Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey bring the Jets hope — if Woody Johnson stays out of their way

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Woody Johnson walked along the front of the New York Jets’ media conference room — bigger than the usual one, to accommodate a bigger crowd — and kept stopping to chat with some in attendance. He approached a group of photographers and asked what they thought about the team hiring Aaron Glenn and Darren Mougey. He spotted some former Jets, teammates of Glenn from the ’90s, and shook their hands. When Johnson finished chatting with the media after the news conference, he lingered as Glenn was surrounded by a media horde. He bounced around the room, giddy.

Johnson hasn’t been part of a coach introduction in a while — not since 2015, when Todd Bowles was hired as the new head coach and Mike Maccagnan the GM — so maybe there was some pent up jubilance. He was in the United Kingdom when the Jets landed their last two coaches (Robert Saleh and Adam Gase) and general manager (Joe Douglas). All of them failed. But he’s convinced Glenn, a veteran Jets cornerback when Johnson bought the team in 2000, and Mougey are the tandem to pull his franchise back into the playoffs.

“Did you see the two guys we just introduced? That’s why,” Johnson said. “It starts from that. If you want to have sustained success you have to have the right people.”

Glenn said all the right things. Mougey has the experience, and references, to suggest he can thrive in his first stab as a general manager. They both have a plan to get the Jets back to the postseason, presented individually over multiple three-hour interviews that were part of the Jets’ wide-ranging search process. The team interviewed more than 30 general managers and head coaches, and landed on this duo.

But the only shot the Jets really have at success starts at the top: If Johnson doesn’t learn the right lessons from the failures of the Saleh-Douglas era, then the Jets will maintain their place in the NFL’s dumpster, reserved for teams that find more dysfunction than function.

“Absolutely. I have to look in the mirror. I have to be a better owner,” Johnson said, the most self-reflective statement he’s ever made as the Jets owner. “I’m trying to be better. And I do self scout, and a lot of people scout for me. … I think I did it today by introducing the two leaders of this team, the second is to — I’ve got to have patience. I’ve got to let them evolve in these positions, which I think they will. I think it’ll be quick, but I think they’ll evolve.”

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Johnson has been prone to overzealous, impatient decision-making in recent years, demanding results while often skipping the process that leads to them. He was prone to micromanagement, pushing the GM to make moves for players who ultimately weren’t great fits, dictating changes to the day-to-day schedule, listening too much to media and social media and even, at times, meddling in lineup decisions, as he did in forcing interim coach Jeff Ulbrich to bench safety Tony Adams in 2024. Johnson’s impatience led to an impromptu firing of Saleh after a 2-3 start, which spectacularly backfired as the Jets lost nine of their final 12 games to finish 5-12 in a season that started, in Johnson’s eyes, with Super Bowl aspirations.

“You don’t believe those reports, do you? There was a lot of exaggeration, hyperbole. There really was,” Johnson said. “And you really have to take all that stuff with a grain of salt, because you don’t know how much — nobody knows how involved I was. Yes, I want Aaron Glenn to coach the team and I want the general manager to manage the assets and players and I’ll take an owner’s position. That’s what I’d like to do.”

That Johnson is saying these things is certainly a good sign, as was the team’s interview and hiring process, a thorough one guided by former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman, representing The 33rd Team. Johnson, vice chairman Christopher Johnson and team president Hymie Elhai were in on every interview. During those interviews, Johnson addressed his reputation.

“Getting to know Mr. Johnson and Christopher throughout this process, it’s clear that the Jets ownership is fiercely competitive, cares deeply about the players and the fans, and is committed to winning,” Mougey said. “I felt that in the interview process each time we met.”

Clearly, Glenn and Mougey were comfortable with what they were told. Of note, both will report directly to Johnson — a change from when Saleh reported to Douglas, who reported to Johnson.

“We had questions for each other,” Glenn said of Johnson. “I was here when Woody bought the team. My conversations with him back then were really, really positive. Coming back here on my second interview and sitting and talking with him, there’s no better person to work for when they sit there and talk, and strategize about having a winning commitment. He has that. That’s all I need to know. I look forward to it. I trust him with everything I have. I look forward to working with him.”

Maybe Johnson will actually give Mougey and Glenn the freedom to build their roster as they see fit. If he was enacting his will, he might force them to move on from quarterback Aaron Rodgers after the 41-year-old spent the second half of the season taking some subtle (and some not-so-subtle) potshots at the Jets owner. But Johnson, he said, is leaving that up to his coach and general manager.

“They’ve got to take a look at how the team’s composed and what they think they need and put all that together,” Johnson said. “No, I’m not going to voice my opinion. That’s up to them.”

Again, the words are promising. The Jets have the seventh pick in the draft and, depending on how they handle the Rodgers and Davante Adams contract situations (trade, release or restructure), could have some cap space to work with this offseason. Mougey and Glenn are inheriting a roster with a core of intriguing talent — Garrett Wilson, Breece Hall, Quinnen Williams, Sauce Gardner, Quincy Williams, Will McDonald, Jermaine Johnson and an improving offensive line, in particular — with some obvious holes. There is a path to the Jets being competitive right away.

“I’m not going to tell you how many games we’re going to win,” Johnson said. “We’ll put the team together and maybe we’ll be in a better position. But they’re going to put a team together.” In his opening statement for the news conference, Johnson lauded Mougey’s ability to pick players both in college and on the pro personnel side, and was impressed with his emphasis on the importance of the relationship between the GM and the head coach.

At one point, Glenn turned to Mougey and said: “Darren, bro, we are in this thing together … we are going to do some magical things here.”

Even more important: The relationships between the owner and the coach, and the owner and the general manager. Maybe Johnson will stay true to his words and let Mougey and Glenn build out the team this offseason. But what happens if the Jets start slow? What if they lose a few games in a row at a key juncture? What if they miss the playoffs again?

Only Johnson knows if he will, or can, stay the course.

“Strap on your seatbelts,” he said. “It’s going to be really, really fun going forward. I hope. I expect.”

(Photo: Ed Mulholland / Getty Images)