An introductory press conference will be held for Idzik at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on [Thursday, January 24, at 11 am]The New York Jets have named John Idzik as the team's general manager. The announcement was made by New York Jets chairman and CEO Woody Johnson.
"After a thorough search in which we met many qualified and outstanding candidates, it was clear to me that John was the right choice," said Johnson. "During his two decades in the NFL, John helped build a Super Bowl championship team in Tampa Bay, an NFC championship team in Arizona and, most recently, a team in Seattle that narrowly missed reaching the NFC championship game.
"John has seen first-hand what's necessary to construct a winning team and has worked with some of the most innovative and successful coaches in the NFL, including Pete Carroll, Tony Dungy, Dennis Green, Jon Gruden and Mike Holmgren. Drawing on 20 years of NFL experience, John, working with Rex, will get the Jets where all of us want to be."
Idzik has spent the past six seasons as the vice president of football administration with the Seattle Seahawks. There he was actively involved in player evaluations and player negotiations among other responsibilities. Prior to joining the Seahawks, Idzik spent three seasons as senior director of football operations for the Arizona Cardinals, helping to build an NFC championship team. Idzik entered the NFL in 1993 with Tampa Bay and spent 11 years with the Buccaneers, eventually rising to assistant general manager in 2001.
"I am honored and extremely excited to be joining the New York Jets," said Idzik. "It has been very enlightening getting to know Mr. Woody Johnson, Rex Ryan and Neil Glat, and I am very grateful for them making me feel very welcomed as a member of the Jets family. I am eager to get started building on the foundation that is already in place."
Prior to his tenure with the Buccaneers, Idzik coached at Duke University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and for the Aberdeen (Scotland) Oilers of the British American Football League.
Idzik's father also had numerous coaching positions in the NFL, including serving as offensive coordinator of the Jets from 1977-79. John and his father are one of the few father/son teams to have each won a Super Bowl championship — John as assistant general manager with the Buccaneers in Super Bowl XXXVII, and his father as an offensive coach with the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V.
Born in Detroit, Idzik graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Dartmouth College in 1982, earning a bachelor's degree in mathematics. At Dartmouth, he also played wide receiver for the Ivy League champion Big Green. He later earned a master's degree from Duke in 1992.
An introductory news conference will be held for Idzik at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J., on Thursday, Jan. 24, at 11 a.m. ET.
