Jerry Glanville wants to coach Eastern Michigan

Tom Pelissero | USA TODAY Sports

Former NFL coach Jerry Glanville wants back into football at the college level.

He told USA TODAY Sports on Monday morning he has applied for the head coaching job at Eastern Michigan.

"I love coaching football," Glanville said. "The bottom line is coaches coach, preachers preach. They do that until they put them in the box."

Glanville, 72, got into coaching as a college assistant before joining the Detroit Lions staff in 1974. He spent eight years as an NFL head coach with the Houston Oilers (1986 to '89) and Atlanta Falcons (1990 to '93), making the playoffs four times.

In 2005 Glanville re-emerged as the defensive coordinator under June Jones at Hawaii. He was there two seasons, then took the head coaching job at Portland State, where he compiled a 9-24 record over three seasons from 2007 to '09.

Glanville's only full-time job since was as head coach and general manager of a United Football League franchise that folded without playing a game. But he has remained active in football and is set to coach the East-West Shrine Game for the second time in January.

"I love the Mid-American Conference," said Glanville, whose former assistants include Alabama coach Nick Saban. "The Big Ten is going to take the kid you really want. But it's what you do after you have them on your campus.

"I don't see why Eastern Michigan should not be as good as Bowling Green and Toledo and the rest of them in that conference. But they haven't been."

A tape of ex-coach Ron English using "wholly inappropriate language" with the team contributed to Eastern Michigan's decision to fire English nine games into his fifth season with the program, the school said in a statement Nov. 9.

English, the former defensive coordinator at Michigan, was 11-46 overall and 7-30 in Mid-American Conference play. EMU finished 2-10 in three of English's four seasons, though the Eagles went 6-6 in 2011, netting English the MAC Coach of the Year Award.

"Everybody says, 'That's not a good job,' " said Glanville, who still lives in Atlanta but loves talking about his Michigan roots.

"I took the Houston Oiler job. Everybody in the National Football League would call up and say, 'Why would you do that? It's a terrible job.' Years later, I went to the Atlanta Falcons. When you leave, you hope everybody wants the job."

The Eagles, 2-9 entering Friday's season finale against Central Michigan, have not had a winning record since going 6-5 in 1995.

Other candidates for the job, according to the Detroit Free Press, include former EMU quarterback Ron Adams, ex-Michigan running back Tyrone Wheatley, now an assistant with the Buffalo Bills, former Miami (Ohio) coach Mike Haywood, and Notre Dame offensive coordinator Chuck Martin, previously with Grand Valley State.

Eastern Michigan spokesman Greg Steiner said the school does not comment on coaching searches.

Follow Tom Pelissero on Twitter @TomPelissero.