For the first time since completing his coaching staff two weeks ago, Jets HC Aaron Glenn discussed the strategy behind his selections Tuesday at the NFL Scouting Combine.
"I said this statement before ... compatibility is sometimes as important as coachability," Glenn said. "And that's the one thing that I tried to do right when I was trying to assemble this staff. And I wanted to make sure I took my time in doing that because I want to make sure that every coach on this staff is going to give us the best chance to win and be able to coach the player, right?
"That's what's important to me, man – how are the players going to relate to all these coaches? And listen, every coach I have is not the biggest name coach, right? And I actually like that because I think a lot of times in this arena, we'd go get named coaches, right? But there are a lot of good coaches in this league, from high school to Division II to the big colleges, even some of the assistants on other teams. And I tried to make sure I vet that out as much as I could."
Glenn tabbed the experienced Steve Wilkes, 55, to be his defensive coordinator. With Glenn being a first-time head coach, Wilks knows what it's like to wear the shoes of someone in charge.
"Steve Wilks is a straight shooter," Glenn said. "He doesn't pull any punches with anybody. And it is what it is. I think that's what players relate to more than anything. Players don't like to be lied to. Players want to know the truth, even though the truth sometimes could be hurtful, but the thing is, at least they know exactly what they got to change. But I would say this is not just giving players the truth, but it's also giving them a solution on how we're going to fix it. He does a really good job of that, and those are some of the things that we have in line right when talking to players. He's been there a while. He's been a head coach, which is important for me when I need questions, when I have questions, right for what he's been through. So, I'm looking forward to those questions to him."
Special teams coordinator Chris Banjo was the one asking Glenn questions not too long ago in the New Orleans Saints' defensive backs room. Banjo was a safety for the Saints from 2016-18 when Glenn served as Sean Payton's DB coach.
"Banjo would be the one to ask those questions to make sure everyone knew exactly what we were doing," Glenn said. "So, there was no doubt in my mind that he would be a coach, but he also was a proven special teamer in New Orleans. He understood what his role was. And listen, he didn't take that lightly. And I'm huge when it comes to specials because it could really change the nature of a game when you have a big-time special teams play. And he's going to give that to us. So, there's no better person for that job than Chris Banjo."
Glenn, the defensive coordinator in Detroit the past four seasons, brought pass game coordinator Tanner Engstrand to call signals in New York while former Detroit TE coach Steve Heiden will transition to the offensive line for the Green & White.
"He coached up tight ends for us then, but when you watched us practice, most of the tackles actually went to him after practice," Glenn said of Heiden. "So he knows O-line play like the back of his hand, and that's who he is by nature again.
"Tanner did a lot when it comes to putting everything together, to getting all these different guys on the team the ball," he added. "There are a number of good players, offensive players on Detroit, from the running backs to the receivers to the tight ends. And it was his job to make sure how do I feed all these guys, and he would give that information to Ben (Johnson). And Ben put (it) together as far as calling it, so Tanner had a huge hand on how we operated in Detroit."
