1976 New York Jets season

1976 New York Jets season
Owner	Leon Hess
Head coach	Lou Holtz (resigned following Week 13, 3–10 record Mike Holovak (interim, 0–1 record)
Home field	Shea Stadium
Results
Record	3–11
Division place	4th AFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	None

The 1976 New York Jets season was the seventeenth season for the team and the seventh in the National Football League. It began with the team trying to improve upon its 3–11 record from 1975 under new head coach Lou Holtz. The Jets again finished with a record of 3–11, which combined with the resignation of Holtz with one game left in the season to become coach at the University of Arkansas, prompted John Facenda to say about the Jets during the NFL Films highlight film for that season “Perhaps the best thing to say about the 1976 New York Jets season is that it’s over”.

The only teams that the Jets defeated in 1976 were the 2–12 Buffalo Bills (twice) and the 0–14 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Jets were 0–9 vs. teams with a winning record.

The 1976 season was also the twelfth and final year with the Jets for quarterback Joe Namath.

Offseason

1976 Expansion Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL expansion draft

New York Jets selected during the Expansion Draft

Round	Overall	Name	Position	Expansion Team
0	0	Anthony Davis	Running back	Tampa Bay Buccaneers
0	0	Jerry Davis	Defensive back	Seattle Seahawks
0	0	Larry Woods	Defensive tackle	Seattle Seahawks

Draft

Main article: 1976 NFL draft

1976 New York Jets draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	6	Richard Todd	Quarterback	Alabama
2	33	Shafer Suggs	Safety	Ball State
3	67	Greg Buttle	Linebacker	Penn State
5	129	Steve King	Offensive tackle	Michigan
6	163	Bob Martin	Linebacker	Nebraska
7	188	Abdul Salaam	Defensive end	Kent State
7	199	James Richards	Running back	Florida
8	211	Joe Davis	Guard	USC
8	214	Louie Giammona	Running back	Utah State
9	244	Ronnie Moore	Wide receiver	VMI
11	296	Lawrence Pillers	Defensive end	Alcorn State
12	326	Don Buckey	Wide receiver	North Carolina State
12	327	Dave Buckey	Quarterback	North Carolina State
14	380	Al Gluchoski	Center	West Virginia
15	410	Rick Faulk	Punter	San Francisco State
16	437	James Godwin	Running back	Fayetteville
17	464	Darwin Willie	Tight end	Tulane
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Personnel

Staff

1976 New York Jets staff

Front office Leon Hess – Owner Al Ward – General manager Mike Holovak – Director of player personnel Carroll Huntress – Scout Connie Nicholas – Scout Head coaches Lou Holtz – Head coach (first 13 games) Mike Holovak – Interim head coach (final game) Offensive coaches Dan Henning – Wide receivers Joe Gardi – Tight ends/special teams Bob Fry – Offensive line

Defensive coaches Walt Michaels – Defensive coordinator

Roster

1976 New York Jets roster

Quarterbacks (QB) 11 Steve Joachim 12 Joe Namath 14 Richard Todd Running backs (RB) 35 Steve Davis 21 Clark Gaines FB 45 Louie Giammona 38 Bob Gresham 49 Ed Marinaro Wide receivers (WR) 84 Don Buckey 82 David Knight 89 Lou Piccone 80 Howard Satterwhite Tight ends (TE) 83 Jerome Barkum 88 Rich Caster 86 Richard Osborne

Offensive linemen (OL) 67 Darrell Austin G 65 Joe Fields C 75 Winston Hill T 71 Al Krevis T 50 Wayne Mulligan C 78 Garry Puetz T 66 Randy Rasmussen G 61 John Roman G 72 Robert Woods T Defensive linemen (DL) 77 Carl Barzilauskas DT 85 Ed Galigher DT 81 Richard Neal DE 87 Billy Newsome DE 76 Lawrence Pillers DE 74 Abdul Salaam DT

Linebackers (LB) 51 Greg Buttle 55 John Ebersole 52 Mike Hennigan 59 Bob Martin 56 Larry Keller 54 Steve Poole 53 Carl Russ Defensive backs (DB) 39 Harry Howard CB/S 47 Tommy Marvaso FS 22 Burgess Owens FS 46 Rich Sowells CB 23 Shafer Suggs CB 38 Ed Taylor CB 27 Phil Wise SS Special teams 3 Duane Carrell P 5 Pat Leahy K

Reserve -- Steve King T (IR) -- Clarence Sanders LB (PUP) 48 Ken Schroy SS (IR) Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 12	at Cleveland Browns	L 17–38	0–1	Cleveland Stadium	67,496
2	September 19	at Denver Broncos	L 3–46	0–2	Mile High Stadium	62,669
3	September 29	at Miami Dolphins	L 0–16	0–3	Miami Orange Bowl	49,754
4	October 3	at San Francisco 49ers	L 6–17	0–4	Candlestick Park	42,961
5	October 10	Buffalo Bills	W 17–14	1–4	Shea Stadium	59,110
6	October 18	at New England Patriots	L 7–41	1–5	Schaefer Stadium	50,883
7	October 24	Baltimore Colts	L 0–20	1–6	Shea Stadium	59,576
8	October 31	at Buffalo Bills	W 19–14	2–6	Rich Stadium	41,285
9	November 7	Miami Dolphins	L 7–27	2–7	Shea Stadium	53,344
10	November 14	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 34–0	3–7	Shea Stadium	46,426
11	November 21	New England Patriots	L 24–38	3–8	Shea Stadium	49,983
12	November 28	at Baltimore Colts	L 16–33	3–9	Memorial Stadium	44,023
13	December 5	Washington Redskins	L 16–37	3–10	Shea Stadium	46,638
14	December 12	Cincinnati Bengals	L 3–42	3–11	Shea Stadium	31,067
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

AFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
Baltimore Colts(2)	11	3	0	.786	7–1	11–1	417	246	W1
New England Patriots(4)	11	3	0	.786	6–2	10–2	376	236	W6
Miami Dolphins	6	8	0	.429	5–3	6–6	263	264	L1
New York Jets	3	11	0	.214	2–6	3–9	169	383	L4
Buffalo Bills	2	12	0	.143	0–8	2–10	245	363	L10

In popular culture

• The television series Barney Miller referenced the game between the Buccaneers playing in New York versus the Jets, in the third-season episode “The Recluse”, in which Yemana (Jack Soo) had tickets to the Jets/Tampa Bay game. When asked “Why?’, his response, “They were on sale”. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers finished 0–14 the same season.

External links

• 1976 statistics