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New Jersey – The Jets are handling this whole interview process right on a few fronts. Let’s take a closer look at what I’m talking about . . .
I know I bring this name up a lot – Ira Akselrad.
He is the President of The Johnson Company, which manages Woody’s money.
Prior to joining the Johnson Company, Ira was an attorney for 22 years at the New York law firm, Proskauer Rose LLP. He became Partner in 1990. In his role, Ira advised many major real estate companies and sports leagues on structuring acquisitions and dispositions. His sports clients included the National Basketball Association, the National Hockey League, as well as a number of other National Football League and Major League Baseball clubs.
This is a very smart man.
Ask any lawyer. That is one off the best law firms in the country.
I’ve never been dismissive of his intellect.
I just felt that his involvement with football decisions, like helping find a new Jets GM in 2013, was misguided.
Ira is a brilliant lawyer and has a top-shelf business mind, but he’s not a football guru.
The panel that did the candidate interviews in 2013 consisted of Akselrad, Neil Glat and Woody Johnson.
And it led to a cap guy, a number’s guy, getting the job in 2013.
You have to give the Jets a tremendous amount of credit. So many people don’t learn from their mistakes, or are too stubborn to admit them.
The Jets realized the error of their ways.
Akselrad isn’t involved in the interviews this time.
Neither is Glat.
In the interview room at the Jets’ complex in Florham Park are consultants Charlie Casserly, Ron Wolf along with Johnson. That is it.
This trio has been doing the interviews.
All of the interviews have been in Florham Park, aside from the Seattle trip to interview coaching candidate Tom Cable and Dan Quinn, along with GM candidate Trent Kirchner.
And to their credit, they aren’t rushing things.
Some thought they would make a bee-line for Doug Marrone, perhaps pair him with Mike Maccagnan, and call it a day.
Remember, early in the process, some were acting like Marrone was a done deal.
Not so fast.
He might get the job, but they are doing their due diligence.
I suspect New England will beat a Baltimore team not strong in the secondary, so Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak will be available for interviews next week.
The Jets have put in a request to speak to him.
What a game he called against Pittsburgh last week!
Kubiak is a quality candidate, worth waiting a few extra days to throw into the candidate hopper.
Like another GM candidate who was thrown into mix today, Tampa Bay’s college scouting director Jon Robinson. He’s been with the Buccaneers for just one year, after working for the New England Patriots from 2002-13. So he learned a lot from Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli.
This is why you got to think outside the box in these searches. This name hasn’t been brought up much, but he’s an interesting candidate. I know Belichick gets mixed reviews for a lot of his drafts (he has final say over his personnel executives), but he’s got a brilliant football intellect. 12 years with the Patriots. Not a bad guy to talk to.
Remember something else about doing a lot of interviews. It’s a great way to gather a lot of notes on how all these different men around the league view coaching and player personnel. You can gather a lot of good football info moving forward, even from the guys you don’t hire.
January 7, 2014
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