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It’s an unusual dynamic . . .
Talking about the Jets’ GM interview process.
Think about this for a minute.
Adam Gase is involved in the search for a man, who once he takes the GM job, will decide which players Gase will have on his roster.
He can claim he’s comfortable with that, but how could he be?
Most coaches want to decide who is on their roster. Gase had that power in Miami and has it right now as interim GM. You really think he will be comfortable passing that baton to somebody else in a few weeks?
If you believe that, I have some Florida swampland to sell you.
We were led to believe he was comfortable with the set-up when he was hired to team with Maccagnan, How’d that work out?
And this strange dynamic is one of the reasons why this job might not be appealing to some.
Because Gase might agree up front that he can work with so-and-so, and then when it’s time to make big personnel decisions, they may end up butting heads.
Look, Gase cursed out the Miami owner at the end of stint with the Dolphins, you don’t think he will go at with new GM who is going to tell him who’s on his roster?
If you have a head coach who has final say on the roster, and he’s involved in picking the GM, that is fine. That is what just happened with Mike Mayock in Oakland. Gruden has final say, and Mayock will help him find talent.
To do it the other way, is asking for dysfunction. Don’t you think? It’s kind of a cart-before-the-horse scenario. You have the coach, and now you are going to bring in somebody who is going to pick his players?
So that is why the only way this can work is if the Jets pick a guy who Gase knows and trusts.
No shot-gun marriages with guys he doesn’t know.
If Eagles executive Joe Douglas is truly close to Gase, as some reports claim (just because they worked together for a year in Chicago in 2015 doesn’t mean they are close – that’s an assumption), they have to hire Douglas.
This has almost no chance of working with a stranger coming in and telling Gase who he’s keeping on his roster.
Ian Rapoport announced the Jets have requested interviews with Douglas (Eagles), Champ Kelly (Bears), George Paton (Vikings) and Scott Fitterer (Seahawks).
Paton and Fitterer might be fine personnel guys, but neither truly makes sense for the Jets because neither has a background with Gase. For a Paton and Fitterer, two strangers, to come in and tell Gase who he’s keeping is a recipe for disaster.
Long-time Eagles insider Howard Eskin tweeted, “I’m told unless Jets give Douglas final say on players the Eagles would not let him go and Joe Douglas would not take the job.”
Then there should be no problem since Christopher Johnson said the corporate structure is remaining the same with the GM having final say.
The Jets need to hire Douglas. Pay him what he wants. Get it done.
Kelly is probably an interview cycle away from landing a GM job. He will get his name out there now with his Jets interview, fulfilling the Rooney rule, and likely get a job in the next cycle of GM hires a year or two from now.
May 27, 2019
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