1976 New York Jets season

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”.

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 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.[note 1]

Offseason

Draft

1976 New York Jets draft
Round	Pick	Player	Position	College	Notes
1	6	Richard Todd	QB	Alabama
Made roster    †   Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1976 Undrafted Free Agents of note

Player	Position	College
Jim Rosecrans	Linebacker	Penn State
Howard Satterwhite	Wide Receiver	Sam Houston State

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 final roster

	Quarterbacks 11 Steve Joachim 12 Joe Namath 14 Richard Todd Running backs 35 Steve Davis 21 Clark Gaines FB 45 Louie Giammona 43 Jazz Jackson 49 Ed Marinaro Wide receivers 84 Keith Denson 82 David Knight 89 Lou Piccone 80 Howard Satterwhite Tight ends 83 Jerome Barkum 88 Rich Caster		Offensive linemen 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 77 Carl Barzilauskas DT 85 Ed Galigher DT 81 Richard Neal DE 87 Billy Newsome DE		Linebackers 51 Greg Buttle 55 John Ebersole 52 Mike Hennigan 59 Bob Martin 56 Larry Keller 52 James Rosecrans 53 Carl Russ Defensive backs 39 Harry Howard 47 Tommy Marvaso 22 Burgess Owens FS 23 Shafer Suggs CB 38 Ed Taylor CB 27 Phil Wise SS Special teams 3 Duane Carrell P 5 Pat Leahy K		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	Attendance
1	September 12, 1976	at Cleveland Browns	L 38–17	Cleveland Stadium	67,496
2	September 19, 1976	at Denver Broncos	L 46–3	Mile High Stadium	62,669
3	September 29, 1976	at Miami Dolphins	L 16–0	Miami Orange Bowl	49,754
4	October 3, 1976	at San Francisco 49ers	L 17–6	Candlestick Park	42,961
5	October 10, 1976	Buffalo Bills	W 17–14	Shea Stadium	59,110
6	October 18, 1976	at New England Patriots	L 41–7	Schaefer Stadium	50,883
7	October 24, 1976	Baltimore Colts	L 20–0	Shea Stadium	59,576
8	October 31, 1976	at Buffalo Bills	W 19–14	Rich Stadium	41,285
9	November 7, 1976	Miami Dolphins	L 27–7	Shea Stadium	53,344
10	November 14, 1976	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 34–0	Shea Stadium	46,426
11	November 21, 1976	New England Patriots	L 38–24	Shea Stadium	49,983
12	November 28, 1976	at Baltimore Colts	L 33–16	Memorial Stadium	44,023
13	December 5, 1976	Washington Redskins	L 37–16	Shea Stadium	46,638
14	December 12, 1976	Cincinnati Bengals	L 42–3	Shea Stadium	31,067

Week 1 at Cleveland Browns

The Lou Holtz era began in cleveland, but it didn't start out that way. Reggie Rucker, the veteran wide receiver who led the Browns with 60 receptions in 1975, caught 5 against the jets in the season opener, three of them were for touchdowns. Quarterback Mike Phipps threw two of those and three scoring passes in all before departing early in the third period with what team officials called either a mild separate shoulder or sprain.

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 at 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.

Notes

1. Namath would play one final season with the 1977 L.A. Rams

References

External links

• 1976 statistics