Buckle up.
That was the message from new Jets coach Aaron Glenn on Monday in his introductory news conference.
“To any players who are here now, put your seat belts on and get ready for the ride,” Glenn said. “Listen, there’s going to be some challenges. But with challenges [comes] opportunity. But here’s what I do know: We’re the freaking New York Jets, so we’re built for this s–t.”
Glenn, 52, was introduced along with new general manager Darren Mougey in Florham Park.
Warning: Graphic language
The duo will now try to turn around a franchise that is engulfed in a 14-year playoff drought and a streak of nine straight losing seasons.
Glenn, a 1994 first-round draft choice of the Jets, was a H๏τ candidate in this hiring cycle after his success as the Lions defensive coordinator.
While he interviewed with the Bears, Jaguars and Raiders as well as the Jets, Glenn said the Jets job was the one he wanted all along.
“Listen, I wanted this job,” Glenn said. “I interviewed for a number of them, but I wanted this job.”
Glenn hit plenty of high notes in his news conference, including alluding to his history with the Jets.
Glenn was a part of three losing teams to start his career, including the 1-15 campaign in 1996.
When Parcells arrived, the Jets went 9-7 and then 12-4 before losing the AFC Championship game in 1998, which still bothers Glenn.
“In ’98 we played the Denver Broncos [in the AFC Championship game],” Glenn said. “We’re out there and we’re winning 10-0 in the first half. We come back out in the second half, they kicked the ball off, it was windy, the ball stops in midair, and they recover it and they score two touchdowns. I’ll be damned if I’m not going to come back here and get that back.”
Glenn played eight seasons for the team and witnessed the transition the team underwent when they moved from Rich Koтιтe at coach to Bill Parcells.
A number of former Jets showed up for Monday’s news conference, including Wayne Chrebet, Glenn Foley, Nick Mangold and Damien Woody.
Jets owner Woody Johnson said Glenn and Mougey stood out during the interview process from the first time they spoke to them.
The Jets interviewed 16 candidates for each job before making the hires.
“The thing that comes through most loud and clear is authenticity and his leadership and his football knowledge and the fact that he has a pᴀssion,” Johnson said of Glenn. “When you’re studying calculus and you don’t like calculus, it’s hard. But when you’re studying football, he loves it and he lives it and he wants to get better. … I think he’s going to be really, really good.”
Glenn now must go about hiring his coaching staff. He said it is a “work in progress.”
Veteran coach Steve Wilks is being considered for defensive coordinator, according to sources.
Rams тιԍнт ends coach Nick Caley is considered a favorite to be the offensive coordinator, according to sources.
Glenn said he will not be calling the defense.
“I want to be the best head coach, the best head coach you can find. In order for me to do that, I think I need to manage the game,” Glenn said. “I will have my OC and my DC, those guys will be calling the plays.”
Glenn said there has been no decision made about quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ future.
He said they have exchanged text messages, but he and Mougey will figure out whether they want Rodgers to be the team’s quarterback in 2025 after they further study the 2024 season.
As for changing the culture of the Jets, Glenn emphasized that they need to get the best people working for the Jets in order to turn things around.
“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,” Glenn said. “I saw that firsthand with what Bill Parcells did and that’s why the turnaround was so fast.”
Glenn made it clear he was happy to be back home with the Jets, where he was a player and then became a scout in 2012.
“First off, and I said it before, this is where I started, and you can’t write a better story than that,” Glenn said, “because this is my start for a number of situations, as a player, a scout, and now as a head coach. You can’t write that story no better than that. So, hopefully this will be my last stop. That’s the way I’m looking at it.”