# 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”.
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

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

1976 New York Jets draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 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 ||||||

## 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 :
| viewtalkedit | 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.