Would a Horrible Performance by Detroit Defense in the playoffs change your mind on Aaron Glenn ? (3 Viewers)

[NolaE21]

Alot of the defensive players are back. If that unit looks anything close to average or worse, the hype train should drop. The defense wasn't impressive before the injuries, during and we'll see about after. People are over exaggerating the success of that defense while injuries were rampant just because it wasn't an awful defense.

I agree ! Even Detroit lions fans I’ve spoken to say they would be happy if he came to the Saints but it would suck for us.

 

[Big_L]

I think Flores' unit did better and he has HC experience. However, to answer the question, I don't think that should be held against him, to a certain extent.

 

[DavidM]

I’m not huge on Glenn in the first place because I don’t think the Lions defense is very good. The offense is carrying that team. That’s not a knock on him either. I want a coach whose unit is in the top echelon of the league and AG’s isn’t there. Ben Johnson’s unit is.

I was critical of the job Glenn did with the secondary when he was here and recall conversations where I wasn’t as disappointed with his departure as other fans seemed to be.

If he has traits that project success as a head coach, I can get on board with that, but if he were to come in as a playcaller - I’d think he would - I share your concerns.

 

[BreesusSaves]

Just looking at Glenn's history as their DC is unimpressive. I think his leadership is what gets him his popularity as a Head Coach candidate, not his Xs and Os.

Lions Defensive Ranks with Aaron Glenn:
2021: 31st in scoring, 29th in total yards.
2022: 28th in scoring, 32nd in total yards.
2023: 23rd in scoring, 19th in total yards.
2024: 7th in scoring, 20th in total yards.

The Secondary, which is supposed to be his specialty, ranked 30th in 2024, 27th in 2023, 30th in 2022, and 24th in 2021.

The Lions have spent 11 of their last 16 draft picks in the first three rounds on defense, as well as signing numerous free agents.

I'm not saying Aaron Glenn can't be a fantastic Head Coach, just pointing out his defenses are a red flag.

 

[3ParStillDriver]

Just looking at Glenn's history as their DC is unimpressive. I think his leadership is what gets him his popularity as a Head Coach candidate, not his Xs and Os.

Lions Defensive Ranks with Aaron Glenn:
2021: 31st in scoring, 29th in total yards.
2022: 28th in scoring, 32nd in total yards.
2023: 23rd in scoring, 19th in total yards.
2024: 7th in scoring, 20th in total yards.

The Secondary, which is supposed to be his specialty, ranked 30th in 2024, 27th in 2023, 30th in 2022, and 24th in 2021.

The Lions have spent 11 of their last 16 draft picks in the first three rounds on defense, as well as signing numerous free agents.

I'm not saying Aaron Glenn can't be a fantastic Head Coach, just pointing out his defenses are a red flag.

I was literally just about to come here and post that. His defense was truly bad during his tenure until this year. People are raving about his defense because it finally made a decent statistic being 7th in scoring. But the Lions offense is 2nd in time of possession which accounts for that 7th in scoring by a large margin. If the Lions offense time of possession was middle of the pack the Lions scoring defense would likely drop from 7th to 20th+ of the NFL.

Terribly over exaggerated and overrated. They've never been good during his entire tenure as DC.

 

[SWJJ]

All the injuries get him a pass.

 

[SAINTSFAN]

No. They have so many injuries in the secondary. They are vulnerable and will be tested vs Jayden Daniels and others if they win.

Have they ever had a very good defense under Glenn? I really like him as a person and seems like a guy the players like and respect. However, have the results been there in Detroit or has the defensive deficiencies been a bit masked by great offenses?

 

[ELLIASJWILLIAMS]

Not really, offenses are attacking that particular scheme at a high rate. Glenn adjusted in a way that Allen didn't by blitzing on early downs, and then blitzing/playing man w/out fear on passing downs. Anything to make sure the team went into 2nd or 3rd and long so they could attack. As noted by Underhill, Allen refused to blitz consistently even when he found late in seasons that it worked. The following season he would just go back to playing more coverage on the back end and it resulting in us getting exposed as team started passing less and running more.

We stopped playing single high for more of a 2-High system w/ some tampa two elements and we got gashed in the run.


So in other words, Glenn will probably have a bad game....just like Gregg Williams defenses had every now and again, as a bad game for them is one where they don't force turnovers (giving up yards is normal). In that game it'll be up to the offense to score a lot of points and Detroits offense is built to do that so they'll be fine, including Glenn.

The obvious bad thing about defensive HC's or HC's like Rizzi is that if you get a good OC, in 2-3 years people will be calling for him to be a HC. So you're constantly having to cycle people and have a plan. You get an OC as a HC and not many DC's get the call to be HC's. So you can keep them around longer and it's more stable. So though I'd like Glenn... I'm actually leaning towards McCarthy because he's a built in playcaller.

 

[Optimistic Ozzy]

Do not want. I would like a young offensive minded coach and let him hire a fiery, blitz heavy scheme minded DC.
Having said that, I will get behind whomever we bring in as HC.

 

[3ParStillDriver]

Have they ever had a very good defense under Glenn? I really like him as a person and seems like a guy the players like and respect. However, have the results been there in Detroit or has the defensive deficiencies been a bit masked by great offenses?

Terribly masked by great offenses. Their defense has always sucked and still does. The offense is running up massive time of possessions with Gibbs, Montgomery, Williams and Amon-Ra, keeping opposing offenses on the bench. I hadn't realized it was that bad until I just looked. Someone else posted all the stats defensively, and if you look the Lions offense is 2nd this year in time of possession (only the Eagles beat em). The Lions had many, many games were they held the ball for over 35 minutes. Some even 39 minutes, and thats massive from a defensive points allowed statistic, which is why everyone is claiming the defense is good despite injuries.

 

[Elvis]

All the injuries get him a pass.

But do they get him a promotion is the big question.

 

[Scorpius the Allfather]

I don't believe in the Lions. When you have injuries like that, you can step up for a game or two, but it's going to bite you in the long run. Don't think they make it too far because of their defense. Injuries matter. A good coach can hide it temporarily but they can't fix it.

We had around 19 players on IR the year we won the Super Bowl.