Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning attends a Knicks...

Former New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning attends a Knicks game at MSG on Jan. 10, 2025. Credit: Getty Images/Elsa

When Eli Manning was a second-year starter for the Giants in 2005 and threw two interceptions to the same cornerback in a game against the Cowboys, he probably never thought he’d be asked about that player nearly 20 years later.

But that player was Aaron Glenn, who’s now the head coach of the Jets.

“Obviously, Aaron had great success running the defensive scheme for the Lions the last few years, had a long career, has great knowledge of the game,” Manning said on Thursday in Manhattan, where he was hosting an event for Guiding Eyes for the Blind. “I think he’ll do a great job and be a great leader. I’m excited for him.”

Glenn follows a trend of former players becoming head coaches. He is the fifth who currently leads a team for which he once suited up — Mike Vrabel with New England, DeMeco Ryans with Houston, Dan Campbell with Detroit and Jim Harbaugh with the Chargers.

“There is a passion,” Manning said. “You know the game inside and out, you think like a player. You know what they can handle.”

So is that something Manning ever considered? Perhaps in the future with the Giants?

“No!” he said emphatically. “It’s a big commitment. I knew when I was done playing, I wanted to take time to be around my kids, coach my kids. I’d rather coach my kids in sports than coach a bunch of other kids.”

Manning went so far as to say coaching is a “bigger commitment” than playing. He took pride in being the first player in and the last player out of the locker room when he was a quarterback, but he also noticed that the coaches often were already there — or still there — when he came and went.

“You are spending nights at the facility, you are getting home from road trips at 4 in the morning and getting ready for the next week,” he said. “We got to go to sleep, we got to go rest. There is very little rest for a coach.”

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