In 2005, Aaron Glenn was a grizzled and experienced NFL cornerback when he landed with the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons. His defensive backs coach was Todd Bowles. In a strange bit of serendipity Bowles went on to his first head coaching job with the Jets in 2015, followed 10 years later by Glenn -- in his first crack at being a leader of men.

"He was a little older, so he played nickel for me in Dallas," Bowles told team reporter Eric Allen in a new edition of "The Official Jets Podcast." "He was my nickel corner, which is just like a starter as well, because he was so smart. We had [Anthony] Henry and [Terence] Newman on the outside, and he [Glenn] went in on the inside. He did a hell of a job for us. And he was the same guy that he was back in 2000 when he was playing star corner for the Jets."

With the Cowboys, Glenn, a 33-year-old free agent, was reunited with HC Bill Parcells who he played for with the Jets and who he has mentioned numerous times as an important mentor as he progressed from the field, to scout, to assistant coach and now head coach. In each of his two seasons in Dallas, Glenn played in all 16 regular-season games. And while he stashed away knowledge gleaned from Professor Parcells, Glenn also lent his expertise to his younger teammates.

"He was naturally a mentor the way he prepared," Bowles said. "Everybody saw how he prepared. So Henry and Newman picked up a ton of tips from this guy, because what he did and how he watched film taught those guys a lot because they didn't know how to watch tape that well."

Bowles as a rookie was the last head coach to lead the Jets to a winning record, 10-6 in 2005, as the team barely missed the playoffs. Like Glenn he, too, got his start as a scout -- in the Packers' player personnel department under Ron Wolf, another guy with links to the Green & White.

"I think it'll help them a great deal," Bowles said, referring to experience as a scout. "I started out as a scout as well, so it helped me a great deal, because as a coach, when you're looking at players now, you really don't know how to look at offensive linemen or defensive linemen, especially coming in being a DB coach. You can do that with the wideouts and the DBs so your eyes are closed, but it teaches you a different perspective of what to look for when you're looking for offensive linemen, so you have more input in the draft and when you're looking at players on the road and not just relying on the scouts, because you were a scout yourself."

During Glenn's introductory news conference in January, he spoke at length about his relationship with Parcells and the impact he had on Glenn's coaching philosophy and his decision to first dip his toes into scouting -- for the Jets in 2012.

"Bill has a huge impact on everybody," Bowles said. "Bill, he does such a great job of teaching. It may be 'hard' teaching at the time, or what you think is 'hard' teaching, but it's really life lessons, and they apply to coaching. And Bill made sure he does a good job of that. And believe me, anytime we mess up or he thinks we need something, you're going to get a text. Till this day, you're going to get a text or a phone call from him, and he's going to just drop a hint of wisdom, and he's going to let you know, and then you can carry on and move on from there. But I think Bill was a big influence on him."

Bowles' first coaching job in the NFL was as the Jets' secondary coach in 2000, with Glenn in his seventh season.

"He was very professional," Bowles said. "He's very smart. He was such a smart and instinctive player, and he studied profusely. And I think that's a reason he's a head coach today."

NFL Draft: The Clock Is Ticking
Two weeks from Thursday night, the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft will draw eyeballs across the country when it begins in Green Bay at 8 p.m. ET on April 24. The Jets, at present, have the No. 7 overall selection among their eight total picks.

During the recent NFL Annual League Meeting in Florida, three experts offered views on where the Jets might go in the first round.

Judy Battista, NFL.com: "You just want to get talent. You need to upgrade your talent, the best player available. [At No. 7] I can't imagine they'd make a move for a quarterback, not early." ... Speaking about Penn State TE Tyler Warren: "I always feel like a good tight end is like the best security blanket, especially for a young quarterback, for a quarterback who is starting over again. There's nothing better than having a tight end that can, you know, catch the ball and take it a few yards." ... Or a right tackle: "I don't think you can ever overdo it on the offensive line."

Tom Pelissero, NFL.com: "It's really the four guys everyone's talking about, it's Abdul Carter, it's Travis Hunter, it's Shedeur Sanders and it's Cam Ward. Those are the truly elite guys in this draft. So the Jets are in that next group. Could you potentially trade down if one of those core, if a Shedeur slides and somebody wants to come up? There's so much that can play out between now and draft night, even then when you're on the clock here, I would anticipate again, because they don't have a desperate need, they're not boxed in. If they hadn't signed [QB] Justin Fields, then they could take Jaxson Dart at seven. They could take a quarterback somewhere along the line here, but they're not boxed in on anything. They've got enough talent at different positions here. I think that all options are on the table."

Jonathan Jones, CBS Sports: "If you are the Jets, you want two out of the six in front of you to be quarterbacks [Ward and Sanders], and then Abdul Carter will be off the board, Travis Hunter will be off the board. And so that's where you're talking about like, like, this is not the world's greatest draft, right?" ... "So to be at seven, you're still in a nice, I'm not going to call it a catbird seat, but you're in a nice spot."