How Jets plan to conduct search for new head coach, general manager amid another lost season

The searches for the next head coach and general manager of the New York Jets are officially underway, and the team is going to capitalize on the timing.

Sources tell CBS Sports the Jets hope to interview candidates for at least the general manager position before the end of the regular season, looking to take advantage of the head start the team has in its searches in the wake of firing Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas.

Sources expect a robust search for the Jets, who are looking to hire both positions simultaneously for the first time since 2015. Team owner Woody Johnson will helm the search ahead of what many expect to be another appointment to the Trump administration, after which he would relinquish day-to-day control to his brother, Christopher.

It’s unclear if the Jets will hire a GM first and then the head coach, as is customary. Early signs are that both searches will run parallel to one another, at least to begin.

It’s unlikely the Jets will employ a traditional search firm, but there’s a belief that the team will use an advisor (or multiple advisors) with sports executive backgrounds. The Jets have used this model in years past, and it’s been a popular one around the league. The Commanders, for example, hired former Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers while working with former Vikings general manager Rick Spielman last year before landing on Adam Peters as their GM.

The Jets cannot interview a candidate who is currently employed by another club until the end of the regular season. That goes for coaches and executives, as well as candidates who are employed as consultants. So someone like former Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel wouldn’t be allowed to interview with the Jets until the conclusion of the Cleveland Browns season, but someone like Jon Gruden could walk into One Jets Drive and sit for an interview while the season plays out.

Part of the reason for doing interviews while the season is going on is to get a head start on the search. Another reason is for the search group led by Johnson to start getting reps. Because of his previous stint as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, Johnson hasn’t been part of a search for a head coach or GM in a decade when the Jets hired Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan in 2015.

An early check of the weather in Florham Park shows the Jets could be leaning toward a coach and GM with experience in those roles. The thinking goes the Jets will want to minimize risk in their next hires while pursuing the best path toward success. Proven, veteran leadership could be less a projection than a first-timer. Of course, it’s still very early in the process.

There’s been some external discussion of the Jets establishing a position akin to a football czar — someone who serves as a buffer between ownership and football operations. Chris Spielman has served in that role in Detroit, for example. As solid an idea as it may be, a source threw cold water on it. Johnson “would have to want that and honor that” to take place, a source said.

Before any interviews take place, members of the Jets organization that will take part in the search process will need to take league-mandated diversity hiring training. Once completed, the Jets will be able to interview anyone not with a team. There are more options at GM who aren’t currently employed than at head coach. Bill Belichick will not be interviewing for the Jets job.

GM interviews for candidates currently employed elsewhere can begin in-person as soon as the regular season concludes. Interviews with coaches employed by other teams could begin about three days later, and those would be virtual. In-person interviews with coaches employed by other teams won’t begin until after the divisional round of the playoffs. Due to the restrictions, for all intents and purposes, the Jets won’t hire a new head coach before Jan. 20.

How attractive would these jobs be? Depends on who you ask. Everyone will always say that there are only 32 of these jobs. There could be seven or eight head-coaching jobs open this cycle, while there could be between two to five GM positions that open.

Sources believe the Jets will pay well, and there’s an opportunity to create the team in your own image with some good young talent. And there’s the chance to get a new quarterback.

The Jets have not decided on Aaron Rodgers for the 2025 season, and any decision would be a mutual one decided with the new regime. But it strains credulity that Rodgers would be back for his age-41 season. The overwhelming belief around the league is the Jets will designate Rodgers as a post-June 1 release next offseason.

“I can’t imagine any GM or coach who’s going to come in and deal with that,” one rival executive said.

There’s also the question about ownership. The Athletic reported this week Johnson questioned whether Rodgers should have been benched earlier in the season, and sources have indicated that he has publicly mused that question other times this season as well.

If Johnson’s penchant for meddling in football business is a concern for prospective candidates, a potential return to the United Kingdom could be considered a plus for employment seekers. Johnson would be clued in on major developments, but there could be an Atlantic Ocean separating the football people from Johnson for the next four seasons.