To quote the great Jon Rothstein: This is (expletive) March.

New York residents watched with pride as St. John’s men’s basketball program, led by Hall-of-Fame coach Rick Pitino, defeated Kansas to advance to their first Sweet 16 since 1999 on Sunday night.

Even though it was a different sport, the New York Jets should take notice.

Not only has St. John’s found more success in their three-year run with Pitino than Gang Green has seen in the last 15 years, but the way the Johnnies have won is something the organization should learn from—especially entering a critical 2026 season.

Johnnies’ NCAA tourney run

Despite the victory, it felt like the wheels were about to fall off for Pitino’s Johnnies late in the contest. St. John’s led by as much as 14 throughout the second half, but a late Jayhawks run tied the score with just seconds remaining.

St. John’s couldn’t buy a bucket. And it seemed like an epic collapse was on the way for the upstart program.

Then it happened.

Dylan Darling, who had not scored a basket for the first 39 minutes of the contest, managed to break away for the game-winning layup. Despite the adversity and being punched in the metaphorical mouth, St. John’s rose above the challenges to come away with the win.

Fighting through adversity is expected in every professional sport. Not everything is going to go right for a team during the course of a season.

But if the roster keeps fighting and continues to believe during in-game struggles, chances are they will come out victorious at the end of the day.

And if St. John’s can do it, so can the Jets, even if Pitino’s coaching chops far exceed anything Aaron Glenn has shown throughout his NFL coaching journey.

Jets’ important lesson

Arguably, the biggest issue the Jets currently face, outside of a long-term solution to their quarterback room, is their mindset.

When things get bad for New York, they lack the mental fortitude and confidence to pull themselves out of a hole and succeed. Instead, heads drop, frustration mounts, and a small hole early in the season becomes a gaping chasm.

“When you’re up in the fourth quarter all of a sudden it starts to feel like we have a losing problem, like a gene or some s—,” Jets receiver Garrett Wilson said after a loss in Miami in 2024. “It’s not like we’re going out there and getting our butt beat from start to finish. No, we have a chance to win the game, we’re supposed to win the game, odds are in our favor, and we find a way to lose.”

Finding a way to lose, as Wilson puts it, has been a common theme for the Jets over their 15-year playoff drought. When things can go wrong, they do, and the team has no response to pick itself up.

Yes, basketball and football are two totally different sports. But the mental make-up of athletes is the same. Those who can work well through adversity tend to have long careers, and their teams see plenty of success.

Until New York learns from the lesson St. John’s showed on Sunday, it will continue to suffer from the same issues.