Aaron Glenn’s Jets tenure almost began over a decade ago with Todd Bowles

Long before they were separating their players during a New York Jets-Tampa Bay Buccaneers joint practice, Aaron Glenn and Todd Bowles could have been coworkers.

In fact, as Glenn revealed this week, he nearly worked under Bowles over a decade ago. While assembling his first Jets coaching staff in 2015, Bowles reached out to Glenn about becoming the team’s new defensive backs coach.

At the time, Glenn was entering his second season as the Browns’ assistant defensive back coach. He opted to stay in Cleveland before becoming the Saints’ defensive backs coach in 2016.

The two have known each other for nearly 25 years, and Glenn remains a fan of the “outstanding” Bowles.

“He’s demanding in his own way,” Glenn said of Bowles. “He has this quiet persona about himself, but you know exactly where he stands. 

“He doesn’t BS players either,” Glenn continued, “and that’s what I like, and I’ve learned a lot from him.”

Todd Bowles and New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn have a long history together

Glenn had the opportunity to play under Bowles twice, the first coming in 2000. At the time, Bowles had just become the Jets' secondary coach, and Glenn was in his penultimate season as a starting cornerback.

The two met again several years later in Dallas, when Bill Parcells hired Bowles as the Cowboys’ secondary coach ahead of the 2005 season. Glenn joined the Cowboys that same offseason, and the duo was together for two years. But as is typically the case in Dallas, the Cowboys failed to win a playoff game either season. Tony Romo and a botched hold didn’t help matters.

Bowles and Glenn have never coached on the same staff, and both are likely hoping it’ll stay that way for the foreseeable future. However, they finally met as head coaches last year, with the Buccaneers pulling off a thrilling Week 3 comeback over the Jets in Tampa.

Both coaches find themselves in must-win situations entering the 2026 campaign. Bowles and the Buccaneers failed to reach the postseason last year for the first time since 2019. Tampa Bay is only 35-33 in Bowles’ four seasons, though, and they’ve only won a single playoff game.

That’s still better than Glenn and the Jets, though the likes of Adonai Mitchell and David Bailey are at least creating positive buzz. But even with the growing quarterback and secondary concerns, the pressure is mounting on Glenn to prove that he deserves to be a head coach, especially after last year’s dreadful 3-14 showing. The first test comes against Bowles and the Buccaneers on Friday night. 

"This is a team that’s been to the playoffs for a number of years, so I’m looking forward to seeing our guys go up against this team," Glenn said.

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