Wilshere was named new manager of the League One club on Monday. It marks his first entry into senior management.
The former Gunners midfielder was two years in charge of Arsenal U18s before leaving last year to join the staff of Norwich City,
"I spoke to Mikel and asked when he knew he was ready?' said Wilshere yesterday, "(He said) 'You just have to jump in and swim as hard as you can'.
"He's obviously done that really well and I was close to that. This feels a little bit similar to that. Of course it's a different level, but when Mikel went in, it wasn't a nice place at Arsenal, the fans were not sure what was happening."
Wilshere was originally signed by Arsenal as a junior player from Luton.
He also recalled: "Nathan Jones kindly invited me back (in 2021) and I trained here before Luton were promoted to the Premier League. I loved every minute. It's probably the reason I started thinking about coaching.
"The intensity Nathan would bring in and around the training ground, with the staff, I really wanted to be part of it but, unfortunately, my body said no. It made me think I can't compete at the level I want to and will have to think of something else.
"I found coaching and I found a real passion for it, a real hunger for it and it's like the more you're in it the more you want to do better and you want to find new things."