New Jersey’s Florham Park: Aaron Glenn, the New York Jets’ first-time NFL head coach, finally felt the emotional weight of his new job during practice on Saturday. More than seven months after his hiring, Glenn became shockingly upset. He said it wasn’t because of the 12 penalties called on his squad during their “pseudo scrimmage,” but because of the fans’ sincere “J-E-T-S” chant.
“I’m sure this will hit at some point, but I told the players this: Today was the first day it really hit me since I became head coach,” Glenn said at the start of his post-practice news conference. “And I knew it was real when I heard the fans chant ‘J-E-T-S.'” And I don’t know why, but it just hit me.
A Strong Bond with the Jets Team
Glenn, who is 53 years old, has a long and illustrious history with the New York Jets. The team picked him in the first round of the 1994 NFL Draft. He played for them as a Pro Bowl cornerback for eight of his 15 NFL seasons. His relationship with the team didn’t end there; he also worked as a personnel scout for New York for two seasons (2012–2013) before starting a successful career as an assistant coach. Most recently, he was the defensive coordinator for the Detroit Lions from 2021 to 2024. In January 2025, he returned to lead his old squad as head coach. This was a big event in his career.
Glenn said with a shaky voice, “It hit me pretty hard,” and he was very thankful. I’m very grateful, man. This group gave me a chance, and I’m thankful for that. I’m grateful to this group for giving me a second chance to become a coach. I don’t know why, guys. But it hit me hard, and I’m simply thankful. “Thankful to be in this situation.” He said that he was astonished by the sudden rush of feelings because he thought they had already sunk in.
Dealing with penalties and a lack of playoffs
Glenn and new general manager Darren Mougey have a tough job ahead of them: they need to bring a franchise back to life that hasn’t made the playoffs in 14 seasons, the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. Since he was hired, Glenn has always talked about how committed he is to transforming the Jets’ culture and making them a consistent winner by focusing on the basics and tough competition.
Even though he was focused on discipline, Saturday’s practice brought up a problem that keeps coming up: penalties. During the “pseudo scrimmage,” the Jets were penalized for 12 penalties, including a lot of holding calls. This made for a messy session where quarterback Justin Fields and the offense had a hard time. Some calls even made the full stands boo.
Glenn said, “We have a lot of things to fix, and I’m sure everyone saw the penalties.” “I’m glad the refs were there because that’s one thing we want to hit hard.” I want them to call it like a game, and I think they did a wonderful job of that. Glenn said again that there are “no excuses” for the discipline problems and committed to fix them.
Worries About Injuries Come out of the scrimmage
The Jets had more problems on that day when important players got hurt:
Special Teams Ace and Cornerback Kris Boyd hurt his shoulder during special teams exercises and had to be taken off the field. People saw him writhing in anguish on the sidelines. Glenn didn’t know right away how he was doing. Boyd inked a one-year, $1.6 million deal with the Jets this offseason and is thought to be a good player on special teams.
On the last play of practice, wide receiver Xavier Gipson hurt his shoulder trying to grab a pass in the end zone.
Safety A hamstring ailment kept Jaylin Simpson from playing.
These injuries, along with the recurring problem of penalties, show that Glenn and his coaching staff have a lot of work to do to get ready for the 2017 NFL season, when they want to end the franchise’s long playoff drought.