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Jets consultant breaks silence: Coach hire may come before GM
By Brian CostelloJanuary 7, 2015 | 7:30pm
One question that has surrounded the Jets’ search for new leadership is which position will owner Woody Johnson fill first: the general manager or the head coach? It’s Gang Green’s version of the chicken or the egg.
Consultant Charley Casserly shed some light on the organization’s thinking in a radio interview Wednesday. Casserly, who along with Ron Wolf is helping Johnson through the search process, made his first public comments since the search began on Tampa radio station 620 AM WDAE.
“In a perfect world, you hire the GM first and then hire the head coach, because it’s critical that you have a good working relationship between the two of them,” Casserly said. “And that’s the best way to get it. However, sometimes opportunities present themselves on a coach that you can get in competition with and you feel like you need to pull the trigger on the coach first. And then come back and hire a general manager. And where the head coach has input into it. But you pick the general manager and try to find the best marriage.”
The Jets have interviewed six GM candidates and six head coaching candidates. All along the Jets have said they prefer to hire a GM first, but Casserly pointed out the other way can work.
“Now people will say, ‘Well, that can’t work.’ Well, Seattle won the Super Bowl and that’s exactly what they did,” Casserly said. “They hired Pete Carroll first and then they hired John Schneider. [In] Kansas City, they hired Andy Reid first and then John Dorsey. So it absolutely can work. A lot of it depends on does the head coach have a relationship with somebody out there who’s going to be a viable general manager candidate? It also depends on the ego of the person coming in.”
The Jets’ search is now 10 days old. They interviewed Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich on Wednesday for the coaching opening.
They added another candidate to the head coaching interview list, scheduling Buccaneers director of player personnel Jon Robinson for an interview. NFL Network reported that interview will be Thursday. Robinson spent 12 years with the Patriots before joining the Buccaneers last year.
Robinson worked in New England from 2002-13, serving as director of college scouting from 2009-13. While in that role, the Patriots drafted Rob Gronkowski, Chandler Jones, Julian Edelman and Devin McCourty.
Robinson began his career as an area scout and worked his way up. During that time, the Patriots won 10 division titles, four AFC championships and two Super Bowls.
The Jets could be coming to the point where they need to make a decision on whom they want to invite for second interviews or if they need to add more candidates to either the GM or coaching pool. Ideally, the Jets would have a GM in place by the end of next week. The Senior Bowl is in two weeks, and that kicks the draft evaluation season into full swing.
Casserly was asked if the New York media has any influence on the process.
“Well, let me say this, Ron Wolf and I are involved in the process here,” Casserly said. “We don’t make the final decision. We make recommendations. I can tell you from my point of view and Ron’s point of view, we ignore it. You’ve got to ignore it. It’s a one-day deal for the press conference and then you go from there.
“Now you’re going to have some people that have agendas, but most journalists are open-minded and want the team to win because it’s easier to cover the team when you win,” he added. “So, even though they don’t root for the team, they hope they win. … You can’t worry about what other people say. There’s a famous saying: ‘If you pay attention to the fans, you’ll end up sitting with the fans.’ ”
By Brian CostelloJanuary 7, 2015 | 7:30pm
One question that has surrounded the Jets’ search for new leadership is which position will owner Woody Johnson fill first: the general manager or the head coach? It’s Gang Green’s version of the chicken or the egg.
Consultant Charley Casserly shed some light on the organization’s thinking in a radio interview Wednesday. Casserly, who along with Ron Wolf is helping Johnson through the search process, made his first public comments since the search began on Tampa radio station 620 AM WDAE.
“In a perfect world, you hire the GM first and then hire the head coach, because it’s critical that you have a good working relationship between the two of them,” Casserly said. “And that’s the best way to get it. However, sometimes opportunities present themselves on a coach that you can get in competition with and you feel like you need to pull the trigger on the coach first. And then come back and hire a general manager. And where the head coach has input into it. But you pick the general manager and try to find the best marriage.”
The Jets have interviewed six GM candidates and six head coaching candidates. All along the Jets have said they prefer to hire a GM first, but Casserly pointed out the other way can work.
“Now people will say, ‘Well, that can’t work.’ Well, Seattle won the Super Bowl and that’s exactly what they did,” Casserly said. “They hired Pete Carroll first and then they hired John Schneider. [In] Kansas City, they hired Andy Reid first and then John Dorsey. So it absolutely can work. A lot of it depends on does the head coach have a relationship with somebody out there who’s going to be a viable general manager candidate? It also depends on the ego of the person coming in.”
The Jets’ search is now 10 days old. They interviewed Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Chargers offensive coordinator Frank Reich on Wednesday for the coaching opening.
They added another candidate to the head coaching interview list, scheduling Buccaneers director of player personnel Jon Robinson for an interview. NFL Network reported that interview will be Thursday. Robinson spent 12 years with the Patriots before joining the Buccaneers last year.
Robinson worked in New England from 2002-13, serving as director of college scouting from 2009-13. While in that role, the Patriots drafted Rob Gronkowski, Chandler Jones, Julian Edelman and Devin McCourty.
Robinson began his career as an area scout and worked his way up. During that time, the Patriots won 10 division titles, four AFC championships and two Super Bowls.
The Jets could be coming to the point where they need to make a decision on whom they want to invite for second interviews or if they need to add more candidates to either the GM or coaching pool. Ideally, the Jets would have a GM in place by the end of next week. The Senior Bowl is in two weeks, and that kicks the draft evaluation season into full swing.
Casserly was asked if the New York media has any influence on the process.
“Well, let me say this, Ron Wolf and I are involved in the process here,” Casserly said. “We don’t make the final decision. We make recommendations. I can tell you from my point of view and Ron’s point of view, we ignore it. You’ve got to ignore it. It’s a one-day deal for the press conference and then you go from there.
“Now you’re going to have some people that have agendas, but most journalists are open-minded and want the team to win because it’s easier to cover the team when you win,” he added. “So, even though they don’t root for the team, they hope they win. … You can’t worry about what other people say. There’s a famous saying: ‘If you pay attention to the fans, you’ll end up sitting with the fans.’ ”
