Content available exclusively for subscribers
Aaron Glenn was asked on Tuesday why he decided to take over the defensive play-calling.
“To me, play-calling is my superpower, really,” Glenn said. “Doing it for four years in Detroit, and man just look at the maturation of those four years of how we improved every year and how I improved as a play-caller. I really miss doing that. I think it’s a huge part of helping us become the team that I see us becoming.”
This is an answer that caused quite a stir.
The New York Post has a graphic with him dressed as a superhero.
Obviously, this answer begs a lot of questions.
If this is his superpower, why didn’t he call the defense himself, right out of the gate?
“Being a first-time head coach, and really wanting to do it the right way, I felt like the best decision for me was to allow someone else to be able to do that so I can manage the game,” Glenn said.
But then why, when Woody Johnson fired Steve Wilks with three games left last season, didn’t Glenn take over the defense at that point?
That was very surprising.
The Jets’ defense was horrid last season, and they were coming off a blowout loss to Jacksonville, one of the worst defensive performances we have seen around here in a while. If calling defense is his “superpower,” why didn’t he take over those last three games?
Instead, he promoted safety coach Chris Harris, who had never called defensive plays before.
How was that going to improve things?
With a defense as broken as it was, Glenn, if he believes calling defense is his “superpower,” then he should have taken over the last three games. How was promoting a guy who had never done it before, with three games left, going to improve things over Wilks?
You could make a strong argument that decisions actually made less sense than his initial decision to hire a DC so he could manage the game.
But this answer is another example of why Glenn could perhaps use some media training, as most public figures get – governors, senators, mayors, CEOs, whomever.
Very common for public figures who deal with the media a lot.
Glenn needs to work with a messaging expert to hone his messages. There is no question.
This should not be considered an insult to the coach.
If governors, senators, mayors and CEOs do it, why can’t a football coach? And there are really good media coaches out there that work with governors, senators, mayors, CEOs.
To come out and say that calling defense is your “superpower,” this leads many people to say, “Then why didn’t you do it from the get-go – why did you hire somebody who was fired after one year at his two NFL DC jobs?”
If I were to give Glenn a little advice from a reporter to a coach, it would be to cut down the verbiage in his answers. Be like Brian Daboll. Short, concise answer that gives the media very little to chew on.
Glenn tends to get into these long-winding explanations/answers that often get him in trouble.
There is an old saying, “Less is more.”
February 25, 2026
Premium will return by 9:30 pm (or sooner) on Thursday.
