It’s no secret that the Jets need Aaron Glenn to fix their culture.
While some people are tired of hearing that word, “culture” is important in team sports. As legendary business consultant Peter Drucker said, “Culture eats strategy for lunch.”
Glenn spent the last four seasons as defensive coordinator of the Detroit Lions, where he watched head coach Dan Campbell transform the Lions’ damaged culture into one of the NFL’s strongest.
As a player, he also saw Bill Parcells transform the Jets’ culture, taking over a team that went 1-15 in 1996 and taking them to the AFC Championship Game two years later.
But while Glenn has the skill set to be the culture change agent the Jets need, he can’t do it alone. He needs help from everyone in the organization to make it happen – everyone needs to buy in.
Something happened recently that has gone under the radar, but it was an important cultural move – it involves the owner, and he deserves credit for it.
To his credit, over the last few months, Woody Johnson has taken a very low profile on Twitter (X).
From December 19 until now, his only messages were “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and Happy Hanukkah” (December 25) and “Happy New Year!” (January 1). That is it.
This is significant.
The last couple of years, he’s drawn the ire of many fans with tweets about things like uniform combinations and helmet giveaways, even during losing streaks.
That kind of messaging is not culturally ideal and has little to do with winning
Fans would often comment below these tweets with snark like “Sell the team” and “Read the room.”
In his defense, we don’t think he was sending these tweets out. Somebody was likely assigned a few years ago to send out positive tweets on his behalf, and it became formulaic.
But to Johnson’s credit, even though he was likely not behind these tweets, he’s put a stop to it.
“I have to look in the mirror and be a better owner,” Johnson said recently.
Stopping the frivolous tweets from his account is an example of him trying to become a better owner and help improve the culture.
******
The new issue of Jets Confidential is out, and you don’t want to miss it! It’s our blockbuster draft preview issue. To subscribe to the magazine, our online Whispers (different content than the magazine), or both, click on an option below:
