Aaron Glenn seemingly spent time with every NFL team along his playing and coaching journey.
But a stop with the Detroit Lions is what ultimately led to his shot to be an NFL head coach.
Glenn, after a successful run as the Lions’ defensive coordinator, will reportedly be hired by the New York Jets, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
For decades, the Lions were practically a dead end. It speaks to the organization that general manager Brad Holmes and coach Dan Campbell have built that the Lions are now one of the model franchises in the NFL. That’s a big reason Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson were two of the most sought after names for head-coaching vacancies this offseason. Suddenly, everyone wants to replicate what the Lions are building, after generations of Detroit being a laughingstock.
Johnson was hired this week as the new head coach of the Chicago Bears. Another member of Campbell’s staff in Detroit, defensive line coach Terrell Williams, is going to the New England Patriots as their new defensive coordinator. And now, it appears, Glenn is heading to New York.
Glenn got his first shot to be an NFL head coach due to his work turning around the Lions defense, and navigating it through multiple injuries in the second half of the 2024 season. He had the respect of his players, which helped make him a hot name. During the 2023 season, an NFLPA survey of players ranked Glenn as the top defensive coordinator in the league.
When the offseason started, Glenn was on the list of just about every team that needed a new head coach.
“He’s as good of a coach as you’re going to find,” Campbell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “He’s an even better human being. If nobody wants him, I’ll take him again, I can tell you that right now. But the thought of going through another cycle and he’s not somebody’s head coach, is ridiculous.“
Glenn was a first-round pick of the Jets in 1994 and had a 15-year career at cornerback in the NFL for five different teams. Glenn’s first job after he was done playing was as general manager of the Houston Stallions of the Texas Lone Star Football League. That’s a humble beginning for a future NFL head coach. From there, Glenn spent a season as a scout for the Jets before becoming an assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns, New Orleans Saints and then as the defensive coordinator of the Lions.
It took a few decades as a player and coach for Glenn, 52, to finally get the shot to run an NFL team. But there was a good reason he was one of the hottest names in this coaching cycle.
