Aaron Glenn, Ray Agnew to participate in NFL’s first coach, front office ‘accelerator program’

Two Lions up-and-comers will take part in the NFL inaugural head coach and front office accelerator programs next week.

Next week during the NFL’s spring league meetings, the league will be hosting a new event for the first time. Dubbed the “NFL Coach and Front Office Accelerator” program, the two-day seminar is focused on providing advice and resources to minority NFL employees with aspirations to become an NFL head coach or general manager.

Per the NFL’s official release:

The program will provide senior women and minority prospects with leadership development sessions with football operations experts and facilitators, as well as time spent networking directly with club owners. The effort is designed to continue building a diverse hiring pipeline for future head coach and general manager positions throughout the League.

Each team is sending at least one representative to the seminar—scheduled for May 23 and 24—though most are sending two.

The two participants for the Detroit Lions are not all that surprising: defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and assistant general manager Ray Agnew.

Glenn has already drawn a lot of attention as a potential head coach candidate. This round of hirings, Glenn landed two interviews—one with the Broncos, one with the Saints—but ended up staying in Detroit. Glenn has insisted his current goal is to become the best defensive coordinator in Lions history, but it’s also clear he aspires to be a head coach one day.

“I think we all know at some point in my career that’s what I want to do,” Glenn said during Senior Bowl week. “But I’ve said this before and I’m going to say it again, I want to be the best defensive coordinator the Detroit Lions have ever had. I look forward to that day when I become a head coach.”

As for Agnew, he, too, has worked hard for an opportunity. He spent 18 years with the Los Angeles Rams as a member of their scouting staff, eventually earning the position of director of pro personnel in 2017 before being hired as the Lions’ assistant general manager in 2021.

“He’s just been an amazing, valuable asset,” Lions general manager Brad Holmes said of Agnew last year. “He’s been able to make an even (more) accelerated process in terms of laying out what our vision is and what I’ve wanted to be the vision from a personnel standpoint.”