The Jets' new head coach Aaron Glenn has a long memory, which was on display early during the introductory new conference at 1 Jets Drive on Monday.
After remarks by Chairman Woody Johnson and Darren Mougey, the team's new general manager, Glenn stepped up to the microphone and regaled attendees with his recollection of the AFC title game at Denver on Jan. 17, 1999. The game began well for the Bill Parcells coached Green & White, who built a 10-0 first half lead. It didn't end well, beginning with the second-half kickoff that was held up by the wind, dropping in the middle of the field as the live ball was recovered by the Broncos. Denver scored 23 unanswered points and advanced to the Super Bowl.
Glenn turned his focus to a group of his former teammates and said: "Wayne, you'll remember this. I'll be damned if I am not going to come back here and get that back."
Wayne, of course, is the Jets' former wide receiver Wayne Chrebet, a Garfield, NJ, native who went to college at Hofstra (the site of the Jets' former training center) and played all 11 years of his NFL career in green and white and was Glenn's teammate for seven seasons.
For Chrebet, the anticipation of seeing his former teammate take the reins, cost him some shuteye.
"I know it sounds silly, but I couldn't sleep last night," Chrebet told team reporter Eric Allen on a special edition of "The Official Jets Podcast." "I'm so excited that Aaron got the job for multiple reasons. I could talk about him as a friend, as a teammate, as so many things that we've been to together, and to start as a scout and come back here as a head coach, and to know what it means to win New York, it's just something I wanted to be a part of it. And I was looking at him today and reminiscing and it brought back great memories. And just from listening and talking to passion, talking about his faith and his family and everything like that, I just couldn't be happier that he's the new coach of the New York Jets."
The diminutive Chrebet (5-10, 188) stands tall in Jets history. He set several school records at Hofstra but went undrafted in 1995. After being cut by a CFL team (the Baltimore Stallions), Chrebet got a tryout as a walk-on with the Jets, landing as No. 11 on the 11-man wide receiver depth chart. He made the final roster and the rest is history.
In a sense, Chrebet's career, which earned him a spot on the Jets' Ring of Honor in 2014, is a mirror to Glenn's ascension from scout to head coach of the team that selected him in the first round (No. 12 overall) out of Texas A&M in the 1994 NFL Draft.
"It's kind of like starting in the mailroom kind of thing," Chrebet said. "Like he said, he learned how to evaluate talent, learned how to scout. And I think that's important, that's a big thing."
He added: "But like he said, it's not going to be easy. He didn't come here with false promises. I mean, he just believes in himself, in the GM and the staff. And what he could do in Detroit [as that team's defensive coordinator], he could duplicate with the Jets. And if you can't be happy right now, smiling, then something's wrong with you. Because he's one of us. And like I said, that means something. He knows, he knows what to expect from the New York media, New York fans, from everybody, but he still wanted to come there, come here and be a part of that, good or bad, whatever it takes to come together and get to get to the playoffs and hopefully to the Super Bowl,"
Chrebet, the plucky No. 80, remains one of the top receivers in the team's 60-plus-year history. He is No. 3 in total yards (7,365), No. 2 in receptions (580), No. 1 in targets (970) and No. 3 in TDs (41). No other player has worn Chrebet's jersey No. 80 since he retired after the 2005 season.
From their time together as teammates, battling on the practice field where their friendship began, Chrebet said he believes Glenn is the right man at the right time for the Green & White.
"Everybody's a first time head coach at some point, I think it's time," Chrebet said. "Yeah, he's a defensive-minded coach, but he's got a great football IQ. And I think a big thing for our head coach is just the way he motivates the team, he talks about discipline and being accountable and stuff like that. You need someone in there that is part [Bill] Parcells and part Pete [Carroll], he's a little bit of everybody."
He added: "He knows what kind of players he wants around him, because he's been on good teams and he's been on bad teams. He's perfect. It doesn't matter that he's a defensive coach or he's a first-time coach – he's ready. It's kind of hard to explain what I see in him. A thousand times we probably went against each other and there were no freebies. There was no like, 'I'm gonna take it easy on this one and take it easy on that one.' We constantly battled, and it's the same kind of thing. There's going to be no freebies. You're not going to get a penalty or do something stupid or this and that and not be held accountable. We've been lacking that in the discipline, and I think that's something he could bring, whether he's a defensive or an offensive coach."
