Aaron Glenn joins the set to talk football and life

Notes from Aaron Glenn interview

* His solution to the current basketball woes is his 17 year old son who is starting to get recruited pretty heavily at the Division I level. Tends to sometimes be a nervous parent watching his games, but really enjoys watching any sport which calms the nerves some. He’s a junior at Ridgepoint High School in Houston but used to attend Westbury Christian which is a major high school basketball program.

* He is currently working with the Promentum group doing public speaking. Public speaking is something he enjoys doing and he loves to spread any message that will enlighten any school, team or corporation.

* It didn’t hurt to see the New York Giants win the Super Bowl after being a New York Jet for so many years. He talked to Pete Carroll, who was his first head coach in New York, at the NFL combine this past weekend and thinks it’s always good to relive his days as a Jet whenever he can. He is a guy who likes to see teams compete, and when looking at the Giants this past season, they had to compete the whole back half of the season and into the playoffs. Around week 10, the fans were calling for Coach Tom Caughlin’s head but those guys buckled down and showed what a team can do when they have a cause to fight for.

* Did not get a ring in 2009 when the New Orleans Saints won the Super Bowl. He was only listed as a member of the team because the Saints were still trying to get him to come back and play for them another season. His wife seemed more upset that he didn’t get a ring in 2009 than he was.

* Has no regrets about his 15 year career. Each year had its own characteristics and to be able to do something you have a passion for that long is something he is grateful for beyond belief.

* No question that the most fun he has had in his playing career was while he was at A&M. There have been a lot of plays that he enjoyed during his career in the NFL, but there was not one play that he loved more than the interception in the 1992 Texas game in Austin. He was playing outside coverage on his man and saw the receiver look at the quarterback. The quarterback checked and the receiver took two steps out to get more space on the inside. At that time, he had made up his mind that he was going to jump the route, good or bad. Once the snap came, the quarterback looked directly at the receiver and he jumped the route and took the interception to the house, high stepping his way in. He knew he was going to high step into the end zone when he knew he was clear because he knew he would be hearing from Coach Slocum otherwise.

* One thing he remembers about the teams in the early 90’s and the Wrecking Crew is that the whole team had the characteristics of being a winner. It wasn’t about if you would win the game, it was about how much you would win it by. Three of the reasons he decided to come to A&M were the school itself, Coach Slocum and the attitude of the defense and being a part of the Wrecking Crew. He will never forget “The Hit” that Quentin Coryatt had against TCU.

* There have been many arguments between him and his younger brother, Jason Glenn that started with him gloating about him never losing a game at Kyle Field.

* He has been a huge advocate of the SEC move and didn’t realize until recently that it could cause problems for parents wanting to see their kids play who could have made the easy drive to Waco or Austin. He also thinks that the move to the SEC will open up Texas in general to a wider portion of the country as far as recruiting goes. He really likes the SEC move and thinks it’s the best thing for A&M, but can also understand the negatives to the move as well.

* One thing Coach Sumlin did very well when he got the head coaching job was reaching out to a lot of former players. The former players get a suite at whatever bowl game the team is at that year and Sumlin came up and hung out with them for a long time at this year’s bowl game. He talked about his plans and what he expects out of the former players as far as growing the program is concerned. He thinks Sumlin is doing the right things and he is excited for the upcoming season. Coach Sumlin will bring a type of quiet swagger to the team that will make the team confident that they can win every game they play in.

* His journey to A&M was an interesting one to say the least. In high school he was primarily a running back but also played some corner.  He went to Navarro Junior College and played there for two years. While he was there, he learned so much on how to be a defensive back from fellow teammate Steve Harris. Harris also kept him in check on the academic side of things as well. At Navarro, they required 72 hours to graduate so he was taking 18 hours every semester while playing football. While at Navarro, he was getting recruited heavily by Florida and planned on being the first junior college signee the Gators would ever have. He talked to Coach Slocum at 6:00 A.M. on signing day and decided to come to A&M. He loved everything about the school and once he was here, he could not have been happier.

* He still talks with Coach Slocum on a regular basis. Anytime anyone asks about influential coaches in his life, he talks about his high school coach, Coach Slocum and Bill Parcells. One thing he does remember is during practice one day, he picked off a pass and he heard Coach Slocum tell Coach Bob Davie that no matter what, Aaron Glenn has to be on the field come game day. Coach Davie replied that he would try and Coach Slocum told him not to try, but to just do it.

* From Kevin Smith, he learned that he had certain responsibilities that came with being a defensive back at Texas A&M. Smith held him personally accountable for those responsibilities and how he carried himself on and off the field. He took that to heart and actually wore Kevin Smith’s number while playing with the Dallas Cowboys. He then felt it was his responsibility to hold Ray Mickens accountable and keep him to the same standards that Smith did before him.