Aaron Glenn: Aidan Hutchinson Has 'Quickness That is Unbelievable'
After interviewing for multiple head coaching jobs throughout the offseason, Aaron Glenn is back for a second season as the defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions.
Coming to Detroit alongside new head coach Dan Campbell from New Orleans, the Texas native and former pro has quickly established himself as a solid coach amongst his NFL peers.
Now, he’s back at the helm of Detroit’s defense looking to improve a unit that has been historically bad over its last few seasons.
Glenn spent time last week at the NFL’s diversity symposium, speaking with various representatives from other teams.
Among those conversations with a lengthy talk with Dallas Cowboys representative Stephen Jones. The talk, Glenn said, lasted 40 minutes. However, the topic discussed at length had little to do with football.
Instead, the duo discussed their respective picks for the NBA’s greatest player of all time. Glenn said he chose Michael Jordan.
“As I’m sitting there, about 15 minutes in this conversation, I’m like, ‘Are we really still talking about this,’” Glenn said. “But it was cool, like they think about these things just like we do. It was awesome.”
The Lions’ second-year coordinator said he was impressed by the fact that those he encountered weren’t much different than him — save for one aspect.
“Their bank accounts are bigger than mine,” Glenn said with a chuckle.
Hutchinson update
One of the most important pieces to his defense will be rookie Aidan Hutchinson, who was drafted No. 2 overall in the 2022 NFL Draft. The Michigan product has impressed his new coaches early on in his tenure.
“Everything that we thought we were getting shows up, not just in practice but in meetings also,” Glenn said. “And then what else shows up is those little things, like ‘Can he do this?’ Or you wonder if he can do it. Then it shows up.”
Glenn isn’t the only coach on staff to make their impressions public, as Campbell also told reporters Thursday that he was impressed.
Speaking in his media session, Campbell said there is "more meat on the bone," when it comes to the young player. During this first offseason, the hope is to untap some of that early potential.
Hutchinson will compete for starter’s reps early. The rookie will battle with players young and old as he looks to get on the field right away.
The young rookie is a piece that Glenn is excited about. The defensive coordinator wants to showcase his abilities, as with every other player at his position.
“He has this quickness that is unbelievable,” Glenn said. “He has the ability to bend and use his hands that is outstanding. Just watching, he’s always working and that’s the relentless attitude that you’ve seen at Michigan that made him so successful.”
Aggressive defense and competition
In his second year, Glenn and company are instituting new schematics. Namely, the team will employ more four-down defensive looks.
This is being done in an effort to have the Lions become more aggressive defensively while throwing out a lot for opponents to prepare for. Heading into 2022, Glenn feels confident about his defensive line unit and its preparation.
Part of this confidence stems from going against the team’s young and talented offensive line every day in practice.
“We know for a fact we’re going against one of the top offensive line tandems in the league,” Glenn said. “We get a chance to get a lot of work against a good team, a good line. The more that we can do that, the better it’s gonna make us as a defensive line.
“The fact that you have competition, competition drives this league. You look at our team, that’s what our team has.”
Glenn emphasized that the aggression in his defensive looks wouldn’t come at the expense of technique, saying that he still wants to focus on the finer details that come with playing the respective defensive positions.
“I want to take advantage of every player’s ability as much as I can,” Glenn said.
