Ten years ago, John Glenn \u201805 spent most of his time at East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania between Stroud Hall and\u00a0Eiler-Martin Stadium, where he was a three-year starter at linebacker for the Warriors\u2019 football team.<\/p>\n
Glenn has turned his passion for football into the start of a promising coaching career with the Seattle Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champions who will play for their second straight NFL title against the New England Patriots on Sunday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew back then that I wanted a career in football because I wanted to give back to the sport that gave so much to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Glenn is in his third year in Seattle, working as a quality control coach and linebackers coach for the defensive staff after two years as an assistant special teams coach, including the Seahawks\u2019 convincing 43-8 win over the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl last February.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am as amped as amped can be,\u201d he said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more fortunate to be a part of a team with such a unique group of guys who love playing for one another and are so caught up in playing as hard as they can.\u201d<\/p>\n
Glenn is the most recent in a group of Warriors who will give ESU an alumnus coaching in the Super Bowl for the sixth time in the last nine years.<\/p>\n
Last winter, he joined Pat Flaherty \u201978, a two-time champion in 2007 and 2011 as offensive line coach of the New York Giants, as Warriors with Super Bowl rings.<\/p>\n
Others who have coached in the \u201cbig game\u201d are Harry Hiestand \u201983, offensive line coach for the Chicago Bears in 2006 who is currently at Notre Dame, and Vic Fangio \u201980, defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers in 2012, who was recently hired to the same position with the Bears.<\/p>\n
Hard at work last week after an improbable 28-22 (OT) victory over the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game, Glenn spends most of his days and nights (5:30 a.m. to 1 a.m.) watching film and charting opponents\u2019 offensive tendencies – crucial work in preparing the team\u2019s No. 1-ranked defense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could tell anyone when the last time was that New England threw a pass from the 20 yard line,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
But as his eyes are glued to studying the Patriots and quarterback Tom Brady, the once-upon-a-time ESU Warrior can\u2019t help but think of the journey that\u2019s taking him to Arizona this week.<\/p>\n
Glenn was a standout quarterback and linebacker at Lackawanna Trail High School, helping the team to the District 2 Class A championship in 1999.<\/p>\n
His preparation for a career in the National Football League began during his time on ESU\u2019s campus.<\/p>\n
Glenn played basketball at ESU for two years before transitioning to the football field, where he credits head coach Denny\u00a0Douds and his staff, including longtime coaches Mike Terwilliger (offensive coordinator)\u00a0and Mike\u00a0Santella (offensive line),\u00a0for playing a role in molding his success.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because of the coaches at ESU that I was so well prepared to work in the NFL,\u201d Glenn mentioned of his time playing for Douds, the winningest coach in PSAC history.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere wasn\u2019t much football I hadn\u2019t seen during my time as a Warrior,\u201d he said. \u201cThe lessons they taught me are ones that still help me every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
On the field, Glenn was a starter on the Warriors\u2019 2004 and 2005 NCAA Division II playoff teams and helped the 2005 squad capture the Northeast Region title, advancing to the national semifinals.<\/p>\n
And off the field, he traveled to staff a football camp at the University of Southern California (USC) where he established a relationship with Pete Carroll, then the head coach of one of the top collegiate programs in the country. It was a connection that would benefit Glenn several years later.<\/p>\n
After graduating from ESU in 2005 with a degree in Communication Studies, Glenn was a volunteer coach for the Warriors before landing a position at North Carolina Wesleyan College. In 2008, he moved to California where he did some freelancing for Nike. He returned to college football in 2010, obtaining a position as an assistant coach at the University of Washington under head coach Steve Sarkisian, who Glenn had met at USC when Sarkisian was a member of Carroll\u2019s staff.<\/p>\n
Glenn coached at Washington in 2010 and 2011, then considered following offensive coordinator Doug Nussmeier to the University of Alabama – but not without giving a call to Carroll first.<\/p>\n
Carroll, who became the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks in 2010, called Glenn back four days later and offered him a job in the NFL. The rest is history.<\/p>\n
With three seasons under his belt in Seattle, Glenn shares the philosophy of Carroll and the Seahawks.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just work every day to be better than we were yesterday and we compete as hard as we can to be the best we can be,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
That philosophy paid off on a national stage in the NFC championship game on January 18, when the Seahawks scored two touchdowns in the final 2:09 of regulation after trailing 16-0 at halftime and 19-7 late in the fourth quarter. After forcing overtime, a touchdown pass from Russell Wilson to Jermaine Kearse sent the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl.<\/p>\n
Glenn, who had a front row seat for the historic comeback from his vantage point in the Seahawks\u2019 coaching box, said the team always believed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just kept talking about getting a stop and getting a score, and our guys kept playing,\u201d Glenn said, echoing a message that he undoubtedly heard from the Warriors\u2019 coaches during his time at ESU.<\/p>\n
After earning a return trip to the Super Bowl, winning another NFL championship is the organization\u2019s end goal.<\/p>\n
The ultimate goal for Glenn? To be a head coach in the NFL. He\u2019s always believed that good things happen to good people and hard work will always pay off.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen people see my name, I want them to know how hard I work and think, \u2018I know I can trust that guy,\u2019\u201d Glenn said.<\/p>\n
And as he focuses on the future, for this weekend and beyond, there are two teams that he will always be rooting for.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo Warriors and go Hawks!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
John Glenn \u201905 Set for 2nd Straight Super Bowl with Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[20,22,42,58,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-esu-success-stories","category-facebook","category-news-release","category-slider","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11524"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11524"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11524\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11527,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11524\/revisions\/11527"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11524"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11524"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quantum.esu.edu\/insider\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11524"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}