As I view the brush fire that is the New York Jets organization today after the recent firing of general manager Mike Maccagnan, I think back to when I first joined the Vikings.
Our team was in the midst of a tremendous run of NFC Central titles in 10 of 11 years from 1968-78. The success was due in part to the teams in our division having little management stability compared to the solid leadership in Minnesota — kind of like the Patriots of the last two decades and their AFC East foes such as the Jets.
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The Vikings of that era had Hall of Famers galore, including coach Bud Grant, quarterback Fran Tarkenton, and Alan Page and Carl Eller from the "Purple People Eaters" defensive line. A major key was the organizational stability with Max Winter as the president/lead owner, only one head coach in Grant and just two general managers in Jim Finks and Mike Lynn.
From that leadership group, I learned early in my career that the foundation for success in the NFL was strong ownership and management. That led the way to our acquiring and maintaining a talented group of players, coaches and staff.
All the while, our divisional opponents in Green Bay, Chicago, Detroit and Tampa Bay had lots of turnover at the top, and it showed in the results on the field. It was commonplace for us to wrap up the division title by the end of November, similar to what the Patriots have done in several years during their championship run.
Which brings us back to the Jets, who had the appearance of a team potentially on the rise until the events of the past week.
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Maccagnan's win-loss record (24-40 over four years as GM) was not good, but if the Jets were going to fire him, they should have done so in January, when they let go of previous coach Todd Bowles. Instead, Maccagnan was involved in the hiring of new coach Adam Gase and then was allowed to spend more than $100 million in free agency, with big-bucks signings of running back Le'Veon Bell and linebacker C.J. Mosley leading the way. Maccagnan then ran the draft that produced a top talent in defensive tackle Quinnen Williams.
The general consensus was that things were on the upswing for the team, particularly with second-year quarterback Sam Darnold, who looks like a franchise passer, and Bell to lead the offense while the defense had a strong nucleus with Williams and fellow recent top-10 picks in safety Jamal Adams and defensive end Leonard Williams.
The rumblings are that Gase turned on Maccagnan, as the coach thought Bell and Mosley had been overpaid. Gase obviously got the ear of Jets chief executive Christopher Johnson, who fired Maccagnan and then amazingly made Gase the interim GM. Gase quickly traded linebacker Darron Lee, a first-round pick of Maccagnan in 2016, to the Chiefs for a lowly sixth-round pick.
It's an absurd call on Johnson's part to give Gase even temporary GM power when the coach has never worked in an NFL management capacity. Not to mention he was fired as Dolphins coach in January after three years with an unimpressive 23-25 record. And Johnson has indicated Gase will have a major role in the hiring of the next GM — just another mistake, as Gase is likely to endorse a GM who will cater to his roster-building wishes.
What has Gase done to deserve such empowerment? And how long will Johnson remain in charge considering the fact that his older brother Woody Johnson, the Jets' principal owner, will presumably return someday from his post as Ambassador to the United Kingdom under president Donald Trump's administration?
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The Patriots have to be snickering as they watch this rudderless ship with Christopher Johnson running the show and making mistakes. Despite team owner Robert Kraft's recent issues, New England is the model of outstanding leadership at the top over the past two decades. Like those Vikings of the late 1960s through the late 1970s, the Patriots have a Hall of Fame-to-be coach and QB in Bill Belichick and Tom Brady who have overwhelmed their division opponents.
And just as those Vikings were the beneficiaries of instability and constant leadership changes among their division foes, so too do the Patriots benefit from the multitude of management and coaching changes within the AFC East. The current Jets are just the latest example, along with a new head coach, Brian Flores, in Miami.
During Belichick's 20 years as Patriots coach and de facto GM, the Jets have had six head coaches and four GMs. The Dolphins have had 10 head coaches and seven GMs. The Bills have had nine head coaches and six GMs. This excessive turnover clearly has helped the Pats to an unprecedented run of 16 division titles in the last 18 years, including 10 straight division crowns.
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It's sad to see a team that had some positive momentum lose it due to some poorly timed moves by ownership. But the Jets can still right their dysfunctional ship.
They can hire a worthy GM who will not play second fiddle to Gase. They can let that GM continue to build around Darnold and the young stars on defense, and they can hope the Bell contract doesn't blow up in their faces due to his lack of durability or a bad attitude as a result of the publicity surrounding Gase's disenchantment with the RB's contract. And they can hope Gase will be a much better coach in New York than he was in Miami.
Belichick and Brady will not be around forever — at least we don't think so — and perhaps the balance of power will someday shift in the AFC East. But judging by what has transpired recently in New York, Miami and Buffalo, we are likely to see the Patriots as division champs for at least the near future, and probably longer.
Because New England is a franchise that knows how to build a championship organization and team with staying power, unlike the rest of the division as currently constituted.
Jeff Diamond is a former president of the Titans and former vice president/general manager of the Vikings. He was selected NFL Executive of the Year in 1998. Diamond is currently a business and sports consultant who also does broadcast and online media work. He makes speaking appearances to corporate/civic groups and college classes on negotiation and sports business/sports management. He is the former chairman and CEO of The Ingram Group. Follow Jeff on Twitter: @jeffdiamondNFL.
