Laveranues Coles saw the Aaron Glenn effect on NFL players in the early seasons of his decade in the league. Glenn was entering his seventh season as the Jets' outstanding cornerback when the team selected Coles, the Florida State wide receiver, in the third round of the 2000 draft.
"Aaron felt I was a young guy that came in and was given an opportunity to help the team win, so he was an encouraging person," Coles told newyorkjets.com about his former teammate's ascension to the Jets' head coaching office this week. "He made me feel I was better than I probably actually was, being honest.
"That's why I say I know he's going to motivate those young guys to go out and lay it all on the line for him. When you really care about your head coach and he's motivating you, it's like being a piece of sliced bread. You might have a little mold on you, but we'll scrape it off and get the best out of you."
Coles' vivid metaphors are a manifestation of his own drive, experience and success. He's a successful Florida entrepreneur now but not long ago he had even more reunions with the New York Jets than Glenn has had. After developing into a dangerous wideout in his first four seasons in green and white, he left for Washington as a restricted free agent in 2004. The Jets respected Coles so much that they traded to get him back in '05 and he played four more seasons with them.
As a UFA, Coles left for Cincinnati in 2009, but returned to the Jets once more in 2010 before being a final cut, and one final time later that season for one game as an inactive player before calling it a playing career.
But LC wasn't done with the Jets or with AG. Coles got to see the post-playing-days Glenn at work when the two spent time together in the Jets' front office in 2012, Glenn as a scout and Coles as an intern in the scouting and personnel departments during training camp.
"I did see him going into coaching. Just the way he handled things, the way he would talk to me about how I voiced my opinion on certain things — he had to reel me back in on certain subjects," Coles said. "He's very competitive and always upbeat. I don't think there was a day when I didn't see him smiling. When Aaron wasn't happy, that means something wasn't right."
This week Glenn is extremely gratified that he got the gig he was most interested in, and Coles is elated to see his longtime friend as a pro head coach.
"I honestly felt that opportunity would come, but I didn't think it would be with the Jets," he said. "I'm super-excited Mr. Johnson decided to pull the trigger.'"
Coles, as well as Glenn, has always been an unabashed supporter of the Jets and of chairman Woody Johnson, brother Christopher and the franchise. And now he's eager to see the Glenn head coaching style at work on the team that drafted him two decades earlier.
"AG's a great person, and everybody that's played with him and people that ever ran across him loved him. I guarantee you his players in Detroit are sad he's gone and probably a lot of them if they have the opportunity would be thankful to come to New York and try to play for him again," Coles said.
"He a perfectionist. He's going to demand the best out of everybody there, and I think he's going to get every lick of potential out of every player on that roster. He's going to maximize it, and if he can't get it out of you, he's not going to keep you there."
The bottom line, Coles said, is that if Jets Nation can summon up a little more from its deep well of patience, the fanbase and the team will be rewarded.
"Aaron's one of those guys who puts his mind to it and gets it done," he said. "He wants the team to win and it's going to happen. We're just going to have to be patient and let him get things where he wants them to be.
"Allow him to work and you will get what you're looking for. You will get a winning product."
