Perhaps this take is coming in late, but after last night’s Lions/Packers game from a soggy Lambeau Field, Aaron Glenn is probably one of, if not the most underrated, assistant coaches in the NFL.
This also isn’t some fanboy take or knee-jerk reaction to what the Lions were able to do to Green Bay last night, on the road and in horrible conditions. And this isn’t taking away from the entirety of the Lions’ coaching staff, which as a collective unit is probably the best in the NFL. However, everyone knows that Dan Campbell is good, everyone knows that Ben Johnson is good, and perhaps a large contingent of NFL sickos out there knew Aaron Glenn is good, but it always seems like he’s the third wheel to the Lions coaching praise.
Throughout the season, the Lions’ defense has held opponents to 20 or fewer points six times, and we just played in Week 9. Of those six games, three were on the road, including out west in Arizona, in Jerry World against the Cowboys, and last night in Green Bay.
The defense has faced significant adversity, including a major injury to their best defensive player, Aidan Hutchinson, as well as a complete overhaul of the defensive backfield, which now features two rookie cornerbacks. Even last night when Brian Branch was tossed over a very questionable ejection, the team didn’t seem to miss a beat as they continued to hold their own in a hostile environment and rough conditions. Even the lack of QB pressures last night you can’t attribute to Glenn, it’s a hole on this team and one that should be addressed here in the next 24 hours.
Lastly, it’s hard to look past just how ready this team was last night, which is collective but still doesn’t take away from Glenn. A dome team with the Lions looked much more prepared and ultimately better than a Packers team who plays as least half their games outdoors.
In 2022 when fans and the media were calling for Glenn’s job seems so long ago at this point. And like Johnson, Glenn is a guy you hope and prey doesn’t get poached by another team to help fill a head coaching vacancy.