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Jacksonville Jaguars coaching search: Why Aaron Glenn could be the answer to fixing team
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- Jacksonville Jaguars coaching search: Why Aaron Glenn could be the answer to fixing team
Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn stood at the podium this week as his team gets set to play in the Divisional Round of the playoffs, answering questions for the first several minutes about his prospects of becoming a head coach elsewhere around the league.
Glenn is a hot-name candidate who appears likely to get a job leading a team somewhere among the six openings remaining in the league, including the Jacksonville Jaguars . Glenn interviewed with Jacksonville virtually on Jan. 11.
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Coming from a defensive background, Glenn is one of the outliers when it comes to this year's crop of prospects . Loaded with minds focused on the offensive side of the ball, this year's group of candidates points to a continuous shift around the league toward scoring and offensive production.
FRENETTE: Here's who should be top candidate (and two backups)
Big-shot candidates who have created stable foundations for their quarterbacks and have innovated an offense to be less predictable and highly efficient are going to be the apple of anyone's eye.
But Glenn is different . He doesn't come from an offensive background, he played cornerback for 14 years before coaching defense for 11-plus more. Many would look at his background and say he coaches defense.
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Glenn would say he's just a football coach — no designation necessary.
"Here's the one thing that I would say about myself: I'm a coach. I just happen to be on defense. I understand the offense just as well as a number of people. So, if you want to hire me, you're gonna hire a coach," Glenn said via the Lions' media availability transcript.
"You're not gonna hire a defensive coach. I'm gonna talk to the offense just as much as I'm gonna talk to the defense."
And that's exactly the type of coach the Jaguars need.
Jaguars must focus on culture, identity and leadership, not scheme in head-coach search
Jaguars owner Shad Khan laid out what he is looking for in the team's next head coach.
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"I think we want him to represent the city and the team, obviously, well. We want him to win. Right now, we are the most predictable team on both sides of the ball. Football, to win, deception is a big part of it. Unpredictability," Khan said shortly after firing Doug Pederson.
"If you know exactly what we're going to do on offense or defense, you'd better have the 22 best players to help us win a football game. So, being unpredictable is I think modern football, and we have to be able to show that on the field."
Though Khan focused primarily on schematics and what the Jaguars were ailed by on the gridiron from an X's and O's perspective, he left out another major aspect of the team's shortcomings the last couple of years: identity and culture.
Perhaps one of the most overlooked pitfalls of Jacksonville and Pederson's collapse has centered around sustainability and maintaining an identity. This was, no pun intended, identified early in the year by Pederson, but never corrected as the team limped to a 4-13 finish.
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Pederson lambasted the team's culture with Jaguars sideline reporter Bucky Brooks shortly after the team's Week 6 loss to the Chicago Bears . He spent Monday's press conference clarifying the comments but maintaining it's meaning.
"I mean, obviously, we've lost some games here, right? So, we want to change that culture to a winning culture. That's why we coach and that's why we play. I think to that statement that I made, I mean, these guys – listen, they bust their tail. I've said this, and you've seen how we've practiced," Pederson said in October.
After the team's loss to the Eagles in Week 9, Pederson didn't want to "settle" on an identity for the franchise amidst a losing season.
"I'm not one to kind of settle on that. I'm going to keep working. I'm going to keep challenging players, and we have to get better. So I'm not going to settle on the fact that, you know, it is what it is, obviously, but, we're going to roll up our sleeves and go to work and try to keep it moving and try to fix it already," Pederson said. "Let me think. First down, second down, third down. I guess we just need to coach better."
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Jacksonville's culture and identity were ultimately that of a losing one. They weren't winning, therefore they were just losers.
This seemed to be a trend, though, since the first week of the season with many players and coaches independently pointing out that if the team doesn't fumble at the goal line, doesn't give up an 80-yard score on the next play against the Miami Dolphins , perhaps the season is different.
Pederson was never able to get his team to recover, and he's out as a result. What Jacksonville needs now is a coach who can establish a culture and identity, never falter and possess complete buy-in, ala the Lions and Dan Campbell's staff that includes Glenn on defense. They need a true leader.
Though the schemes are important, even a coach like Pederson — who was once thought to be the next big-deal offensive mind in football — can fall victim to culture, identity and leadership issues.
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It wasn't always bad in Jacksonville, and perhaps it's not as bad as it seemed to get down the stretch of Pederson's tenure, but it's clear change is needed and it's not just about who's calling plays.
Aaron Glenn understands new-age players, can connect with team
Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn hugs linebacker Anthony Pittman during warmups before the game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Monday, Dec. 30, 2024.
Glenn has quickly established himself as one of the top leaders on one of the best teams in football this year.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson , also a candidate for the job in Jacksonville, sang Glenn's praises this week, calling him "beyond qualified" to lead a team.
"I think I told you guys this last year, he is beyond qualified right now," Johnson said Wednesday. "You hear all of our players singing his praises right now, and that's exactly what I would do. I would second that. He is more prepared to be a head coach than maybe anybody I've ever met. He wants that, and I think he'd do a phenomenal job in charge."
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Glenn could offer a welcomed change in Jacksonville. As a former player, he understands what makes the guys tick, and how to listen to them. That wasn't an issue for Pederson, but the next step — which Pederson maybe never got the chance to correct down the stretch — is to adapt to the new-age players, understand how to get them to listen, how to get them to always buy in to what you're selling.
Glenn understands that.
"Today's coaching, man, you have to be relatable. The players have to be able to sit down and talk to you and have a conversation. Man, there are so many players I'll talk to this day say, 'Man, I've never had a chance to just sit and talk with a coach. I've never had a chance to have interaction and confrontation with a coach,'" Glenn said on an episode of The Pivot in 2022.
Glenn told a story of Lions defensive back Tracy Walker coming to the coordinator's house just before training camp to watch film and bond. It shocked the then-fifth-year corner who said he'd never had a coach invite him over like that before.
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"I was shocked like, 'why, why can't it happen?' Because, you know what, as a player? Man, I would love to sit down with my coach and let's sit there and pick his brain and watch. So, that's what I want to offer to all my players. Coaches over here and players over there, that's not what we are. We [are] right here," said Glenn.
"Because my job is to help you get better. That's my only job, right? My job is to create a winning environment for you, get you paid, right? Because everybody wins. The organization wins and you win if all those things happen."
The Jaguars will continue with interviews throughout the weekend and likely into next week before deciding on the team's next leader.
When they do decide, they must keep the intangible factors in mind and perhaps the tangible ones will follow.
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Demetrius Harvey is the Jacksonville Jaguars reporter for the Florida Times-Union. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Demetrius82 or on Bluesky @ Demetrius .
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This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville Jaguars coaching search must focus on culture, identity
