It was the end of January when Brian Duker took a call from Jets HC Aaron Glenn.
"I was really excited," Duker told team reporter Eric Allen on "The Official Jets Podcast." "I was super excited about it. Obviously, just really confident. AG as a head coach, I'd always thought that when we were together. So it just felt supernatural. I felt really excited and really just felt like a really good fit."
Duker's journey to 1 Jets Drive began the hard way -- as a student assistant at Towson, his alma mater. Duker, 37, jumped on the football elevator that took him to Bryant College and then Missouri before he landed in the NFL as Cleveland's defensive intern working with a guy named Glenn, who was the Browns' DBs coach.
"People don't even realize we were together in Cleveland also, and that's when really I was formulating my thoughts of being a defensive coordinator, and me and him had a lot of conversations back then," Glenn said. "And then going into Detroit [where they both landed in 2021], I mean, he really learned his defense and understood exactly how to call it."
There is a bit of irony there since Duker's role as the Jets' DC does not include the task of calling plays for the defense. That's part of Glenn's portfolio at present.
"I think by his nature he's an aggressive play caller," Duker said. "He's a former corner and all that, so he knows what it's like living on the island. So that's his nature. I think you guys see that from him just day to day, and when he's a passionate guy, and that certainly I think everything that you see about him and how he carries himself probably embodies itself in how he calls plays as well."
Duker spent last season with Miami as Glenn completed his first season in charge of the Green & White. As the Dolphins' secondary coach and passing game coordinator, Duker worked with veteran Minkah Fitzpatrick, and the two are together again after the Jets traded for the 29-year-old veteran and New Jersey native. Fitzpatrick's impact has been pronounced as the Jets prepare for their opening preseason game against Tampa Bay at MetLife Stadium on Friday night.
"The thing that Mink allows us to do is he can cover a lot of different body types and he can do a lot of different jobs on defense," Duker said. "So it allows us within our different groups to do a variety of things. We don't necessarily have to sub someone in to get a certain job done, and out of the same personnel group, we can look a lot of different ways and do a lot of different things just based on what you know his different skill set is, and that certainly makes it a little bit harder for the offense to key on things, and helps us create mismatches."
For his part, Glenn said his DC, who is the same age as linebacker Demario Davis, will eventually have an opportunity to extend his responsibilities.
"His time will come down the line," Glenn said. "Absolutely, and that's what he understands. And listen, he's still learning as a first-time defense coordinator, and it's almost like when you take a quarterback in the first round, and then you'll get this veteran quarterback, and you let this veteran quarterback actually start early on, and let this young quarterback actually sit there and watch.
"I see it no different than that because he's steadily learning. He understands, he's starting to actually formulate his thoughts on how he will call a game, and everybody's different. And I'm not trying to have Duker be me. You know, I want him to be himself, but I also want to be able to teach him exactly how I go about game planning, doing things like that. And he's doing a good job. I'm glad he's by my side."
