Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn expected to get interview with Saints after Sean Payton exit

The New Orleans Saints have a head coaching opening with Sean Payton leaving, and Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn is expected to get an interview.

Even after he didn’t land as a finalist after interviewing for the Denver Broncos head coaching job, a new possibility surfaced for Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Now, a step that direction has come.

According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, after head coach Sean Payton’s officially announced he’s stepping away, Glenn is expected to get an interview with the New Orleans Saints.

Prior to coming to Detroit to be the defensive coordinator for fellow former Saints assistant Dan Campbell, Glenn was the defensive backs coach in New Orleans for five seasons. He interviewed for the New York Jets head coaching job last year, which of course ultimately went to Robert Saleh. Glenn was drafted as a cornerback out of Texas A&M by the Jets in 1994.

Odds are still good Aaron Glenn ends up staying in Detroit

As a pre-emptive strike against any speculation he’d leave for a head coaching opportunity if one came, Glenn made sure his commitment to the Lions was clear after the season.

“I want to be the best coordinator the Lions ever had. That’s all I think about,” “…Listen, this is a job that I have right now, and I want to be the best I can be at it. And I want to be the best that ever came through Detroit. I want you guys to say that at some point, that he was the best coordinator ever. That’s what my goal is.”

It appears Saints defensive coordinator Dennis Allen, who was slated to interview with the Chicago Bears Tuesday, is the top candidate to replace Payton based on Rapoport’s report. He filled in when Payton was out with COVID for a game this season, and he was the Oakland Raiders’ head coach for 36 games from 2012-2014.

Glenn will be a head coach at some point, and sooner rather than later. New Orleans looks like a great fit, and they’ll surely give him more than a token interview if/when they do talk to him soon. But it remains hard to see him leaving the Lions this way, after one year as a coordinator.