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Top head-coaching candidate reportedly declines interview request with Patriots
Aaron Glenn is expected to interview with five NFL teams this week.
One of the most sought-after NFL coaching candidates this offseason is reportedly not interested in the Patriots.
According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn has declined an interview request from New England.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter noted on X that Glenn already has five interviews lined up this week with the Jets, Saints, Raiders, Jaguars, and Bears — making New England the lone NFL with a head-coaching vacancy that reportedly won’t land an interview with him.
The Patriots reportedly requested an interview with Glenn on Wednesday, two days after the team also requested to interview Glenn’s colleague, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
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New England has already conducted three interviews for their head-coaching vacancy, starting with a pair of in-person meetings with former Buccaneers offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and longtime NFL assistant coach Pep Hamilton on Tuesday.
The Patriots also confirmed on Thursday that they have interviewed reported frontrunner Mike Vrabel in Boston. Johnson is reportedly expected to meet with New England virtually on Friday.
Glenn is expected to be in high demand during this latest coaching carousel, given his role in turning Detroit’s defense into a stout unit in 2024.
Now in his fourth season on the job, Glenn has led a Detroit defense that ranks seventh in the NFL in fewest points allowed in 2024 — even with the team trudging through a year where Aidan Hutchinson and five other starters landed on injured reserve.
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“He’s as good of a coach as you’re going to find,” Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Glenn on Wednesday. “He’s an even better human being. If nobody wants him, I’ll take him again, I can tell you that right now. But the thought of going through another cycle and he’s not somebody’s head coach, is ridiculous.”
While New England’s last-minute request for a talk with Glenn might have cost them an interview, a report from Mike Giardi of Boston Sports Journal painted the Patriots’ reported interest in Glenn as more of an optics-based decision.
“There’s plenty of eye-rolling about the Pats’ process of finding their next head coach,” Giardi wrote on Thursday. “The interviews of Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich were “unserious,” per one league exec, and another believed they “did a solid” to the agents while also quickly fulfilling the Rooney Rule.
“As for Wednesday’s reported request for Lions DC Aaron Glenn, there’s a belief that this is a “CYA (Cover your ass)” maneuver by the Pats after catching some grief in league circles and from consequential media types.”
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By interviewing Hamilton and Leftwich on Tuesday, the Patriots fulfilled the requirements of the Rooney Rule — the NFL’s policy that requires teams to conduct in-person interviews with at least two external minority candidates.
New England now has the green light to hire a head coach immediately — which could come within the next few days after interviewing Vrabel and Johnson.
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