Hall of Fame coach gives Jets' Aaron Glenn advice amid 0-4 start

Long before Tony Dungy earned a reputation as a Hall of Fame head coach, he dropped the first five games of his career while with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers during the 1996 season. 

Thus, Dungy knows a little bit about what first-year New York Jets head coach Aaron Glenn is going through after Glenn opened his Jets tenure with four consecutive defeats. For a piece published Thursday, ESPN's Rich Cimini shared that Dungy recently spoke with Glenn about handling the scrutiny that comes with being the main man for an NFL franchise. 

Tony Dungy urges Aaron Glenn not to get discouraged

"I remember leaving the stadium -- we lost a game in the last minute to the Seahawks -- and this guy was screaming at me," Dungy recalled about Tampa Bay's Week 4 game from the 1996 campaign. "He was screaming, 'You stink. We're supposed to be better. You're the worst coach we ever had. I'm never coming back here as long as you're the coach. I'm not coming back until they fire you.' There were only about 15,000 in the stands, so I could hear everything. One year later, we were 4-0, playing the Dolphins on national TV before a sellout crowd. You can't get discouraged." 

As Jets quarterback Justin Fields pointed out on Wednesday, there are reasons to believe the club could experience a turnaround under Glenn sooner rather than later. After all, the Jets would be 2-2 had a pair of field goals gone differently in September. 

That said, Glenn's Jets committed 16 penalties, three turnovers and had 13 fouls accepted for 101 yards in a 27-21 loss at what was a winless Miami Dolphins side this past Monday night. Under Glenn, the Jets have thus far turned the ball over seven times without recording a single takeaway this season. 

Aaron Glenn receives a pep talk from Tony Dungy

Dungy revealed how he was "lifted" following a chat with iconic coach Dick Vermeil back in 1996. It sounds like Dungy believes Glenn can eventually be part of the solution for a franchise that shares the longest active postseason drought across the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL and MLS with the Buffalo Sabres (14 seasons).

"I was telling Aaron basically the same thing: You're in a good system, you know what you're doing, you believe in it and your players believe in it. You don't have to change," Dungy told Cimini. "Just keep pounding."

Of course, such a vote of confidence won't mean much to Jets fans if Glenn doesn't start stacking some wins. As of Thursday afternoon, ESPN BET had the 0-4 Jets as 2.5-point underdogs for this coming Sunday's home game against the 1-2-1 Dallas Cowboys.