Jets barely have the right options to fix one of their biggest problems and’s it’s a cause for concern

Here we are again Jets fans. Another season of hope dragged down by reality. A season where it wasn’t a matter of if the Jets were going to make the playoffs, but just how deep could their playoff run be, is going to end just like the last 13 seasons – on the outside looking […]

Mike Antoniou
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New York Jets owner Woody Johnson is pitch side before kick off against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Shaun Brooks-Imagn Images

Here we are again Jets fans. Another season of hope dragged down by reality. A season where it wasn’t a matter of if the Jets were going to make the playoffs, but just how deep could their playoff run be, is going to end just like the last 13 seasons – on the outside looking in.

Counting Jeff Ulbrich, this playoff drought goes back five head coaches. It goes back three general managers. It goes back four “franchise” quarterbacks. But it is the same outcome. Is the owner to blame? Of course. But it’s more than that. It’s the way things are done. It’s the expectation. In short, it’s the culture.

The New York Jets have a culture problem. And they have no idea how to fix it.

Let’s start with the owner, Woody Johnson. It’s no secret that Woody is one of the worst owners in the NFL and one of the worst in the New York area (he can thank James Dolan for holding the top spot). Woody is what I call a “country club owner”. Woody likes to walk around the country club with the prestige of “I own something that you all don’t”. He has no idea what it takes to run a successful NFL franchise.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that he’s cheap. Far from it. Woody’s idea of fixing the Jets is throwing more money at it. Unfortunately, that is not the way things work. Woody likes to micromanage and be involved in decisions. The problem is, he has no clue what he is doing. He reads everything and listens to everyone. “That guy Rodgers is good, go get him”. “Rodgers was good with Davante Adams, go get him,” etc etc.

Woody needs to do for the New York Jets the one thing it seems he is incapable of doing – step back. Hire a good football guy to run the organization and leave it alone.

With reports now that Woody might be heading back to the UK following President Trump’s return to the oval office, it will once again be Christopher Johnson, Woody’s brother, who will run the team.

Woody will likely stick around long enough to have his hands on the new head coaching hire as well as the likely new GM. But what about the quarterback?

Rodgers has a close relationship with Christoper Johnson. When the Jets contingent visited Rodgers at his Malibu home last year to try and convince him to join their team, Christopher Johnson arrived first and spent time with the quarterback before the others arrived. Rodgers has a closer relationship with Christopher than with Woody, according to team sources, and some think Christopher Johnson’s presence might help convince Rodgers to stick around. Whether you want him to or not, the fact is without Rodgers, the Jets are essentially without a QB next season.

The hope would be at this point that Christopher Johnson would learn from his mistakes like hiring Adam Gase and not be as involved in the operation of a football team, something the Johnsons clearly know nothing about.

What Christopher Johnson needs to do is focus on hiring someone who is an agent of change. A person who doesn’t care about how things have been done and doesn’t care about making people comfortable. The idea is to tear down this team and rebuild it from the foundations up and not simply put a new coat of paint on and think you effected any real change.

This doesn’t have to be a VP of Football Operations or a general manager or even a coach. But it must be someone who is all-in and has enough control in the building to effect the changes this team needs. There are few people who have not only the attitude, but the ability to bring about this change. And that list is even smaller when you consider finding someone interested to work for the Johnsons and the Jets.

One example is to bring in Bill Belichick in some capacity. Do I think Bill would do it? Absolutely not. But that is an example of what I mean. There is some speculation that Jon Gruden’s name is floating around the Jets organization and WFAN’s Boomer Esiason believes he will be returning to the NFL soon.

I love the idea of Mike Vrabel as the head coach of the Jets and having a say in who the GM is. Vrabel is not a guy who is going to allow the Jets to do things the way they do them, simply because it was always done that way. Could the Jets lure him to New Jersey? I don’t think so, but it would be my first call.

While I believe it is much more of a crap shoot to change the culture with a first-time head coach, it can be done. Look at what Dan Campbell is doing in Detroit. Look at what Rex Ryan did with the Jets. These guys changed the organization while they were in charge.

Right now, things are as bad as they have been for the Jets and I believe that is going to have to get worse before it gets better. But with the right person making decisions without incompetent oversight (The Johnsons), I think there will be better days ahead.

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