Le’Veon Bell is taking shots at the New York Jets again. And honestly? He’s making some solid points. The former Pro Bowl running back appeared on the Ball in the Family podcast with Lonzo and LiAngelo Ball and laid out the dysfunction he experienced during his time with the Jets in 2019 and 2020.

Bell pointed directly at ownership, coaching, and the organizational structure that has plagued New York for years.

Now look, Le’Veon Bell obviously had his own part to play in his personal failures with the Jets.

But when you strip away the frustration and the personal grievances, the core of what he’s saying lines up with what Jets fans have been watching for over a decade.

Bell’s frustration with Adam Gase and the coaching staff

From the coaching side, Bell didn’t hold back. He talked about signing with the Jets expecting to be the focal point of the offense, only to walk into a situation where the entire front office and coaching staff had turned over.

“I thought they were going to run the offense through me, we’re going to be straight. Nah, that ain’t what happened. Coach had a whole different mindset because when I signed there too, they ended up having a whole new GM, new coaching, all everything that changed or whatever right when I got there. 

So I was like, man, but coach has changed everything. But I still had hope because we had the talent, you know what I’m saying? So I think it was like Week 10, we were maybe 5-5, and I’m like, damn, we get in the playoffs and I think we still got a shot. We end up losing the next game to the Bengals, who were about 0-12 at the time. 

That’s when I lost hope, like, that’s over,” Bell said.

Looking back, the Jets were actually 4-7 heading into that Bengals game, but they had just rattled off three straight wins and were still technically alive for the playoffs on the old 16-game schedule. That loss to a winless Cincinnati team crushed those hopes. New York finished 7-9 that season. 

Not terrible, but that’s the story of the Jets, isn’t it? Close enough at times to tease hope, never close enough to actually get over the hump.

The organizational dysfunction runs deeper than coaching

Bell was also asked about Plaxico Burress’s recent comments comparing the Jets to a prison, and his response was telling.

“The organization, how it’s curated, matters. Like, we were talking about that earlier. It matters so much. So even like practice structure or like a schedule, the daily schedule, that matters, bro. 

Like, if it’s dysfunction throughout the day, players just doing this, that, and the third, everybody ain’t on the same page. So I was with the Steelers first. I know I’m a rookie, that’s all I know. Oh, this is how the NFL is, right? 

I go to the Jets, I quickly find out, oh, every team ain’t like the Steelers, right? I leave the Jets and go to Kansas City. That’s another great organization like the Steelers in terms of the structure, the walkthroughs, how practice was handled,” stated Bell. 

Bell’s career path allowed him to see winning organizations operate from the inside, having played for both the Steelers and the Chiefs. 

Those are two franchises with sustained success. He’s stating the obvious that the difference starts with the daily structure, from walkthroughs to practice schedules. It’s not about talent. It’s about how the building operates.

Bell didn’t stop there either.

“That’s why the Jets can’t win. I’m saying the Steelers are a winning organization because of the way it’s structured. 

The Jets are going to be in trouble until they get upstairs fixed. No matter who they got playing on the field, it’s just everybody going to be doing everything It’s like a college and you take a college team to the NFL, they’re gonna get smacked,” Bell said. 

The Woody Johnson problem isn’t going anywhere

Look, some of this falls on coaching too. The Jets have not exactly made the best coaching hires over the years. Adam Gase was a disaster. Aaron Glenn had a rough first season, though I think there’s still hope with him. He at least seems to understand the culture piece. 

But what Le’Veon Bell is saying, what every Jets fan already knows, is that owner Woody Johnson looming over this organization does nothing to help. In fact, it makes things worse, as I’m sure you’ve come to grips with many times. 

I am genuinely optimistic about the Jets’ near future with the young talent they’ve added through recent drafts. This roster has pieces to build around, however my optimism is dampened by the owner.

You never want to feel that way about an NFL organization. 

If Woody Johnson sticks around and continues to run the operation the way he has, you can only have so much faith that the talent will be enough to overcome the dysfunction at the top. Knowing the Jets though, they’ll certainly convince us they can even if for a brief moment.