The tuna handed him a devastatingly disruptive defense and an offense with one of the most dominate RB's of his generation as well as a powerful offensive line. They had a solid game manager at QB and a bunch of hungry homegrown talent like Wayne Chrebet. He also handed him Bill Belichick as a ready made head coach and an amazing group of assistant coaches. Oh, and he threw in 4 first round draft picks in Woody's first NFL draft as owner… five total in the top 50.
He also inherited a team that was in a bad situation regarding their home stadium, a deal that essentially had them renting their playing field from their cross town rivals. BUT, even though the fans were forced to tailgate under a huge illuminated sign that read "Giants Stadium" each home game, there was still a 10 year waiting list for season tickets. Many NFL owners would kill for that financial situation and fan loyalty.
Take a moment and consider all of the things I have just listed. Do you know how hard it is is to fuck that up… as badly as he has???? It takes staggering incompetency.
He had only 2 jobs as the owner. Make sure he retained that coaching staff by ponying up some absurd cash and getting the Jets their own stadium… which he promised the fan base shortly after taking over.
Woody Johnson is simply a loser. With his money he should wield influence and be able to get what he wants. When you buy a team in the most popular sport in the nation and the biggest media market you have to be brash. You can't continually look for bargains and settle for second best. He has no idea how run an organization. There is no blueprint for building a championship NFL franchise… but there is some basic fundamentals for success.
The first one is you don't do the same thing over and over and over. He has hired 6 head coaches. Lets not count Belichick because he only lasted a day… the other 5 were all defensive specialists and they were all first time head coaches. The same thing, time after time. He has hired 4 GM's… all with no previous experience in their position. He has drafted two QB's in the 1st round… only two in 17 seasons, both times in notoriously weak QB drafts. All of the other QB's have been 2nd round (or later), 2nd best options like Kellen Clemens, Geno Smith, and most recently Petty and Hackenberg.
All of these issues I am listing have a common thread. First time GM's and head coaches come cheap. A jointly owned stadium costs HALF as much. Bluechip, franchise QB's are not cheap. Notice a pattern?
There's no reason the Jets shouldn't be a desirable landing spot for elite executives, coaches and free agents. The media market is second to none, NYC is the greatest city in the world offering any and every amenity known to man. And the Jets owner is one of the wealthiest in the league. Teams like the Jags, Bills and Browns can't offer anything near what New York City offers. This team should be a prime landing spot for the best of the best.
Why can't the Jets get a premiere GM with a track record? A head coach with a championship pedigree? Why do players take less money to stay away from the Jets organization? Because they know Woody is a cheap loser. It's that simple.
So the team continues to get stuck with executives and coaches who are unqualified and are trying to learn on the job. And players who are simply in it exclusively for the money. It's a deeply ingrained culture of losing. The Jets should have a stadium that is the crown jewel of the NFL located in the heart of NYC. They should have the most expensive coaches, scouts and executives money can buy. And if they did... free agents would be lined up and the team would actually have the cap room to sign them.
Last year the ONLY move was to trade up to take Carson Wentz. An experienced GM would have made sure Fitz signed an extension the minute Geno's jaw was broken in the 2015 preseason. It's chess not checkers. A one year extension for 2016 at about 4 million… zero guaranteed would have been appropriate. And he would have signed that in late August. Instead they let him go out and throw 30+ TD's and enter the offseason as a free agent.
BUT, even the best minds in the game would have had a hard time predicting Fitz's success in 2015… so there was still a way to properly handle this issue. He should have been told, the moment the Jets lost to the inferior Bills week 17, that he has a few weeks to accept an offer… around 8 million for 2016/ 12 million for 2017/ 15 million for 2018…. 35 million, 3 years… 10 million guaranteed. If he didn't sign by the first day of the new league year the deal was off the table and the Jets were going to move forward with out him. Period.
That would have cost 8 in 2016 (instead of 12) and 2 in 2017… after he was cut. Any team can eat 2 million. Instead the Jets are paying Fitz 5 million in dead money this season. Combine that with 6 million of dead cash for Revis and the Jets are wasting over 10 million in salary cap space being paid to players for the luxury of not having them on the roster. Amateur mismanagement.
Knowing this was going to be a horrendous QB draft class in 2017, Wentz was the only move. A young stud like him would have been a big draw to free agents this off season. It would have taken balls to move from #20 to #2, but considering the players who the Jets took with the draft picks they held on to… my point is even more reinforced.
I won't even start to break down what a terrible job Todd Bowles has done as a head coach. This guy is Ray Rhodes 2.0 Completely lost in the weeds. Terrible job utilizing his talent (yes, they played a 300lb+ guy at MLB… dropping him back 15-20 yards in coverage). And his in game management is simultaneously gutless and clueless. He's a coordinator and nothing more. And EVERYONE who knows anything knows this guy has zero chance of being the Jets coach in 2018. So again, free agents and top assistant coaches will avoid Florham Park like the plague.
So whats the solution? If Woody stays as the owner the Jets will always be losers. There's no way around it. He won't accidentally stumble upon a lucky draft pick and find a franchise QB in the 4th round. He won't discover that diamond in the rough assistant coach who's ready to take the next step or that young genius scout that is ready to be the next Bill Polian. He will just settle for 2nd best.
That being said… here's a simple way for Woody to turn it all around. In case he enjoys reading scathing articles about him and see's my suggestion.
Let the 2017 season play out. With Macc and Bowles in charge a top 3 draft pick is more than likely. #1 overall is very possible. When the smoke clears you will have a top pick in a draft that might have 2 to 3 bluechip QB prospects. 65 to 80 million in cap room is going to be there depending on which players are retained. And you have a handful of young talented players who the previous 2 GM's have stumbled upon. Enunwa & Williams are the real deal. And guys like Shell, Anderson, Lee and Burris look like possible impact players moving forward. Most importantly the bar couldn't be set any lower.
This is a perfect environment for an elite culture changing coach to step into and build a team in his own image. He has everything he needs to start from scratch and begin to sculpt a winner. And it would be almost impossible to do worse in 2018 than the Jets will do in 2017. One final incentive is that the Belichick/ Brady partnership has to be coming to a close soon. Father time is undefeated, sorry Tommy boy.
Woody should make Jim Harbaugh the highest paid head coach in the league starting in January of 2018, literally back the money truck up to his house. Harbaugh will have a great perspective on the next 2 to 3 drafts because of his time recruiting and coaching at Michigan. Much like Jimmy Johnson when he left Miami for Dallas. He will also attract elite assistant coaches including some of his guys from the 49ers and Michigan. Finally he brings Tom Gamble with him to help run the front office.
Thats the solution. Instead of dredging the bottom of the NFL barrel for beginners who want to cut their teeth…. go out, spend some absurd cash and get the #1 candidate on the market with a proven track record of building a winning culture. Just like when he's shopping for houses, cars and jewelry for his trophy wife, Johnson needs to subscribe to one simple philosophy to turn this star crossed franchise around…. "The best or nothing".
Maybe someone can get this message across the pond to Ambassador Johnson. If you think he wasn't engaged before… wait until you see the next few years from the Jets absentee owner.
-Jay Wagner
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