Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey came to the Jets together as first-year NFL executives and went through their first struggle of a season together working on all things in the personnel and football areas.
Fans might not think there was a lot more they needed to know about each other, but the head coach and his general manager went on the road together for the week prior to the NFL Annual League Meeting and bonded even more as they dive into preparations for Year 2 at the Green & White controls.
"We're in this thing together, and listen, we're in lockstep with everything that we do," Glenn told reporters at Tuesday morning's AFC breakfast in Phoenix, AZ. "And then when he goes about executing the plan on things, there's certain things that he has to do, that are out of my wheelhouse, and he goes to execute — man, he does a really good job of executing the plan of the vision that we have. I love every part of that, I do."
Mougey, during his media availability at the meetings Monday, had much the same take on his time with Glenn.
"It was great to get out last week," **the GM told senior reporter Eric Allen on nyjets.com**. "We started down in Miami, then we jumped up to Notre Dame's pro day, went over to Ohio State and Texas Tech, then finished at Alabama working out Ty Simpson."
Mougey said the time spent before this week in Phoenix was beneficial for him in an important way.
"Just traveling that whole week with AG, Frank [Reich, offensive coordinator], and [QBs coach] Billy Musgrave came with us because we got some exposure to some quarterbacks. Being around them for the week is so productive on so many levels, just having football conversations all the time and about the team."
Needless to say, the week was much more than an episode of "Road Trip with AG and Mouge." The two, after all, were beginning their immersion into the Jets' 2026 draft process, which will continue next week back at 1 Jets Drive when the coaching and personnel teams get together for discussions that will lead to building the board that will further inform the draft brain trust on what they'll want to do with each of the nine selections they currently hold.
"It was a good opportunity for me to get out there and see some of these players I hadn't seen, see them up close and personal, work them out and spend some time with them, have some dinner, get to know them a little more on a personal level, which was great."
It was much the same experience for Glenn, especially in getting to take the measure of some of the players that the league and the Jets in particular may be studying as their Day 3 selections approach.
"Mouge does an outstanding job, him and his staff, as far as setting the table: These are some of the guys, here is the information behind these guys, now let's take a look and see which ones fit us best," the Jets HC said.
"And to have two first-round picks, two second-round picks, to have the picks we have in the middle and toward the end of the draft. ... The first-round picks, those are the easy ones. It's the ones from the third, fourth, fifth, sixth rounds, those are the ones that really set your team up for success. Our coaches have to develop those guys. I love having those later picks also because it gives you a chance to pick some guys that might not have all the traits you want but they have something in them that you know you can develop to make them key parts of your team."
But besides the coach/player relationships, the coach/GM aspect continues to play a part in the way the Jets are being refurbished. Glenn said he knew he and Mougey shared a common bond way back when Glenn interviewed in front of Mougey and other Denver decision-makers for the Broncos' head-coaching position in January 2022.
"I can recall Mouge sitting at the end of the table, and they asked me to do my first speech with the team, and he was coordinating that," Glenn recalled. "Off the top of my head, . I just went through a speech, and he was like, 'I love it.' So it just seemed like it was a connection right then. And to me, it was like, OK, he knows where I'm coming from, he knows we're the same way when it comes to messaging to the team and things like that. And when we had a chance to talk, man, how he saw a team was exactly how I saw it."
The two still remain in step as they continue to double-team the next big thing, their second draft together.
"Even like on this trip we just went on, I mean, we got even closer on this trip," Glenn said. "I'm looking forward to continue doing that with him."
Mougey concurs, but he knows the really big journey is ahead as the GM and HC tackle the tall task of turning last year's rough campaign into a cornerstone in the foundation they are even more committed to building this time around.
"It was great, a long week, but it flew by and now we're here," Mougey said in the Valley of the Sun. "And we're excited to get back to Jersey at the end of this week and jump into the draft process."
