By Ross Jackson
NEW ORLEANS — After riding high into the playoffs as the NFC’s No. 1 seed, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn may have seen his stock as a future head coach fall following a 45-31 divisional round loss to the Washington Commanders.
Glenn is expected to be high on the list for the New Orleans Saints when it comes to their open head coaching position. However, there may be more questions circulating him at this point after his defense surrendered 45 points to a rookie quarterback in the postseason.
The loss was a stark contrast to the Lions’ massive 31-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in their season finale. Couple Detroit’s playoff stumble with the fact that the Los Angeles Rams also limited the Vikings and quarterback Sam Darnold’s Cinderella offense to just nine points in the wild-card round and some of what elevated Glenn headed into the postseason certainly begins to lose some luster.
But with injuries all over the Detroit defense, and the special nature of Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels’ season, perhaps teams are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt in favor of the other highlights Glenn has provided throughout his coaching career.
Top coordinators often prove that they are better in their initial role than as a head coach. Maybe Glenn proves the opposite, that he will be a better head coach than coordinator.
It’s hard to ignore the inefficiencies of the Lions’ defense over the course of the season. While they ranked No. 5 against the run and as the No. 7 scoring defense, the unit ranked No. 20 in total yards and No. 30 against the pass. That’s not a great outlook for today’s NFL.
The team also surrendered 29 points to the Seattle Seahawks, 31 in their second meeting with the Green Bay Packers, 48 in a loss to the Buffalo Bills and 34 to the banged up San Francisco 49ers in the regular season.
Pretending that these are end-all-be-all factors for NFL teams in desperate need of their next head coach may be a bit drastic. But ignoring the warning signs altogether wouldn’t be advisable either. Expect Glenn to be grilled in interviews about what went wrong and how he would improve the situation if in charge of the defense where he does end up as a head coach.
The road was set to be smooth for Glenn. But the Commanders’ outstanding performance knocking off the NFC’s No. 1 seed could now be a significant pothole in the way of his travels to Poydras and other opportunities around the league.
