From flowers to ships, Aaron Glenn uses metaphors for Jets’ woes

New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn isn’t the first leader to use metaphors as a way to galvanize his 0-2 squad.

He’s just hoping that the use of his latest one will be able to turn around the team going into a tough Week 3 contest against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Many NFL coaches around the league use metaphors as a way to connect with their players, media, or fanbase. Some coaches use inanimate objects to detail what the mindset and message should be going into a week of football.

While Glenn’s metaphor isn’t as pronounced as other active head coaches around the league, there’s a reason why fans should believe in the message.

Jets’ new metaphor adds context to struggles

Jets fans are, quite simply, sick of metaphors. Under the previous regime, sayings like “if you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t poppin,” and “iron sharpens iron” did little to turn around the organization’s struggles.

So when Aaron Glenn began talking about ships and chopping trees down in Wednesday’s availability with the media, the fanbase collectively had some flashbacks to rough moments in recent years.

“Big ships turn slow,” Glenn said Wednesday. “Every day we’re going to chop wood to make sure we get it the way we need to get it to, and I’m not expecting this to be just a wholesale (snaps) turn of events… we’re going to focus on those things we have to do to get better, and every day in practice we’re going to end up focusing on that.”

Glenn has preached patience since his very first opening press conference back in January. He knows rebuilding the culture of the Jets will take time – even after their 0-2 start to begin 2025.

But there’s reason for hope – even if the metaphors run dry after constant losing.

It wasn’t that long ago when an eventual Super Bowl-winning coach was on the hot seat. One quote, though, changed everything for both him and the franchise.

When Nick Sirianni was first hired as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles in 2021, the team was in disarray. They were coming off a 4-11-1 season and had just fired their former Super Bowl-winning head coach, Doug Pederson.

Sirianni began his Eagles tenure with a 2-5 record. Instead of collapsing under the pressure, the outspoken head coach presented a metaphor to his team and the media – one with a very flowery presentation.

“I said, ‘The results aren’t there right now, but what’s going on here is that there’s growth under the soil,'” said Sirianni of his speech to the team in 2021. “I put a picture of a flower up, and it’s coming through the ground, and the roots are growing out. The roots are continuing to grow out.”

Sirianni has never been as tight with the media as Glenn is. But his use of the metaphor worked. No team has won as many games as the Eagles since that quote was uttered.

As ridiculous as comparing an NFL team to flowers growing or a ship setting sail can be, these sayings all serve the same purpose.

Metaphors can work if they connect with players and get them on a winning path. At 0-2, using ships or chopping trees may seem out of the ordinary, but it might just be exactly what the Jets need moving forward.

From flowers to ships, the Jets are trying something new to get where they need to be.