You could have excused Aaron Glenn if he was wondering whether his coaching career was about to go up in flames.
It wasn’t long ago that the former Jets first-round draft pick, now the Lions’ 50-year-old defensive coordinator, was an NFL head coaching candidate. And seven games into this season, Glenn’s Detroit defense had allowed 225 points, an average of 32.1 per game.
“It wasn’t looking so good there for a while,’’ Ray Mickens, Glenn’s former Jets teammate and close friend, told The Post.
Well, the Lions, coming off of last week’s 20-17 win over Glenn’s former team have turned a 1-6 start into 7-7. They’re the hottest team in the league (along with the Bengals) entering their game Saturday at Carolina.
Though the Lions’ offense has gained most of the attention for the turnaround, it has been Glenn’s defense that has made the most dramatic difference. The Lions have allowed just 139 points in the past seven games, an average of 19.9 per game, nearly two touchdowns better than that horrible start. And for that, Glenn deserves serious credit.
“He’s going places,’’ Bill Parcells, Glenn’s former head coach with the Jets and Cowboys, told The Post. “His team’s improving. They could use a few more players on defense right now, but he’s got them playing hard and they’re starting to show a little consistency.’’
Former teammates and coaches of Glenn’s saw this coming when he was a player.
“As players, we all get the X’s and O’s, but what makes a coach out of a former player is how you can relay that information to other people, and A.G. had those qualities and those characteristics as a player,’’ Mickens said.
“He’s acquiring experience and his team is improving,’’ Parcells said. “He’s smart. He kind of knows what he’s doing now and he’s gotten some experience. I hope he gets a chance.’’
That “chance’’ to which Parcells referred is as an NFL head coach.
Glenn had a couple of looks last offseason, interviewing with the Saints and Broncos. He, too, interviewed for the Jets job that Robert Saleh got before the 2021 season.
He may not be quite there yet, but Glenn is at least in the conversation, which comes as no surprise to those who know him well.
“He’s got a coach’s mentality, he does not have a former player’s mentality,’’ Al Groh, Glenn’s former defensive coordinator with the Jets, told The Post. “As a player, he always wanted to know not just what to do but why things were. He had not just a talent for the game, but a mind for the game also. He understands how players have to hear what coaches have to say.’’
Anthony Becht, a former Jets tight end and teammate of Glenn’s, told The Post, “Aaron was always a very communicative player on the field. As a player, the way he went about his business was very much like a coach on the field.’’
Jets defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, who played with the Saints when Glenn was an assistant in New Orleans, saw those qualities up-close.
“He encompasses everything it means to be a true coach and a true teacher of the game,’’ Rankins told The Post.
“Man, I think he will be well-rounded, very respected and humble head coach.’’ Mickens said. “He’s been paying his dues for a long time and I’m proud of him.’’