Woody Johnson is in the midst of the most critical juncture of his 15 years of ownership of the Jets. This is the fifth time he will hire a head coach and fourth time he will hire a general manager, but the hires have never been as important as they are now.

Johnson seems to get this and it may be time to believe he will do the right thing.

This is a tough sell right now after watching Johnson mistakenly hire John Idzik two years ago, and some of the moves the team has made in recent years, from Tim Tebow to PSLs and Johnson’s sometimes uninspiring public speaking.

I get it.

But, contrary to what some would have you believe, Johnson is going about this search the right way. By bringing in respected longtime GMs Ron Wolf and Charley Casserly, Johnson did something he’s been criticized for not doing in the past — he admitted he knows what he doesn’t know. Johnson brought in “football men” to hire his football leadership.

Any criticism Casserly or Wolf has taken over the process is misguided. They are leading the process, exactly what they were hired to do. Johnson will ultimately choose the candidates he wants, but, of course, Casserly’s and Wolf’s fingerprints will be on the hires. They are the ones choosing the candidates, as they should be. Would you rather have Johnson thumbing through some NFL directory to pick names?

There is also this idea floating around that the Jets are destined to remain in the AFC basement if they choose a coach before a GM. The truth is their preference remains to hire a GM before a coach. To that end they have already interviewed Rod Graves, Bill Kuharich, Trent Kirchner and Rick Mueller for the job. They will interview Mike Maccagnan on Monday. But there also is a competitive element to a coaching search. Much like recruiting a free agent, the Jets are in competition with the other teams that have coaching openings. If they waited to interview Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, they might be waiting until after the Super Bowl because it looks like that is where Seattle is headed.

Then there is Doug Marrone. None of the other candidates seems to have stirred as much discussion as the former Bills coach. The initial perception was the Jets would blow up their entire coaching search to hire Marrone. That initial perception was wrong. Marrone interviewed with the Jets on Saturday, but there is no indication the Jets will just hand him the job. They intend to interview Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich and Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles this week with Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak a possibility after the Ravens’ season ends.

That has not stopped a character assassination of Marrone by one agenda-driven reporter in town, who clearly fears the idea of Marrone coming to the Jets. Some have bought in to his thinking. Let’s hope Johnson is smart enough to see through the sleazy attempt to undercut Marrone.

The truth is hiring a GM and coach is not easy. Who knows how any of these candidates will translate to the Jets? Is Quinn the guy because the Seahawks’ defense has been so dominant over the last two years? Is Kubiak the right choice because he has a strong offensive background, something the Jets have lacked? Is Marrone right because he has already been a head coach and knows the organization already from his time as an assistant with the Jets?

No one knows. None of these candidates is an automatic slam dunk who has guided teams to Super Bowl titles. Even that doesn’t always work out (see Shanahan, Mike and Redskins). That is why Johnson, Casserly and Wolf are spending three to four hours with each candidate, trying to understand their philosophy on everything from Xs and Os to putting a staff together to dealing with the media.

The Jets rarely get the benefit of the doubt, and the truth is they have not done much lately to deserve it.

But, in this case, Johnson has put good people in place to help him make these hires.

Can we let him make the hires before we decide he screwed up?