FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — Aaron Glenn had an expensive sense of style when he played for the New York Jets.
Mainly because of all the fines he had to pay.
The current Jets head coach was a Pro Bowl cornerback with a flair for fashion. That included his game day socks, which didn't always adhere to NFL regulations.
“I think he was like the most fined guy on the Jets, not because of his demeanor on the field but because of the way he wore socks,” recalled former Jets teammate Jason Fabini, an offensive
tackle who played with Glenn from 1998-2001. "I think he got fined every game because he wouldn’t have the green showing or something. You've got to ask him about that.
“He wanted to look good.”
Well, he certainly played good, the hits to the bank account notwithstanding.
Glenn played eight of his 15 NFL seasons with the Jets and became one of the league's top cornerbacks. He returned to his original team in 2012 as a scout for two years before coming back again last January, this time as the guy in charge.
“It gives me goosebumps to see him out there, really, and to be the head coach,” said Ray Mickens, a former cornerback who played with Glenn in New York from 1996-2001. “Going all the way back to our college days when we played together at Texas A&M and how he carried himself in college, seeing him be a head coach now, everything that he went through to get to where he’s at right now, I think, has been nothing short of amazing.”
Fabini and Mickens were among about a dozen former Jets teammates who spent Tuesday at the facility to have breakfast, watch practice and celebrate Glenn's new role as a first-time NFL head coach.
“It’s always good to see those guys and I want those guys to be part of what we’re trying to build because they’ve been there and they understand exactly what it is to be a Jet,” Glenn said. “There’s a number of things that goes into playing for this team and those guys know what it is. We’re teaching our guys what it is and those guys have been through it.”
Many of the former Jets have kept in touch with Glenn over the years, through his time as Detroit's defensive coordinator the last four years and the seven years he was a defensive backs coach, first with Cleveland and then with New Orleans.
And the sense of pride they all share in Glenn's latest achievement, being back with the franchise for which they played together, is strong.
“I’m not surprised that he became a head coach,” said Pro Football Hall of Fame center Kevin Mawae, who played with Glenn for four seasons. "I mean you watch his career and how he played the game and how he prepared and, I mean, other than the fact of all the fines he paid for not having enough white showing in his socks, the guy did things the right way.
“He was a professional on the field and in the locker room and meticulous about his game. And that’s why he had such a long career and that’s what’s making him a successful coach.”
Glenn is one of five current head coaches to lead NFL teams for which they once played, joining Detroit's Dan Campbell, New England's Mike Vrabel, Houston’s DeMeco Ryans and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh.
Glenn has tried to glean things from the coaches for whom he has played, including Bill Parcells, and those for whom he has coached, including Sean Payton and Campbell, and created his own approach to leading a team.
He has focused on changing the culture of a franchise that has the longest active playoff drought in the NFL at 14 straight seasons. Glenn has talked a lot about finding the right guys, ones who fit the style of these current Jets.
“You've got to be built for New York,” Mickens said. “You've got to be built for this. And No. 1, obviously we know that A.G.’s built for it and I think that he’s looking for players that are built to play here.”
Glenn has already had to make difficult decisions, such as releasing Aaron Rodgers during the offseason — a move that didn't surprise Mickens.
“He’s going to draw a hard line in the sand on a lot of things,” Mickens said. “And sometimes veteran players — and it’s OK, you know, you could be a Hall of Famer or whatever — if you’re not willing to do this and if you’re not willing do this, then you know what, you've got to move on.”
Glenn has also found parallels in what he and his teammates experienced when Parcells took over a team that went 1-15 under Rich Kotite in 1997 and brought New York to the AFC championship game two years later.
“He knows New York and he knows what it takes to win here,” Fabini said of Glenn, "and if he wins here, what’s going to happen. So I think that’s awesome."
After the Jets finished practice Tuesday, Glenn huddled his players in the middle of the field and spoke to them — with his former teammates watching and listening in awe.
“Oh, it was phenomenal,” Mawae said. "It’s great because you don’t hear coaches talk like that with that kind of passion anymore. And I think it’s more special when you’re coaching for a team that you sweat and you bled for and that kind of thing. ... It was real passion and emotion. And the guys get it. They buy into that.
“And we’re out there as former teammates, it’s like, ‘God, I’d go suit up for Aaron Glenn for one play,’ because that’s all I've got left. But as former teammates and Jets alumni, we’re excited to see one of our own take the reins of this program and hopefully turn it back to some respectability.”
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