January 27, 2025 Payton watched Glenns introductory press conference at Denvers facility and marveled at his presence.

It prompted Broncos owner Rob Walton to run through some of the better intro pressers hes seen Payton laughed, Im like, man, Im glad you didnt see my first one in New Orleans.

When the Saints hired Payton in 2006, he committed the cardinal sin of having his entire speech written out (by his agent) on a piece of paper, rather than just bullet points for reference, what theyd taught him when he studied communications at Eastern Illinois.

I was just reading like a dummy, Payton said, laughing.

I learned.

Glenn had a sheet with some notes, but most of what he said came from the heart.

He thanked all of the coaches who have influenced and inspired him, like Parcells, Groh, Payton and Campbell.

He preached about accountability and responsibility.

And this: We are the freaking New York Jets, we are built for this s.

It was fantastic, Payton said.

Im thrilled for Aaron.

Hes a superstud.

Theres an it factor.

Theres not only a work ethic but a presence, in front of the room, and a confidence level that theyre going to embrace.

Said Lott: To do it now in New York and to do it with the Jets, what an honor for him.

All of us are going to be watching him, rooting for him and all of us are going to try to find ways to help him.

Advertisement Lott remembers pulling Carroll aside at the end of training camp in 1994 to give his stamp of approval for Glenn, a rookie.

This kid has fight.

He is going to be special.

At the end of a long phone call with a reporter, Lott asked to pass along a message.

Just let him know: I cant wait.

(Top photo: Ed Mulholland / Getty Images).

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