Aaron Glenn talked about how Dan Campbell and daily visits with Jameson Williams helped prepare him for being a head coach.
This past weekend, Aaron Glenn ran his first-ever rookie minicamp. The former Detroit Lions defensive coordinator turned New York Jets coach is just beginning to lay the foundation for what he hopes will be a new era of successful Jets football.
On Saturday, Glenn met with the New York media , and immediately credited Lions coach Dan Campbell for having him prepared to take on the responsibilities of an NFL head coaching job.
“I give a lot of credit, man, to Dan Campbell for putting me in positions to be head coach for the Lions in certain situations,” Glenn said. “For him putting me in the room. For him asking my advice on how practice should go. So those are really seamless transitions for me to script practice. It’s a seamless transition for me to be in front of the team. So all those things he’s done actually prepped me to be in this position. So I give him a lot of credit for that.”
Glenn talked about how, throughout his coaching career, he’s slowly had to relate to more people. Starting as a defensive backs coach for the Saints, his responsibilities grew in Detroit to manage an entire side of the football. Now, in New York, he’ll have to lead an entire team.
But Glenn noted that connecting to the offensive side of the ball shouldn’t be a problem. He pointed to daily morning visits with Lions receiver Jameson Williams as an example of him already connecting with players, no matter what position they played.
“I think (Campbell) knew I had the ear of the team, also, and not just the defense, because I vibed with those guys on the offense quite a bit,” Glenn said. “I think I’ve said this before, but every morning at 7:30, Jamo was in my office, and we would sit there and talk.”
I don’t recall Glenn ever mentioning that while in Detroit, but it does speak to the kind of leadership qualities Campbell has repeatedly mentioned throughout his time over the past four years. Luckily for the Lions, many have been saying the same things about new Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard.
“I’ve always believed that Shep could be an outstanding coach,” Campbell said at the NFL Combine this year. “About two years ago, I just felt like, ‘Man, this guy will be ready to be a coordinator sooner than later.’ So, AG and I had talked about it and tried to give him more responsibility over the last two years. With that in mind for him, that this is the next step, this is the next step. Without telling him; nothing was ever promised. I felt really good about that, like, he’s ready.”