Early career Idzik began his career as a coach in 1982 when he was named the wide receivers coach at the State University of New York at Buffalo. In 1990, he moved on to become the offensive backfield coach for the Aberdeen Oilers (Scotland) of the
British American Football League. He would become a graduate assistant coach at
Duke University, where he assisted with the offensive line and running backs for the 1991-92 seasons.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers In 1993, he entered the NFL with the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers organization and would go on to spend 11 years with the franchise, first as a pro personnel assistant, being elevated to director of football administration in 1996, and became the assistant general manager in 2001. During his tenure, the Buccaneers would win their first Super Bowl championship in 2002.
Arizona Cardinals After his tenure with the Buccaneers, he spent three seasons working as the senior director of football operations for the
Arizona Cardinals organization.
Seattle Seahawks Idzik joined the Seattle Seahawks organization on February 16, 2007. With Seattle, Idzik was in charge of overseeing player negotiations, the team's compliance with the NFL salary cap, player personnel transactions, all football operations budgets, staff and team contracts, and most aspects of the day-to-day football operations while also remaining active in player evaluations. During this time, he also served as the club's primary liaison to the NFL Office and represented the club at league meetings.
New York Jets On January 24, 2013, the Jets named John Idzik the team's general manager. In his first season in 2013 as general manager, Idzik released linebacker
Bart Scott, defensive back
Eric Smith, offensive lineman
Jason Smith, and defensive tackle
Sione Pouha. In free agency, he added quarterback
David Garrard, running back
Mike Goodson, offensive lineman
Willie Colon, linebacker
Antwan Barnes, and safety
Dawan Landry. Prior to the
2013 NFL draft, Idzik traded star cornerback
Darrelle Revis to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers in exchange for their first round selection (13th overall) in the 2013 NFL Draft and a conditional pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. He also agreed to a trade with the
New Orleans Saints to obtain running back
Chris Ivory for a fourth round selection (106th overall). His first draft class saw him select cornerback
Dee Milliner with the 9th overall selection,
Sheldon Richardson with the 13th overall selection, and
Geno Smith with the 39th overall selection. Upon the drafting of Smith, Idzik also chose to release quarterback
Tim Tebow on April 29, 2013. With the Jets making the change in quarterback to rookie Geno Smith, the team went 8–8 and finished second in the
AFC East in Idzik's first season as general manager. During the 2014 offseason, Idzik released a number of players, including cornerback
Antonio Cromartie, wide receiver
Santonio Holmes, and quarterback
Mark Sanchez. To replace Sanchez, Idzik added veteran quarterback
Michael Vick, who previously worked in offensive coordinator
Marty Mornhinweg's system with the Philadelphia Eagles. In addition to Vick, Idzik also signed former
Seattle Seahawks offensive lineman
Breno Giacomini and former
Denver Broncos wide receiver
Eric Decker. In April, Idzik saw an opportunity to bolster the offensive side of the ball by adding veteran running back
Chris Johnson, formerly of the
Tennessee Titans. The
2014 NFL draft saw the Jets have 12 draft selections, including 18th overall selection safety
Calvin Pryor and 49th overall selection tight end
Jace Amaro. Idzik addressed the wide receiver position with a trio of wide receivers, including
Jalen Saunders and
Shaquelle Evans in the 4th round and
Quincy Enunwa in the 6th round. Saunders and Enunwa were subsequently cut from the team after the start of the season although Enunwa later returned to the active roster on December 27, 2014. During the 2014 season, Idzik received a large amount of criticism for the lack of talent he provided on the roster. As a result, a group of fans raised money to purchase billboards in New Jersey reading "Fire John Idzik" and passed out rally towels with the same message at select home games. A second group of fans flew a plane over the Jets practice facility with the same message. Idzik was fired on December 29, 2014 after two seasons with the team.
Jacksonville Jaguars Idzik was hired as a salary cap consultant by the
Jacksonville Jaguars on February 25, 2015 but was not retained as of January 18, 2021.
Scouting Idzik currently serves as President of Football Operation for SūmerSports and is a featured expert in SūmerSports’ NFL draft evaluation show, THE EVALUATION. ==References==