Aaron Glenn’s stunning success on Sunday evening was his best argument yet for victory at Saints’ HC

Aaron Glenn, who had a great performance on Sunday night, made his best case yet to become the next head coach of the New Orleans Saints. He and his undermanned Detroit Lions defense stopped one of the league’s most exciting offenses and held the Minnesota Vikings to just nine points – two touchdowns fewer than their per game average.

And he did it without a host of familiar names. No Aidan Hutchinson, who is still one of the best pass rushers despite missing most of the year due to injury. Alim McNeil, arguably their best defensive tackle, was also missing. Rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold suffered an injury two-thirds of the way through the game. They signed Marcus Davenport this offseason hoping he could make an impact, but he too was injured. So are linebackers Derrick Barnes and Malcolm Rodriguez. And their top corner, Carlton Davis, was also injured.

Glenn took advantage of the undermanned defense and bet on Sam Darnold to buckle under pressure by using more blitzes and physical man coverage to slow Justin Jefferson. Darnold completed just 18 of his 41 passes and Jefferson finished the night with three catches for 54 yards.

Talk about a compelling closing argument. There are good and bad reasons for the Saints to pursue Glenn as their head coach. That he trained under Sean Payton and Dennis Allen and already knows Mickey Loomis isn’t one of them. There’s also no thought that he would take the job because he lets Loomis choose his assistants. The fact that he took over a defense with so many backups in the starting lineup and beat the snot out of an MVP candidate quarterback is a huge plus for him. Glenn did this all year long.

He would inherit a similar situation in New Orleans with a talent-poor roster. He helped Dan Campbell build the Lions from the ground up, and that experience makes him an attractive candidate here. The fact that he has shown he can make the most of the talent at his disposal is really encouraging. We’ll see if Glenn actually becomes a priority target for the Saints, but it’s easy to see why they and so many other teams place so much value on him.

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This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Aaron Glenn’s stunning Sunday night stunner has made his best case for becoming Saints’ HC