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As the GM search continues, and the candidates interviews come to pass, there is one name who clearly should be on the short list, who hasn’t been mentioned a lot . . .
I’ve covered Brian Gaine when he was on the Jets practice squad in 1996, a feel good local story out of Don Bosco High School in Ramsey, N.J..
After a few other practice squad stops with the Giants and Kansas City, he jumped at an opportunity to join the Jets scouting department in 1998, and spent six years in Hempstead moving up the ranks, and then moved on to Dallas where he spent three seasons as the Dallas Cowboys’ Assistant Director of Pro Scouting (2005-07). In 2008, he went on to Miami where he has been ever since, and was promoted to assistant GM last year.
If you notice the Gaine’s path, he was with Parcells at his last three stops.
Parcells took a liking to the guy with the Jets, and asked him to come along for his last two stops in the NFL.
And over the years, the studious Gaine learned a great deal from Parcells.
I’ve seen him here and there at different games where he was scouting, and seen the guy grow a great deal.. He’s extremely bright, and the Pearl River-native, the son or Irish immigrants, and in a family filled with firemen, is a New Yorker through and through, and understands the market. I think that is an underrated factor. If you come in here cold, this place will eat you for lunch.
Gaine, is a Parcells guy, who thinks just like Bill on team building. He’s a chip off the Parcells’ block.
He used to sit in Bill’s office and talk football for hours – absorbing his sage words like a sponge.
When Gaine was promoted by the Dolphins last year, Miami GM Jeff Ireland said, “He earned this position by not only his continued and unquestioned trust, loyalty and commitment to the Miami Dolphins organization, but by his continued efforts each and every day to strive for perfection. His attention to detail and professionalism has ultimately paid dividends to his growth and development and he will continue to be a very valuable member of the organization.”
I generally don’t like running quotes like this, but in this case, I think Ireland described the guy aptly.
After 15 years of paying his dues, and working his way up the ladder, Gaine is ready to be a GM.
He interviewed a year ago with the St. Louis Rams for its general manager vacancy.
Gaine is also a proponent of the 3-4 defense, which should be a factor in this process.
The Jets have been building a 3-4 for quite some time, first under Eric Mangini, and now under Rex.
They have two talented young 3-4 ends in Mo Wilkerson and Quinton Coples. They have a really good 3-4 ILB in David Harris. They have a lot of core players comfortable in Rex’s 3-4 playbook, which isn’t going anywhere.
It would be a bad idea to bring in a GM whose belief system is steeped in the 4-3 front. You would have to think Marc Ross feels that way being with the Football Giants for a long time. They have been in the 4-3 forever.
Same with Atlanta’s David Caldwell. That is a 4-3 team as well.
Hey, maybe they are flexible, and will change to 3-4 guys.
And if one is truly a great candidate, which is unclear right now (don’t go by media reports – reporters don’t really know a lot about either one because they have been figures in the background for years), perhaps you ignore the 3-4, 4-3 factor.
However, Rex is a 3-4 coach through and through and he’s not going anywhere.
Gaine is a 3-4 guy through and through as well.
One thing is clear – if the Jed Hughes is doing his homework, which is usually does, Gaine should be in the mix here.
The former captain of the University of Maine football team (where he played for Kirk Ferentz) exudes leadership.
The guy is ready.
And should be on the short list.
January 1, 2013
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