When he left his post as Detroit Lions' defensive coordinator and was announced as the New York Jets head coach a year ago on Tuesday, Aaron Glenn wasted no time in his effort to set a tone.
"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.”
As part of that tone-setting, Glenn dealt with the elephant in the Jets' room, one Aaron Rodgers, swiftly and harshly (much to Rodgers' chagrin). That showed the players who remained how no one would be above the team, as Glenn tried to bring the Lions' culture to the franchise he was drafted by as a player.
Much like what Glenn was part of in Detroit, it's going to take a little time to get the Jets on the right track. Glenn was clearly aware of that from the start, but one year in he also surely thought there would be signs of progress.
Aaron Glenn is struggling to get things on the right track with the Jets
A 3-14 record in Glenn's first year is bad enough on the surface. After an 0-7 start, the Jets found a level of competitiveness with three wins in their next five games. Then came a five-game losing streak to end the season. All of those loses were by at least 23 points, with a combined score of 188-54, and the idea Glenn could be one-and-done was out there.
Alas, Glenn survived. But he is overturning his coaching staff, firing several assistants up to and including offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand. The search for a new defensive coordinator, after the late-season firing of Steve Wilks, was been especially challenging with a new Glenn wants to call the defense himself publicly added to the equation.
ESPN's Rich Cimini has taken a deep look at all that played into the Jets' struggles during Glenn's first season. Some things were beyond Glenn's control, like the death of former Jets center Nick Mangold and cornerback Kris Boyd being shot in Manhattan. In part, Cimini painted a picture of a head coach who had a lot to learn in Year 1 but kept the players believing in his message during the week.
"It's not the coaching," one starter said at the conclusion of the season. "We need more pieces, a lot more pieces."
As a reflection of the mess, a former general manager offered Cimini some opposing sentiment about Glenn.
"A former general manager with four decades in personnel said he rates coaches and executives based on their big decisions, and he believes Glenn's first-year decisions were poor. He pointed specifically to the quarterback change (Fields-for-Aaron Rodgers) and the Wilks hire, saying it was dubious that a defensive-minded coach such as Glenn couldn't nail a staff decision in his area of expertise."
"He did nothing with the culture," the former GM said. "He talked about swagger and toughness, but I didn't see any of that. They played like a bunch of guys punching time clocks; they didn't want to be there."
To be frank, it's hard to keep players fully engaged when losses keep piling up. Combined a lack of talent with any perceived lack of effort, and you get the kind of blowout losses the Jets had to end Glenn's first season.
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Glenn was part of a team that ended a head coach's first season on a good note, with a bunch of players who fit the desired cultural template. That team also started said head coach's second season poorly, before getting on an upward trajectory spurred by many of those same players.
There are some who think Glenn will be a better head coach than his fellow former Lions' coordinator, Ben Johnson. While Glenn should not be written off just yet, the results for the two couldn't have been more opposite in their first seasons. So, once again, something has been proven unequivocally.
Landing spot matters. While the Chicago Bears were hardly a picture of functionality before Johnson got there, the Jets have been on their own level of dysfunction for a long time. Maybe Glenn can fix it, if he's given the time to do so.
Or maybe, and maybe more likely unfortunately, Glenn will be the next prominent victim of Gang Green in the football sense.