He served as head coach of the Houston Oilers from 1986 to 1990 and the Atlanta Falcons from 1990 to 1994, compiling a career National Football League (NFL) record of 63–73.

The "NFL" line was in reference to the fact that Daopoulos was in his first year in the league, having previously worked in college football.

He went on to play college football as a middle linebacker at Northern Michigan University, graduating in 1964 with a bachelor's degree.

As head coach of the Oilers from 1985 to 1989, Glanville was famous for often leaving tickets at will-call for Elvis Presley (who by that point had been dead for over a decade), wearing all black to be easily recognized by his players, and driving replicas of vehicles driven by actor James Dean.

Glanville's Oilers were an aggressive, hard-hitting team (to the point of resorting to cheap shots in the eyes of their opponents).

Glanville often feuded with the head coaches of Houston's AFC Central rivals, Sam Wyche of the Cincinnati Bengals and Marty Schottenheimer of the Cleveland Browns.

Glanville turned the Oilers, a team that had struggled through most of the 1980s, into an aggressive, hard-hitting group that preached a "hit the beach" mentality, and he made players such as future Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon into household names (incidentally, Glanville and Moon didn't get along, as evidenced by Glanville's constant reference to Moon as "our quarterback" in his book Elvis Don't Like Football: The Life and Raucous Times of the NFL's Most Outspoken Coach when discussing his tenure as Oilers' coach.

[2]) During Glanville's tenure, the Oilers made three playoff appearances (which happened to be during his last three seasons), twice playing in the AFC divisional round.

The brash Glanville, as well as fan favorites such as cornerback/return specialist Deion Sanders, generated a great deal of excitement in Atlanta.

The Falcons featured talented players such as future Hall of Fame CB "Prime Time" Deion Sanders and were known for unorthodox antics.

Favre only threw four passes during his one season with Atlanta, then was traded to the Green Bay Packers in the 1992 off-season for a first-round draft pick.

Glanville claimed the trade was a wake-up call for Favre, who was known for even being late to the team picture during his rookie season with the Falcons.

On March 21, 2011, the Hartford Colonials of the United Football League announced that Glanville would serve as the team's head coach and general manager.

[17] Glanville officially started his racing career in the NASCAR Busch Grand National Series in 1992 for Lewis Cooper with sponsorship from the Falcons.

[22] Glanville returned to ARCA in 2000, running a part-time schedule until 2004 for his and Norm Benning's teams, his best finish being fourth at Nashville Superspeedway in 2002.

[26] He later raced in the Winston West Series, his debut coming in 1997 at Pikes Peak International Raceway, where he finished seventh.

The Sega Genesis system offered Jerry Glanville's PigSkin Footbrawl, a medieval-themed arcade-style football game.