I covered Dan Campbell’s Lions. That’s why I’m buying Aaron Glenn’s Jets
New York Jets may be following the same path the Detroit Lions took under Dan Campbell. I covered Campbell’s rebuild from the beginning, and the parallels between Aaron Glenn’s first year and Detroit’s turnaround are hard to ignore.
The New York Jets finished with just three wins in Aaron Glenn’s first season as head coach, and the national reaction was predictable. But as someone who covered the Detroit Lions from 2014 through the Dan Campbell era, I’ve seen this movie before.
Glenn’s first year with the Jets and Campbell’s first year with the Lions share so many parallels that it’s hard to ignore. The Jets’ 2026 offseason, their NFL Draft haul, and their schedule all point toward a team ready to take a significant step forward, the same way Detroit did in Campbell’s second season.
Aaron Glenn and Dan Campbell are cut from the same cloth
I get it. When the Lions’ coaching staff broke apart after the 2024 season, everybody looked at Ben Johnson as the guy. The offense is the sexy thing. That’s what people focus on, and Johnson showed in his first year with the Bears that he can coach.
But I always looked at Glenn as the better candidate because of what he is as a leader.
Glenn is the defensive version of Campbell. He’s a leader of men. When he talks, everyone listens. He’s not Matt Patricia. He’s not coming in to be a disciplinarian who just yells to yell. He’s more like a yelling father than a yelling coach.
Everybody respects Aaron Glenn, and everybody loves Aaron Glenn.
Campbell came into Detroit and took a franchise that had been the laughingstock of the NFL and turned it into a perennial contender. He made it to the NFC Championship Game in 2023 and finished 15-2 in 2024.
But after that first year? People called him a meathead.
They made fun of the kneecap thing. They made fun of him for wearing a race car helmet at a press conference. The next year, he took the Lions on a magical run to a 9-8 record, and you could see the turn of the guard.
The Jets’ offseason was loaded
I look at this Jets offseason, and I’m enamored by it. New York went out and got Minkah Fitzpatrick, Joseph Ossai, Kingsley Enagbare, Demario Davis, and David Onyemata. They added Geno Smith at quarterback, who in some ways reminds me of Jared Goff. You can see the parallels. Maybe Smith is on his second wave after things didn’t work out with the Raiders. I think he’s a good hand on the wheel who can do a little extra, though the Jets should still look to find a quarterback in next year’s draft class.
But it was their 2026 draft haul that I was absolutely in love with. David Bailey at No. 2 is the best edge rusher in the class. Kenyon Sadiq is a starting tight end with the ability to be that Sam LaPorta/Kyle Pitts/Brock Bowers type of player. Omar Cooper Jr. was a great wide receiver addition. D’Angelo Ponds was a cornerback I was sure the Lions were going to target. Cade Klubnik is worth keeping an eye on, and Darrell Jackson Jr. is a solid defensive tackle prospect.
From Round 1 to the start of Day 3, the Jets just killed it. That’s all you need sometimes to have a generational draft class.
The schedule sets up perfectly
The Jets have the 12th-easiest schedule by Vegas and the 5th-easiest according to Sharp Football Analysis. They’re playing that last-place schedule. If Geno Smith can get back to form, if Garrett Wilson becomes the player everyone believes he can be, and if Breece Hall does his thing, the offense can get going. Defensively, New York is so much stronger than a year ago as well.
Maybe the Jets don’t make the playoffs. But I think they could walk out with an 8-9 or 9-8 record, maybe better. They could overachieve.
Don’t crown or dethrone anyone after 1 year
People think I’m crazy when I say I still believe Glenn is the better head coach from the Lions’ coaching tree. Johnson and the Bears made the playoffs in year one. I get it. But Chicago isn’t going to have that easy schedule again, and things are going to even out. We shouldn’t be crowning anyone after one year, and we shouldn’t be dethroning anyone after one year either.
If the Jets fire Glenn after the 2026 season because they don’t make the playoffs, it will be one of the biggest mistakes a team could ever make. I’m sticking to my guns on this one. We’ll see what happens.
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