It’s only been two months, but Aaron Glenn’s tenure with the New York Jets is already being criticized. The team is 0-7, the offense ranks 27th in points scored, and the defense has allowed the seventh most points in the league.
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The culture change within the ranks has yet to take place. And, according to Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, Glenn could end up doing better by taking some notes from Dan Campbell.
“It’s been real fun to watch the Detroit Lions since he [Campbell] became the head coach,” Edelman noted during the most recent episode of the Dudes on Dudes podcast. “And it started out terribly.”
Edelman then spoke about Glenn’s tenure in New York, emphasizing the need for time to establish a culture by citing how Campbell worked things in Detroit. “So for people like Aaron Glenn and the Jets, if you can get that culture established, which you know the Jets are a long way from that, but it takes time for things to happen. Thank god Detroit gave him [Campbell] the time.”
Campbell’s first year in Detroit was memorably rough. The Lions finished 3-13 in 2021 and looked to be regretting their decision to move from Matthew Stafford in favor of Jared Goff.
But to Campbell’s credit, a 9-8 finish in year two established the much-needed momentum. At the time, it was Detroit’s first winning season in five years, and that’s all it took for the franchise to buy in.
Since then, Campbell’s Lions have been at the forefront of the NFC title picture. Even though they’ve yet to officially break through and make it to the Super Bowl, the consensus is that this is not the same team that we had grown accustomed to.
The ‘why not us’ mentality took over, and it doesn’t seem to be leaving Detroit anytime soon. There’s a sense of expectation in the city now, something that has not existed since the 1990s. And under Campbell, they won’t be giving that up without a fight.
With guys like Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, and even Breece Hall on their roster, there’s no denying that the Jets certainly have the pieces to pull off a successful rebuild. The only issue is that they seem to have no will to do so.
The club’s owner, Woody Johnson, recently threw their QB1, Justin Fields, under the bus by suggesting that it’s hard to have expectations for Glenn when he’s dealing with “a quarterback like that.” This highlights that even the team’s ownership is beginning to grow frustrated that the Jets are now the laughing stocks of the league.
Until they can instill some hope and the will to fight in their players, that’ll continue to be the case.
