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Joe Douglas made it clear . . .
. . . in the opening statement of his end of year press conference that he wants to build a strong football culture.
“That plan is create the best culture in sports,” Douglas said.
And that is smart.
He saw a strong one first hand during his 13 years with the Baltimore Ravens.
You ever notice with the Ravens, they are seemingly I contention every year, with rarely a down season.
The faces change, but the culture doesn’t.
Many thought they would take a big dip this year after losing leaders like Terrell Suggs, C.J. Mosley and Eric Weddle from their defense. It didn’t happen. They were as good as ever.
This year, after moving on from long-time QB Joe Flacco, they kept rolling, and were even better with Lamar Jackson.
The culture established in that place by the owner, long-time GM Ozzie Newsome and coach John Harbaugh is SO strong, they just keep rolling along when the faces change.
It’s in the air in Baltimore.
I asked former Ravens CB Maurice Canady, now with the Jets, what is the key to the Ravens culture, and the one word he focused on was “toughness.”
They don’t back down from anybody. They generally won’t get out-hit by anybody.
But there is more to a strong football culture than just toughness, but it’s a good start.
Douglas needs to bring that kind of Ravens culture to the Jets.
But when you are fixing a football culture, it’s not just about getting the right players (which is obviously very important), but the attitude in the entire building.
So Douglas must be empowered to talk to the team’s marketing side at times, or ask Hymie Elhai to do it for him, and say, “Stop promoting moral victories – it’s bad for the culture.”
On January 8, the Jets twitter accounted tweeted, “Fact: We had the second most points scored on defense and special teams in 2019. Suggestion: Watch them all right now.”
This tweet was linked to a video.
Several fans had negatie reponses to this tweet, like “Dre Vin Sanders” who tweeted back at the Jets: “Really! Does it matter? Y’all not in the playoffs.”
“Matthew Kenneth” tweeted at them: “7-9.”
Thomas Satori added: “It doesn’t matter. The season is over.”
A lot of fans also attacked the team’s offense which finished 31st in the NFL.
If Douglas is truly going to fix the team’s culture, yes, he needs to get the right kind of players who are wired correctly.
But he also needs to shut down the moral victories being promoted on the marketing side.
They send the wrong message.
When it comes to a football culture, everything matters. Why do you think Nick Saban and Bill Belichick control everything? Why do you think Greg Schiano wanted so much control at Rutgers?
Because everything around the program contributes to culture, good and bad.
The Jets’ people putting up these posts have no bad intent. They feel they are doing their jobs. They work with social media, which is a cottage industry now, and you have it if you are a corporate entity.
But be careful boasting about stats of a 7-9 team.
Part of a strong football culture is eschewing moral victories.
January 9, 2020
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