The single most important acquisition the Jets made last winter has not recorded a tackle or run for a yard. He has not even put on a uniform.
Marty Mornhinweg is the biggest addition the Jets made for the 2013 season. The team’s third offensive coordinator in as many years finally has given the Jets an offense that can complement their all-world defense.
Coach Rex Ryan said he believes Mornhinweg has done the best job of any offensive coordinator in the NFL. When you look at what Mornhinweg is working with, Ryan has a case.
The Jets’ offensive stats are not overwhelming. They are 17th in total offense and 28th in scoring offense. But anyone who has watched the Jets this season has to marvel at Mornhiweg’s ability to make chicken salad out of chicken dung.
The Jets have rookie quarterback Geno Smith, who is the 29th-rated passer in football. They have used 10 different wide receivers, none of whom rank in the top 50 in catches. They don’t have a top 25 running back. They’re starting a rookie at guard and one at fullback.
Yet Mornhinweg has found a way to score points.
“He never focuses on what he doesn’t have,” Ryan told The Post. “He focuses on what he does have. We’ve got guys that literally have been with us for a week or two weeks, and hell, there they are. He never flinches. I think the guys see it — the confidence in himself and the confidence in his staff and the players. He’s been there and he’s done it.”
That confidence was apparent to veteran center Nick Mangold immediately. As part of Mornhinweg’s job interview in January, Ryan asked Mangold to meet with him. Mangold is one of the smartest players you’ll come across, and he quizzed Mornhinweg on various situations that could arise.
“When you talk to him, he’s got every confidence in the world of how he wants it all to play out and he knows it,” Mangold said. “You ask him a question of, ‘Hey, what would you want to have happen on this,’ and he doesn’t sit and say, ‘Well, let me think.’ He knows, ‘I want this.’ That jumped out to me, the passion he had for his offense and the confidence in which he knew it.”
The Jets have long searched for the answer at offensive coordinator. From the day of Paul Hackett through Brian Schottenheimer and the one-year mistake of Tony Sparano, the Jets have struggled on that side of the ball.
This year they are averaging 331.2 yards per game, the most under Ryan since 2010.
Ryan sits down with Mornhinweg every Tuesday, along with defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman, special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica and assistant head coach Anthony Lynn. The group discusses that week’s opponent from a team perspective — not just offense, defense and special teams. They try to figure out the best way each side of the ball can help the other.
Then, Mornhinweg goes to formulate that week’s game plan. Each week Ryan is eager to see what Mornhinweg has come up with.
“I get as excited to watch our game plan on offense as I do our defense,” Ryan said.
The most impressive aspect of Mornhinweg’s time with the Jets has been his ability to adapt. The Jets have used 29 different players on offense this season, tied for the most in the NFL with the Jaguars and Buccaneers, who have one win each. But Mornhinweg takes what he has and works with it. Known as a lover of the passing game, he ran the ball 52 times against the Patriots. In the team’s first nine games, the Jets have run more than they’ve thrown four times.
“For Marty, every week is something different,” wide receiver David Nelson said. “He just continues to apply what we do well and then also apply what he knows and combine that.
“A lot of offensive coordinators I’ve been around have their offense and you have to fit into what I do. Sometimes you’re fitting a square peg into a round hole. … Marty does a great job of figuring out what guys do well and then figuring out the offense around that.”
He has figured out ways to incorporate Nelson, Josh Cribbs, Greg Salas and Zach Sudfeld, who were not with the team in training camp. It is something Sparano struggled with mightily last season.
The offense has not always been pretty and it’s not setting any records this year. But it might just be good enough to get the Jets to the playoffs — and Mornhinweg is a big reason why.
“He just wants to win,” Ryan said. “It’s not about stats. That’s why we’re the same. That’s all we care about — winning.”