For the Jets head coach, life in green and white stretches back a long way.

Aaron Glenn grew up in Humble, Texas and went on to play for Texas A&M after a brief stint at Navarro College in Corsicana. As a teenager he nicknamed himself “Prime Time Jr.”after the legendary CB Deion Sanders. That changed to “showtime” at Navarro, where it became clear that Glenn was destined for bigger things. 

Glenn’s penchant for post-tackle theatrics didn’t go down well at College Station, with Texas A&M coach R.C. Slocum saying it gave him a bad name. Glenn focused on his craft and won a number of accolades over his two year stop with the Aggies including the SWC Newcomer of the Year award in 1992, the SWC Defensive Player of the Year in 1993 while being named a Consensus All-American the same year. 

Coming out of college he was seen unanimously as a first-round draft pick. He reportedly ran a sub (or close to, depending on who you ask) 4.40 forty yard dash. Renowned for his quickness and ability to mirror receivers, Glenn was taken with the 12th overall pick by the Jets in the 1994 NFL Draft.

GM Dick Steinberg, who made the selection, said this of Glenn following the pick: “He’s got the speed, the instincts, and the toughness you want in a corner. We see him starting right away and helping us in the return game too.”

It was those instincts which really made people pay attention. Glenn had nine interceptions in two years with the Aggies and his 13 passes defensed led the nation in 1993. He also returned 2 of the 19 punts he returned in college for TDs. 

The focus in that 1994 offseason was to refresh the Jets defense with young talent and experienced veterans. As well as taking Glenn in the first round, the Jets also selected defensive tackle Lou Benfatti in the 3rd, linebacker Horace Morris in the 5th (great name by the way) and signed veterans Donald Evans and Perry Williams…although some of those moves worked out better than others. Williams, for example, never actually played for the Jets despite winning two Super Bowls with the Giants (XXI and XXV).

Glenn has always had humility and honesty. When he was asked to review his preseason performance against the Eagles in his rookie season he simply said “I don’t want to really talk about it… It wasn’t good.” While he didn’t log a trademark interception as a rookie, he made a number of notable plays and finished his season with 67 tackles and 2 forced fumbles, showcasing the quickness and instinctive play that made him a first round player.

His first interception would come in 1995 as he picked off Rick Mirer of the Seahawks, jumping a slant route, and in the same game he’d recover a fumble and take it on a mazy run that lasted around 30 seconds and gained around 10 yards. 

His career with the Jets was full of marquee moments. There was the 100-yard pick-six against the Dolphins in 1996, the 6-interception season in 1998 and of course we have to mention the fake spike situation in 1994, with Glenn along with the rest of the Jets defense being faked out by Dan Marino, which led to the TD that won the game for the Dolphins. 

In total, Glenn played in 124 games for the Jets including three in the playoffs. He recorded 24 interceptions, with three of those being returned for touchdowns. He had 36 pass defenses, 6 forced fumbles and 396 tackles. He returned 115 kicks and even took one to the house against the Bills in 1997.

During his final season in New York in 2001, Glenn’s 14 pass defenses led the team, as did his 5 interceptions. But that offseason, the Jets exposed him to be selected by the Houston Texans in the expansion draft. The decision to leave him unprotected was made by Terry Bradway who cited salary cap restraints as the reason he allowed both Glenn and Marcus Coleman to be selected from the defensive side, as well as offensive tackle Ryan Young who was taken with the second pick by the Texans. 

Glenn held the highest salary of all players selected by the Texans in the draft, and while his selection helped to solve the salary cap issues in NY, the Jets missed not only his playmaking ability on the field, but his leadership in the locker room. The Texans got a Texas native to build their defense around, and Glenn would go on to pick off 11 passes in 43 games for Houston as well as being named a Pro Bowler in 2002. 

Glenn would go on to play for the Cowboys, Jaguars and Saints before calling time on his career after the 2008 season. 

After a short stint as GM with the Houston Stallions in the Texas Lone Star Football league, it was the Jets who gave Glenn his first front office opportunity as a personnel scout in 2012. Glenn credits his mentor Bill Parcells for the motivation to scout because getting into the coaching game: “Bill Parcells told me, ‘If you want to be a great coach, learn how to evaluate talent first.’ That stuck with me.” 

He credits that start in personnel for helping him on his coaching career: “Being a scout taught me how to look at players beyond just athleticism. You learn to see character, fit, and upside. That’s helped me tremendously as a coach. I always knew I wanted to coach. Scouting was the bridge. It gave me the foundation to teach, not just react.”

That holistic approach to coaching is what Glenn is hoping to bring to the Jets as he continues to build this roster for sustained success. You sometimes have to go through some tough periods before you reap the rewards, and Glenn has experience in Detroit to call upon for that. Dan Campbell and Glenn arrived together in Detroit in 2021 with the Lions having missed the playoffs for four straight years and without a playoff victory since 1991. 

It wasn’t until week 13 of their first year that they tasted success on the field, and while they won just 3 games in that first year, it set the foundation for what we see today in Detroit. A team that has won more playoff games in two years than they did in the previous 30. Glenn will be hoping to replicate that turnaround and end another playoff drought here in New York.