The New York Jets are returning to a familiar face to lead their general manager and head coaching search.
On Monday, the New York Post, among other outlets, reported that the Jets would rely on Mike Tannenbaum and his The 33rd Team media company to assist in finding replacements for head coach Robert Saleh and general manager Joe Douglas. Whether that search turns up Rex Ryan remains to be seen, but he’s certainly advocated for himself at every turn.
That might resonate with Woody Johnson, who will still oversee the search, but the Jets owner is employing a group from Tannenbaum’s The 33rd Team to assist him moving forward. As per Brian Costello, Tannenbaum and former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman will run point on the search.
If it gives Jets fans any hang-up that the ex-NFL exec who suggested a totally absurd Myles Garrett-Detroit Lions trade proposal on ESPN’s airwaves is running the search, perhaps the silver lining here is Spielman’s involvement. He played a key advisory role for the Washington Commanders in a similar situation last offseason, which helped lead to the appointments of Adam Peters as general manager and Dan Quinn as head coach, respectively.
It’s fair to say that those moves have yielded fairly positive early results for an embattled franchise that was once in a similar ownership situation as the New York Jets. Maybe not as dire from Gang Green’s standpoint, but like former Commanders owner Daniel Snyder, Woody Johnson sure likes to meddle.
As per the NYP, “The 33rd Team will also provide the Jets with their studies of the best hiring practices, data analysis, trends, and insights over the past five years.”
Whether that turns out to be a tangible solution for the team with the longest active postseason drought in North American professional sports remains to be seen.
[NYP]
