It’s only been two months, but Aaron Glenn’s tenure with the New York Jets is already being called into question. The team is 0-7, the offense ranks 27th in points for, and the defense has allowed the seventh most points of any unit in the league.
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The culture change has yet to take place, and according to the franchise’s former rivals in Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman, Glenn would be well advised to take some notes from Dan Campbell. “It’s been real fun to watch the Detroit Lions since he became the head coach,” Edelman noted during the most recent episode of their Dudes on Dudes podcast.
“And it started out terribly. 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 the time.”
Campbell’s first year in Detroit was memorably rough. The Lions finished 3-13 that year and looked to be regretting their decision to move off of Matthew Stafford in favor of Jared Goff.
But to Campbell’s credit, however, a 9-8 finish in year two helped to establish some 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 now clear 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 hasn’t existed since the 1990s, and they won’t be giving that up without a fight.
With guys like Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, and even Breece Hall scattered all throughout 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 through 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,” highlighting the fact that even the team’s ownership is beginning to grow frustrated at the fact that they are the laughing stocks of the league.
Until they are able to instill some hope and fight within their players, however, that’ll continue to be the case.
