There is no place like home.
The New York Jets have found who they have been looking for, and they have taken a blast from the past and gone back to their roots from the 90s in the process. No, not with former coach Rex Ryan, who has been loudly campaigning for a second chance as the club’s commander and chief, but with Aaron Glenn, the team’s former Pro Bowl cornerback and, in recent years, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator, who on Wednesday agreed to take over the reins from Robert Saleh, who was relieved of his duties after a Week 5 loss overseas and interim Jeff Ulbrich as the Jets’ next head coach, according CBS Sports NFL insider Jonathan Jones.
Glenn, 52 years-of-age, kicked off his NFL playing career with New York back in 1994, arriving as a heralded first-round draft pick out of Texas A&M University and spending eight seasons as a Jets defensive back. He accumulated 36 pass breakups across 120 starts for Gang Green and still ranks fourth in franchise history with 24 career interceptions.
He becomes the fifth NFL head coach to have a playing history with his current team, after Mike Vrabel (New England Patriots), Jim Harbaugh (Los Angeles Chargers), DeMeco Ryans (Houston Texans) and Dan Campbell, his most recent boss in the ‘Motor City’, Detroit.
After playing for the Jets from 1994-2001, then making his rounds and serving stints with the Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Dallas Cowboys and New Orleans Saints, Glenn returned to where it all began with the Jets as a personnel scout to get his feet wet in his post-playing career in 2012. Honored as a member of the Jets’ All-Time Four Decade Team for his extended tenure in the organization, he grew interest as a head coaching candidate this offseason thanks in large part to his ability to connect and relate with players in Detroit because he knows what they are going through, where he helped Campbell turn around the Lions into one of the NFL’s most formidable contenders.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe Lions initially got off to a rocky start under Glenn’s leadership, ranking 29th and 32nd in total defense during his first two seasons on the job as coordinator, respectively, but leaped frogged into the top 20 during the 2023 campaign, when they Lions advanced all the way to the NFC championship where they lost to Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49. Then Glenn’s unit took the next step to elite status, finishing in the top 10 in both scoring defense and takeaways in 2024, despite the team enduring a rash of injuries to several key defenders, including star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
Glenn is the second Lions coordinator to depart Detroit for a head coaching job in the last 48 hours, after offensive play-caller Ben Johnson signed on to lead the NFC rival Chicago Bears. He was originally also scheduled to conduct a second interview with the New Orleans Saints, another of his former NFL teams, but that in-person meeting was delayed due to a historic winter storm in the region.
Glenn inherits a 5-12 team, but one that has several talented players in their prime. One of his biggest decisions will be what to do with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, 41, who is, at best, fifty/fifty and undecided on his future and is eager to meet with team officials to discuss their plans.
The Lions, meanwhile, are the first team to lose both coordinators to head coaching jobs since the Philadelphia Eagles in 2023 when they lost Shane Steichen who the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts and Johathan Gannon to the Arizona Cardinals. Detroit will receive third-round compensatory draft picks in both 2025 and 2026 because of Glenn’s move, thanks to NFL rules designed to reward the hiring of minority candidates.
