Jets rookie Omar Cooper Jr. didn’t waste much time drawing a line between Aaron Glenn and the coach who helped shape his college experience.
Speaking earlier this week on “The Official Jets Podcast,” Cooper said Glenn gave him the same kind of feel he got when Curt Cignetti first arrived at Indiana.
"I was like, ‘You know, you kind of sound like Cig when he first came in [at Indiana],’” Cooper said.
That comparison matters because Cignetti’s track record is impossible to miss. He built wins at every stop, starting with six seasons at Division II Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where the Crimson Hawks went 53-17 from 2011-16 and reached the Division II playoffs three times. He then went 14-9 at FCS Elon and 52-9 at James Madison, where he guided the program through its move to the FBS level.
Then came Indiana’s 11-2 season and College Football Playoff berth in 2024, followed by last year’s championship run that even earned Cignetti a spot on the “College Football 27” cover. The broader point, though, is the same one Cooper seemed to be making: Cignetti wins wherever he goes, no matter the level or the resources around him.
That’s why the Jets will like hearing Cooper talk this way about Glenn.
New York’s roster still has real questions, starting with the quarterback spot, but there’s also a young core that looks more interesting than it did not long ago. The team traded Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams, yet Garrett Wilson remains one of the league’s most recognizable receivers, and Breece Hall is coming off his first 1,000-yard season.
Indiana has already become a useful reference point for the Jets this spring. The team drafted both Cooper and cornerback D’Angelo Ponds in April, and Cooper’s comments suggest the Hoosiers’ recent rise left an impression on him.
There’s always a cynical read when a rookie heaps praise on the head coach who will help determine his role and workload. But Cooper’s comparison still says something about how Glenn is being perceived inside the building. At Indiana, Cignetti turned quick buy-in into immediate results by maximizing the transfer portal and matching the moment in college football.
Glenn doesn’t have that same tool, but he does have a young team trying to build momentum. And if Cooper and Ponds recognize the pattern from their time at Indiana, the Jets are probably hoping the rest of the season follows the same script.
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