A familiar energy paced through Darren Mougey as he talked with Aaron Glenn on the first day of their new Jets partnership.
Mougey felt the contagious passion once before, about three years ago.
In his former role with the Broncos, Mougey was part of the group interviewing Glenn for their head coach vacancy, and he liked to ask all candidates what their message to players would be during the first team meeting.
“Most of the candidates would talk about their philosophies, but AG said, ‘You want me to do it?’ ” Mougey recalled Monday. “He pushed back, he sat up and he delivered a powerful message. When he finished, we were all looking around like, ‘Wow!’ As we went on through the search, we kept going back to it like, ‘AG killed that thing. We haven’t seen that.’ ”
The Broncos ultimately hired Nathaniel Hackett, who was fired before his first season concluded and — ironically enough — spent last season as the Jets offensive coordinator.
Now Mougey, 39, and Glenn, 52, are paired up at last as general manager and head coach of the Jets — both reporting separately to owner Woody Johnson in an equal hierarchy, though Johnson referred to Mougey as Glenn’s “sidekick.”
“We got to talking about this Jets team, and the vision,” Mougey said of Thursday’s reconnection with Glenn, “and we were in lockstep right out the gate. We were speaking the same language. I can’t wait to work this partnership and bring a Super Bowl back to the New York Jets.”
How long will the wait be? Can the Jets go from 5-12 to winners in 2025?
“I believe so,” Mougey said. “We’re going to win games. You felt that from AG [with] the talented players, we’re going to win games here.”
Mougey edged out the Bengals’ Trey Brown and Commanders’ Lance Newmark from a group of finalists who got second interviews.
“We were so impressed by his organization and his ability to pick out players,” Johnson said. “That’s really the heart of the matter.”
Mougey finds a better roster — especially along the line of scrimmage — than he would have inherited in most general manager vacancies.
“I felt that very much,” Mougey said. “It’s a talented roster, and we are going to continue to add to it.”
Cornerback Sauce Gardner, receiver Garrett Wilson, running back Breece Hall, left tackle Olu Fashanu, center Joe Tippmann, right guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, defensive tackle Quinnen Williams, linebacker Quincy Williams and edges Will McDonald and Jermaine Johnson provide a promising core.
All are 28 or younger, but only Quinnen Williams and the 2024 first-round draft pick Fashanu are signed through 2027.
“Our philosophy will be to draft, develop, keep our own and be disciplined and strategic in free agency,” Mougey said. “There will be accountability across each department and a high standard as we look to win not only now but from now on.”
Wilson, Gardner, Johnson and Hall are eligible for extensions for the first time this offseason.
“When you know what you’ve got in the building and it’s good,” Mougey said, “you want to keep it together.”
