{"id":720885,"date":"2026-02-01T06:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/720885\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T06:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T06:45:16","slug":"ny-jets-toxic-culture-forced-coach-to-change-careers-as-jamal-adams-airsfranchises-dirty-laundry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/720885\/","title":{"rendered":"NY Jets\u2019 Toxic Culture Forced Coach to Change Careers as Jamal Adams AirsFranchise\u2019s Dirty Laundry"},"content":{"rendered":"

In February 2025, the New York Jets<\/a> were labeled the worst team in the league for ownership in the NFL Players Association workplace survey. Players pointed to a culture of fear tied to Woody Johnson. Now, a year later, that conversation has resurfaced with a former coach who lived it firsthand amid Jamal Adams\u2019 frustration.<\/p>\n

Soon after, the spotlight shifted to Gang Green when Blake Williams, a defensive assistant from 2019 to 2020, opened up about his experience. According to Williams, the environment inside the building was unbearable.<\/p>\n

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\u201cPeople don\u2019t understand how incredibly toxic it was,\u201d he wrote on X.<\/p>\n

More importantly, Williams connected the dots to Jamal Adams while explaining his own exit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was there. He wasn\u2019t the only one who wanted out. Coaching was the only thing I ever wanted to do. I literally retired & went into finance & the private business world for 5 years after leaving. Jamal was a multi-All-Pro\/Pro-Bowl at the Jets.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whole conversation started on a social media exchange involving a person named Tony Vegas and Jamal Adams.<\/p>\n

Vegas posted a clip of Sam Darnold reflecting on his career and shared Darnold\u2019s words: \u201cThe days in New York, the days in Carolina\u2014those were part of my journey, and they\u2019re part of my experience\u2014and I loved every single part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Along with the video, Vegas added, \u201cIf another fanbase asks why I\u2019m not angry about Sam potentially winning a superbowl with another franchise, I\u2019d show them this video. This mindset is why guys like him succeeded and guys like Jamal Adams failed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naturally, that last line hit a nerve, and Adams quickly fired back, writing, \u201cFailed? How so?\u201d<\/p>\n

It is worth noting that Adams\u2019 final stretch with Gang Green was complicated. Back in 2020, Adams admitted he was battling depression before eventually being traded. Even so, calling him a failure ignores what he actually did on the field.<\/p>\n

In Jets colors, Adams built a strong resume. He was named to the Pro Bowl twice in his first three seasons, earned All-Pro Second Team honors in Year 2, and followed that up with All-Pro First Team recognition in Year 3. As a bona fide star, he wanted to be paid like one. However, the Jets were not prepared to meet the number he believed he had earned.<\/p>\n

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At that point, the relationship reached a breaking point. The talented safety asked out, and the franchise agreed. Eventually, he was sent to the Seattle Seahawks<\/a> along with a fourth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

Taken together, Williams\u2019 words and Adams\u2019 frustration point back to the same issue: the Jets\u2019 toxic culture. However, Adams has always been vocal about his Jets\u2019 tenure.<\/p>\n

Jamal Adams battled depression while playing with the Jets<\/p>\n

As Jamal Adams opened up again about his struggles in New York, his past with the New York Jets took on a much heavier meaning. Toward the end of his run with the franchise, Adams admitted he was in a dark place, and while several things contributed, one comment stood out. On the All Things Covered podcast back in 2020, he bluntly said the Jets \u201cdo not want to win,\u201d a belief that weighed on him deeply.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI fought depression in New York,\u201d Adams said. \u201cAnd I\u2019m man enough to say it. I came home after a tough loss and just sat in my room in the dark\u2014no phone, no TV. [My dad] hated to see me like that. It killed my pops so much \u2026 He was calling my agent at the time, saying, \u2018Hey man, I don\u2019t like seeing my son like this. I need him out of this situation.\u2019 It took a toll on my life outside of football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before everything unraveled, Adams arrived as a cornerstone piece. The Jets selected him No. 6 overall in 2017, and over three seasons he piled up 273 total tackles and two interceptions. However, as time passed, tension grew with the front office.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be honest. The Jets were the laughingstock,\u201d Adams said back in 2020.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, before the 2025 season, a reunion with Gang Green briefly felt possible. That never materialized, and Adams instead joined the Raiders while also making it clear he did not want a return to New York at that time.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI would be lying to you if I sat here and said I didn\u2019t want to return home. When I say home, I\u2019m not talking about Dallas; I\u2019m talking about New York, man. So I would love to be back with the Jets and obviously finish it the right way. Man, that would be a dream come true just to patch up that relationship and kind of make it work,\u201d Adams told The Jets Lounge in 2025.<\/p>\n

Now with Raider Nation, Adams has posted 30 solo tackles, 15 assists, and 1.0 sack in 17 games.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, his story reflects more than stats. It shows how a broken situation can follow a player long after the final snap.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In February 2025, the New York Jets were labeled the worst team in the league for ownership in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":720886,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[104133,235,229,30915,7,55506,9275,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,19414,525,1878,261,796,104134,5176],"class_list":["post-720885","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york-jets","tag-blake-williams","tag-carolina","tag-dallas","tag-dwayne-haskins","tag-football","tag-gang-green","tag-jamal-adams","tag-jets","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-jets","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkjets","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-players-association","tag-raiders","tag-sam-darnold","tag-seattle-seahawks","tag-the-jets","tag-tony-vegas","tag-washington-redskins"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115994029606984682","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720885","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=720885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/720885\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/720886"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=720885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=720885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=720885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}