Mark Cannizzaro

Mark Cannizzaro

NFL

Jets may have found offensive mind in Mornhinweg

After a string of bad marriages and countless Sundays of head-scratching angst, is it possible Jets fans finally have an offensive coordinator they can embrace?

Tony Sparano and his ill-fated Year of the Wildcat starring Tim Tebow was universally mocked last season because of its mind-numbing lack of creativity.

“BS” (before Sparano), life quickly went south for Brian Schottenheimer, despite his admirable work in developing a raw Mark Sanchez at quarterback while the Jets went to consecutive AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010. Schottenheimer’s struggling offense in 2011 elicited angry “Schotty Must Go” chants from fans that led to his departure.

So, after Schottenheimer enraged Jets fans with some game-day play calling that bordered on schizophrenic and Sparano mystified them with cluelessness, enter Marty Mornhinweg, who was hired by Jets coach Rex Ryan to loosen the reins on a dormant offense.

Ryan’s well-worn “ground-and-pound” slogan and philosophy have been replaced by a different way of doing offensive business and a new buzzword: “attack.”

Entering Sunday’s game against the 2-1 Titans in Nashville, Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith has completed four passes of 40 or more yards — all coming in last Sunday’s 27-20 win over the Bills. The Jets had a total of six such big plays in 16 games last season and just three in 2011.

Smith also is tied for the NFL lead with Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers with nine completions of more than 20 yards in the air. That’s a pretty impressive statistic and even more impressive quarterbacking company with which to be associated.

Don’t expect Mornhinweg to take his foot off the gas, either. He appears to be a lead-footed driver as an offensive coordinator. Regardless of the opponent, Mornhinweg is going to push the ball down the field. It is the reason Ryan hired him in the first place.

“Rex and I spent a day together [in the interview process], and I know this: He wanted to be very aggressive and attack,” Mornhinweg said. “That’s one reason that I ended up here I think. So there you have it.”

Ryan recalled facing Mornhinweg as an opposing coach over the years, saying, “Having to prepare against him, I knew how difficult that was.

“He’s been there and done that,” Ryan said Thursday. “You’re not going to trick him. He’s seen about as many things as there is, and he exudes that confidence. Every good play caller has that, and he has it.”

In his 11 years as an offensive coordinator before coming to the Jets, Mornhinweg’s offenses ranked outside of the league’s top 10 just four times. In 2008 with the Eagles and in 1998 with the 49ers his offenses ranked No. 1 in the NFL.

Ryan said he “wanted this football team to attack more in all phases,” adding, “We said we were going to attack, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

Mornhinweg uses the word “attack” so often in offensive meetings his players should conduct an over-under contest on how many times he uses it.

“Yeah, [the words] ‘attack’ and ‘aggressive’ come up,” Mornhinweg said. “It’s a mentality. We just want to be aggressive. That mentality is important to me.”

That mentality is rubbing off on the players, and it is leading to more explosive plays than the Jets have produced in years.

Sunday’s win over Buffalo marked the first time in franchise history the Jets produced a 300-yard passer (Smith), 100-yard rusher (Bilal Powell), and two 100-yard receivers (Santonio Holmes and Stephen Hill) in one game.

“He’s ‘attack, attack, attack.’ He’s preached that since the day I met him,” Jets guard Willie Colon said.

“He’s always in attack mode, no matter what,” Jets tight end Jeff Cumberland said. “He mentions that word all the time — ‘We want to attack, we want to attack.’ ”

If the positive results continue (or even improve), Jets fans no longer will have an offensive coordinator to attack the way they did Schottenheimer and Sparano, and this Mornhinweg thing has a chance to be a long-lasting marriage.