It's training camp season for the Jets and that means it's Jets Legends season as well, with many former Green & White players as always making their way to Florham Park, NJ, to reminisce with fans and reporters about highlights from their careers and teams "back in the day."
And this year the Legends have some extra topics of conversation on their plates as Aaron Glenn, a former teammate of many of the visitors to the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center, conducts his first training camp as Jets head coach and prepares his team for what lies ahead in the 2025 NFL season.
Newyorkjets.com senior reporter Eric Allen sat down with seven Jets Legends earlier this week, all of whom played alongside Glenn on the Jets from 1994-2001 in a pair of half-hour roundtable discussions on the team's new coach, new players and the planned new direction for the Green & White. On the offensive podcast were C Kevin Mawae, T Jason Fabini, RB Adrian Murrell and FB Jerald Sowell. At the defensive table were S Victor Green and CBs James Hasty.and Ray Mickens.
Following are some of the best of many quotes from that seven-man team on Aaron Glenn and the state of the Jets
On their feelings upon hearing that AG had been named Jets head coach
Hasty: "Man, excitement. Finally we have one of us in the building that understands what culture means. Everybody uses that buzzword, but we as former players, and I'm sure many fans, know that culture is a real thing. And Aaron Glenn is about as real as it gets."
Green: "I was very excited. On social media, I was really rooting for him and lobbying for him, So when he got the head coaching job, it was just great to hear. AG and I, we were roomies on the road for six years, I guess, so we talked a lot. And when he got the job, I called him right away. I was very excited for him."
Mawae: "Aaron's got to know all his teammates are behind him on this one. We want him to win, we want the organization to win, and we want Aaron Glenn to be the guy to do it."
Fabini: "The guy's deserving. He put in his time, he was a great player, he started as a scout, kind of worked his way through. And what a career he's had coaching — the last couple of years in Detroit have been awesome. I can't wait to see what he does with the Jets."
On the early AG at Texas A&M and with the Jets beginning in '94
Mickens: "Back at Texas A&M when we were in college, what I developed from him was when he came in the first day of practice, he was Aaron Glenn. After one day, he was AG. Everything that everybody talked about, he went out there and practiced. He showed everybody what he was about through my years at A&M with him, I took the mentality that he had. It seemed like he had no other option. It was like he was going to make it to the NFL. It's like those sayings — when you don't have a safety net, you don't have training wheels on your bike, or the man's on shore and they burn the boats. That's the feeling, the mentality that he had, and it infected me as a player that played next to him."
Green: "Me and AG on the road, we did the meetings. After that, he did his Bible study. Then we did the cold tubs — not together, of course. After that, we talked once we got done with everything. But AG was always about business, trying to get it right, always wanting to be the best. Going back to his rookie year and i was in my second year, I knew AG was going to be a player. That dude was quick as a cat. great man-to-man cover, just a phenomenal athlete, man. I knew he was going to be one of the best players around. And look at him now."
On the culture that Glenn is in the process of installing at 1 Jets Drive
Mickens: "Nobody's off limits. everybody's held accountable. You talk about the definition of culture, it's everyone being accountable, doing what you say you're going to do, being who you say you're going to be. You can talk about it, but you have to be about it. And that's what culture is, respecting everybody in the locker room, knowing everybody is contributing, regardless of who you are on the team. If you're on the team, you're held accountable for being ready for the game, for your teammates. Even the trainers, the equipment managers, you have to be accountable for what you do. Everybody is a part of the culture when you talk about winning, period."
Murrell: "Aaron obviously is a player that we grew up together with as Jets, thinking about all those plans and desires to be champions. And to see it come full-circle is amazing."
Sowell: "It is definitely a process that has to occur. What he's doing is laying down the foundation that the guys have to follow. If you're not mentally tough and disciplined, you're not going to win many games. And that's what he's stressing out there [on the practice field]. At the end of the day, if you've got a leader that believes in that and he believes in you as a player, the players will do anything for you."
On the Bill Parcells influence on Glenn's emerging head-coaching style
Mawae: "I see a lot of Bill Parcells in Aaron. Parcells was the kind of coach where these are the expectations, players and coaches, and nothing less than those expectations is good enough. ... We all got goosebumps [when Glenn addressed the team after Tuesday's practice]. When is the last time you heard a coach talk to his players like that? For me, that's 100 percent Parcells. Bill didn't yell and scream. He stayed in your ear and chirped the whole time. But when it came to holding yourself to a higher standard and holding everybody around you to that standard. then great things happen."
Green: "Parcells is Aaron's mentor. and when Parcells came in, from day one, he established a culture: This is the way we're going to be, these are the things we're going to do, this is my team, you can get in or get out.' That's how you establish it, and I think that's what AG is doing with this team. ... From day one, he came in and asserted himself as this is who we're going to be. You can see it at practice, the way he took control of that huddle and told them, 'Hey, guys. it ain't good enough.' That's how you build a culture.:"
On how the Jets will look and how they will fare under Glenn's leadership
Sowell: "You have to be mentally tough, you have to play a certain way if you want be successful. You have to run plays with attitude, run 'em with perfection, run 'em with a little swagger about yourself.[When Glenn talks about it being more about play style], I'm backing him up when he says that. I can agree with that."
Fabini: "I can't wait to see how he does. just with his little speech out there today with the team about 'Football is football. It hasn't changed over the years. You play the game the same way. You've got to have passion and desire.' I'm excited for the season."
Murrell: "I think he's gotten some of those traits from some of the people that coached him and us. That attention to detail, it's there and you can tell he's demanding his coaches do the same thing. Everybody is about the details and getting the job done. And I think from what we've seen today, the team has bought into it. Now they've got to continue to go and develop, but I think this team is going to be something to deal with this year."
Hasty: "What you can expect with Aaron Glenn is that he can find a way to win a football game. The cupboard doesn't always need to be full with him. Give him some key pieces, guys may go down, but watch how he responds to that adversity. That's going to be the key to Aaron Glenn coaching the New York Jets."
