After four seasons, Aaron Glenn will lead Gang Green into a new era on Monday.
Day 1 of the Jets’ voluntary offseason program begins Monday and players will start checking into the facility at Florham Park.
Along with the Jets, the Bears and Patriots will also begin their offseason programs on Monday. Teams with new coaches can start their offseason programs two weeks early to get to know their new coaching staff, and players can learn their new offensive and defensive systems.
“To me, it’s a process and I’ve talked to our staff about this,” Glenn said about the start of the offseason program during his availability at the NFL Annual Meeting. “I’m not here to talk about Super Bowl, I’m not here to talk about playoffs and any of that when the players first get in.
“To me, it’s the process of actually making it to that point. Two things I want to make sure that we do first and foremost is establish a culture that we’ve been talking about and then try to create and build an environment and understand what Phase One is really about.”
Phase One of the first two weeks of the offseason program is limited to meetings, strength and conditioning, and physical rehabilitation. The second phase consists of on-field workouts, including individual or group drills and on-field work, like a walkthrough, but live contact is not permitted.
Phase Three includes 10 days of organized team practice activity (OTAs). No live contact is allowed, but teams can run 7-on-7, 9-on-7, and 11-on-11 drills.
The Jets are coming off a disappointing 5-12 season in which many NFL experts predicted they would contend for a Super Bowl. The Jets have not made the playoffs since 2010 and have the longest postseason drought in North American sports. In addition, the Jets haven’t registered a winning record since 2015 and haven’t finished with fewer than 10 losses since 2019.
“We’re trying to get bigger, faster, stronger, and more explosive,” Glenn said. “That’s the only thing I want the players worrying about at that point.
“We have a lot of time for scheme, we have a lot of time to talk about Super Bowl and playoffs. But right now, building our culture and building an environment and that build is the most important thing right now to me.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson hired Glenn in part because he has been labeled a culture-builder—a coach who can positively shape and influence an organization.
Glenn and Dan Campbell helped lead the Lions organization from a perennially struggling organization to championship contenders in the NFC in four seasons.
When Campbell was hired as Lions coach in 2021, one of his first hires was to make Glenn his defensive coordinator. From there, the Lions’ win total improved from three wins to nine, to 12, to 15 in 2024, which was tied for the most in the league last season.
He hopes to do the same thing to a Jets team, whose roster looks significantly different from that of a season ago.
“Listen, culture is about people,” Glenn said. “As we continue to get the right people in the building, the culture is going to change. That’s something I learned a long time ago.
“Me sitting up there giving a rah-rah speech that has nothing to do with culture. Culture is about the people that we bring into the building. I’m not just talking about the players, I’m talking about the coaches too.
“I’m talking about support staff, too. We’re trying to do a really good job of bringing the right people in the building and as we do that, the culture will eventually change.”
Speaking of the Jets roster, they have leaned on adding an abundance of youth this offseason. Of 14 free agent signings this offseason, wide receiver Josh Reynolds is the only player at least 30 years old.
That’s a change from a year ago, when the Jets were one of the oldest rosters in the league after actively trying to end their playoff drought and become a contender in the AFC, with Aaron Rodgers leading the charge. The Jets released Rodgers after two seasons last month.
Replacing Rodgers is Justin Fields, whom the Jets signed to a two-year contract for $40 million with $30 million in guaranteed money.
After having interest from the Steelers, Fields, 26, will get another chance to possibly become a franchise quarterback after he was primarily a backup last season in Pittsburgh. Fields started six games for the Steelers after Russell Wilson suffered a preseason calf injury. He finished wth a 4-2 record and passed for 1,106 yards, five touchdowns, and one interception for the Steelers.
“It’s a young man’s game,” Glenn said. “I was always taught that you can’t be afraid of the young players. I think what you’re able to mold these guys to who you want them to be and what type of team you want them to be.
“I think me and [Jets general manager Darren Mougey] did a really good job of trying to create that. I think every situation that we want to create when it comes to free agency, we hit as far as getting the quarterback that we wanted, getting the quarterback of the defense, trying to make this team younger.
“We are looking forward to these young guys being part of the plan.”
