Throughout his 25 years as Jets proprietor, Woody Johnson has been broadly criticized for the workforce’s on-field efficiency.
There additionally has been rumored dysfunction surrounding the group.
However following the introductory press conferences of Jets head coach Aaron Glenn and basic supervisor Darren Mougey, Johnson says it’s time for him to do some self-reflecting.
“I have to look in the mirror and I have to be a better owner,” Johnson stated. “I’ve tried to be better and I do self scout and a lot of people scout for me.”
So, how does Johnson be a greater proprietor?
“I think I did it by introducing the two new leaders of this team,” he stated. “The second is we gotta have patience. I gotta let them evolve in these positions, which I think they will.”
The final time the Jets made the playoffs, Avatar was the most important film within the nation, Jay-Z and Alicia Keys’ “Empire State of Mind” was the highest music, and the San Francisco Giants have been two months faraway from successful the World Collection. That was in 2010 when the Jets made back-to-back AFC Championship appearances.
Since then, Gang Inexperienced has missed the playoffs for 14 consecutive years beneath Johnson’s possession, the longest present postseason drought in North American sports activities.
The 2024 season was once more filled with disappointment for the Jets and turmoil inside the group. Johnson, 77, was extra concerned in decision-making all through the season.
Johnson fired a coach for the primary time throughout the season on Oct. 8 after giving Robert Saleh the pink slip following a 2-3 begin. A month later, he fired basic supervisor Joe Douglas.
The 2 selections did little to enhance the Jets’ file after Jeff Ulbrich went 3-9 throughout his 12 video games as interim coach. Gang Inexperienced completed 5-12 total. This was after Johnson known as the Jets roster the most effective he had had as proprietor.
There have been additionally experiences that Johnson was meddling and hands-on all through the season. The Athletic reported in December that Johnson was inflicting dysfunction inside the group, corresponding to reportedly desirous to bench Aaron Rodgers, getting concerned within the Haason Reddick and Davante Adams acquisitions, and calling for security Tony Adams to be benched.
“You don’t believe those reports, do you,” Johnson stated when he was requested about The Athletic article.
“It was a lot of exaggeration and hyperbole, it really was. You really have to take all that stuff with a grain of salt because you don’t know how much — nobody knows how involved I was.
“Yes, I want Aaron Glenn to coach the team. I want the general manager to manage the assets and the players, and I’ll take the owner’s position.”
Johnson thinks he turned a greater proprietor after hiring Glenn and Mougey. This will likely be Glenn’s first probability at being a coach after he was the Lions defensive coordinator for 4 seasons. Throughout that point, Detroit improved its file from 3-13-1 throughout Glenn’s and coach Dan Campbell’s first season in 2021 to a 15-2 file and the No. 1 seed within the NFC in 2024 earlier than the workforce misplaced to Washington within the Divisional Spherical.
Like Glenn, Mougey can also be getting his probability to steer a company for the primary time. He was within the Broncos group from 2012-24. Mougey started as a scouting intern in Denver and labored his method as much as assistant basic supervisor, a task he had for 3 seasons previous to turning into the Jets’ new basic supervisor.
“We had questions for each other,” Glenn stated about interviewing with Johnson. “I was here when Woody bought the team, and my conversations with him back then were really, really positive.
“Coming back here on my second interview and sitting and talking with them, there’s no better person to work for when they sit there, and they tell you, and you talk about, and you strategize about having a winning commitment, and he has that, and that’s all I need to know. And we are going to continue to have conversations to make sure we continue to look at that. I trust him with everything I have, and I look forward to working with him.”
The brand new Jets brass, together with Johnson, will attempt to put a tough season behind them and work to enhance the roster. It stays to be seen if Johnson will let Glenn and Mougey do their jobs and keep out of their method.
If he doesn’t, the Jets’ file might look so much prefer it has the previous 14 seasons. One factor is bound — the Jets roster will look fully completely different than it did the final two seasons.
Rodgers is beneath contract for the 2025 season however has zero assured cash remaining. If he retires or is launched, the Jets would have a $49 million wage cap hit that they may unfold out over the following two years.
Gang Inexperienced additionally has 28 gamers scheduled to turn into free brokers, together with cornerback D.J. Reed, linebacker Jamien Sherwood, and proper sort out Morgan Moses.
“I’m not going to tell you how many games we are going to win,” Johnson stated concerning the 2025 season. We’ll put the workforce collectively perhaps we we’ll be in a greater place.
“But they are going to put a team together, there’s a process they’re gonna go through and Darren is very good at that and that’s why he’s here. Aaron, he’s an authentic guy, and I think he’s going to be a great head coach, and he’s going to be good with coaching his coordinators and all the position coaches he has.”
Initially Revealed: January 29, 2025 at 11:30 AM EST
