Subscribe
Follow Us
It appears the Lions will lose assistant coach Aaron Glenn to another team. But it’s not impossible that another coach could stay put. And while Glenn may move on, the Lions' defensive coordinator denied the New England Patriots’ request amid the head coaching buzz, according to a post on X by Tom Pelissero.
#Lions DC Aaron Glenn has declined an interview request from the #Patriots, per sources. Glenn will interview for the other five head coaching vacancies over the next few days.
That’s a pretty strong slap in the face from Glenn, who spurned the Patriots without so much as a conversation.
Patriots getting trolled for head coaching search
It’s looking more and more like the Patriots empire is yet to start a true rebuild. First, they hired a coach and gave him no chance to succeed with a talent-thin roster. Then they fired Jerod Mayo after one season. Brutal.
New England requested an interview with Ben Johnson before interviewing Byron Leftwich and Pep Hamilton. Meanwhile, Mike Vrabel secured an interview, and he is rumored to be the favorite to get the job.
However, interviewing Leftwich and Hamilton, allowed the Patriots to satisfy the NFL's Rooney Rule. It requires teams to interview at least two external minority candidates for head coaching and senior football operation jobs.
Is it a shady operation for the Patriots?
Albert Breer of MMQB said the whole process looks shady, according to nbcsportsboston.com.
“It looks like a sham,” Breer said. “Those are two guys — and all due respect to Pep Hamilton and Byron Leftwich — I think they'd struggle to get coordinator jobs this year. And for people who don't know the mechanics of the rule, you have to have at least two in-person interviews with diverse candidates. And you are not allowed to interview anybody who is working for a team, playoff or otherwise. So the reason you would do this and hustle two guys in who aren't working for teams right now is because that's the only way to check that box so you can actually go forward with hiring somebody.”
Breer said he believes the Patriots are “very clearly flouting the rule.”
“And look, we can argue about how valid the rule is and everything else,” Breer said. “What gives the Patriots the right to do this? They haven't had a legitimate coaching search in 25 years. The Rooney Rule didn't exist 25 years ago, so you can say the rule sucks and maybe it does. But what gives you the right not to have to jump through all the hoops that everybody else has for two decades?”
Patriots owner Robert Kraft recently sidestepped the talk of Vrabel having the job in hand, according to bostonglobe.com.
“We want to interview as many people as we can that can help us get to that position that we want to be in,” Kraft said. “(But) I don’t know all the people involved.”
