The start of Aaron Glenn’s answer said it all. 

“It’s hard not to notice,” he said when asked about the Knicks and the historical run to the NBA Finals that has captivated New York City. Glenn, wearing a “GRIT” shirt, called them a “gritty, gritty team.” He raved about the leadership of superstar Jalen Brunson. If anything, the Knicks — awaiting their Finals opponent after sweeping the Cavaliers to bring their postseason winning streak to 11 games — have provided a glimpse of the attention that could follow if Glenn and the Jets find a way to create some magic of their own. 

“I know Jet fans are frothing at the mouth to cheer like that,” wideout Garrett Wilson, who attended Game 5 between the Knicks and Pacers last year in the Eastern Conference finals, said Thursday after the Jets’ OTAs session, “and we want to give it to them, I personally want to give it to them, the most. … That gives us a taste of what it might look like when we figure this thing out.” 

When asked if there’s anything his Jets — coming off a 3-14 season in 2025 and trying to snap a 15-year playoff that’s the longest in North American sports — can take from the Knicks, Glenn dished out plenty of praise, and it’s clear that he admires how the Knicks have functioned this season. The Knicks, like the Jets, went through plenty of low points and rock bottoms before the arrival of team president Leon Rose in 2020, the hiring of previous coach Tom Thibodeau months later, the arrival of Brunson and the return to the playoffs in 2021. 

Before their drought began, the Jets went to consecutive AFC Championship games and were on the brink of making the Super Bowl, but so much losing has happened since then. They’ve cycled through quarterbacks. Cycled through coaches. Watched top draft picks come and go. Glenn was hired ahead of last season and became the latest person tasked with fixing the trajectory of the franchise. 

“It’s hard to be a gritty team without gritty players,” Glenn said. “And it all starts with the point guard. I mean, you could tell that the leadership, the fight, everybody follows that. And it’s easy to follow that. … I continue to say this, that leadership really comes down to one word and that’s ‘influence,’ and you really see the influence that he has. And it’s not always verbal — it’s a lot of just what he does and how he operates. 

“Man, pulling for those guys. I really am because they play their ass off and it’s fun to watch and it’s good to see.”