First some backstory on my fandom...
In 2025 I will be "celebrating" my 45th season of being a fan of the NY Jets. I am writing this blog to look back on what is, in my opinion, and likely very many fellow Jets fans, is the MOST disappointing Jets season during that timeframe.
I started as a fan back in 1981 with Walt Michaels as head coach. My first two seasons as a fan were the first winning seasons for the team since 1969. In 1981 they went 10-5-1 and lost a home wildcard game to the division rival Buffalo Bills. Then in 1982 because of the strike shortened season, went 6-3, but made it all the way to the AFC Championship game in Miami. Unfortunately Don Shula didn't have the Orange Bowl field covered from the night before the game and the "Mud Bowl" ensued, leading the Dolphins making the Super Bowl that year.
I remember losing my voice cheering on the Jets in the playoffs in 1986 when they lost in double OT to Cleveland in the divisional round. I loved the 1998 season when under Bill Parcells, they won the AFC East, and went to the AFC Championship against Denver but lost. That was after those two terrible years under former Jets offensive coordinator Rich Kotite, when he was with Joe Walton, in 1995 & 1996.
I remember the three playoff appearances under Herm Edwards in his 5 seasons at head coach at the beginning of the 2000's. Of course, I also remember the 1st two seasons, 2009 & 2010, under Rex Ryan, and going to back-to-back AFC Championships. The problem has been the lack of ANY playoff appearances since then.
The problem was that the winning seasons were few and far between with so much losing or non playoff appearances in between. I mean even the two seasons for Kotite weren't as disappointing because expectations weren't very high back then.
Looking Back/Moving Forward
What I finally saw the Jets do the last few seasons was show patience, draft fairly well, especially the 2022 draft class, and add the most talent I've seen, on this squad, since 2015, but most especially since those back-to-back Rex campaigns. That then set very expectations for this past season that came crashing down since the loss to the Broncos early on in the 2024 campaign.
The problem this past season was the coaching staff could not bring out the best in this team. Also any time that the Jets faced adversity they folded quickly instead of making adjustments and showing the qualities that make a lasting winner. One mistake made was firing Robert Saleh after just five games, despite that he looked checked out and likely "lost" the locker room, because the defense went off a cliff under just Jeff Uibrich alone.
All the stuff that came out this season about the meddling of owner Woody Johnson, possible "influence" by his son Brick, as well as the culture of leaking salacious front office gossip and things that certainly should've remained private, didn't help the image of this franchise. I mean even certain players gotta learn the best three words from Herm Edwards ever "don't press send!"
So with the Jets needing not only a new general manager, but head coach and coaching staff they truly can press reset and fumigate the buildings at One Jets Drive of the stench of everything of late. This roster has a lot of talent, that needs some augmentation and then people who will hold them accountable.
Now I have an idea of how I would like this off-season to proceed, which some may agree with, many may not, but it's what I feel needs to happen moving forward. I want the Jets to hire a solid general manager whom can draft well every year, a head coach who has had previous head coaching experience and a staff on both sides of the ball that can truly develop all the talent given them thru free agency and each draft cycle.
The biggest key to this revamp will be to hire those whom can cut down on the mistakes that especially lead to critical penalties in games. They also need to find players who are better at tackling, which was a key issue this past season. Lastly, the coaches need to teach players on defense some ball hawking skills and creating turnovers more often.
What I would like most of all is to bridge this season with Tyrod Taylor at QB, bring in another decent veteran and finally see what you have with a healthy Jordan Travis. In the interim, if you fill in the current holes in the roster and build key depth in the trenches I believe then we look at drafting a good young QB early in 2026 that should be able to thrive in an offense that can then be tailored around his strengths and hopefully reduce or eliminate any weaknesses. Drew Allar comes to mind, but he may not be the only option then.
So maybe in 2025 the Jets can win 8, 9 even 10 games, and possibly squeak into a playoff spot, finally, but if not they would be set up for even greater success in 2026 and into the next 5-10 years thereafter if they can continue to draft well and coach success.
Comments
Post a Comment