The New York Jets fired Adam Gase late Sunday night, and there was no rest for the wicked, as GM Joe Douglas revealed to Boomer & Gio on Wednesday morning that the process of finding his replacement began within 24 hours.
“Our process started Monday. We sent out permission slips for interview requests from teams, and we’ve been in the process of scheduling since we got them back,” Douglas told Boomer and Gio. “We’ve been meeting – Monday and Tuesday was like drinking from a firehose, but I feel good about our group of candidates and our process moving forward. I feel like we have a pretty good group of leaders with wide-ranging levels of experience, and I can’t wait to get this process started and learn about these guys.”
This year’s coaching searches for Douglas, and the other five GMs looking for a new head coach, will be different for sure; all initial interviews will be virtual, per the NFL’s COVID-19 protocols, and teams won’t be able to really meet with candidates in person until they narrow it down to the finalists.
So what are the Jets looking for?
“Everyone in this building is tired of losing, and I appreciate the players’ candor and feedback on what we need,” Douglas said. “We need someone with high integrity and leadership skills; someone who can manage the entire team and manage all relationships in the building.”
Of course, Douglas wouldn’t discuss any specifics about candidates – whether that be number of candidates, experience levels, or anything else – only saying ownership hasn’t given him any financial constraints.
So, of course, that led Boomer and Gio to mentioning two names: Bill Cowher, who Boomer seemed to let on was interested in the job, and John Harbaugh, Douglas’ former colleague in Baltimore who happens to have a pretty famous brother with NFL head coaching experience.
On the latter, Douglas wasn’t taking the bait.
“(John) Harbaugh is a great coach; he was exactly what we needed in 2008, and he’s a guy that had a strong personality, tough as nails and extremely disciplined,” Douglas said of the Ravens’ head coach. “He was the perfect hire. I love him, and spent many years sitting right next to him in the draft rooms. He never pulled any punches.”
And as for Cowher? Well, Douglas has never met him – leading Boomer to offer to set up a meeting – but has great respect for the Hall of Famer.
“I was in Baltimore for 15 years and those were some old fashioned slobberknockers, and no one respects him more than me,” Douglas said.
“He was a great leader and tremendous coach.”
That latter statement seems to be the Jets’ mantra of what they want, and that doesn’t necessarily mean the right candidate has to have head coaching experience. Douglas worked with two (Harbaugh, and Doug Pederson in Philly) who didn’t and went on to win a Super Bowl, but he also mentioned some coaches like Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick who failed at first and went on to become legendary as well.
“I try to lean back on the experiences I’ve had over 21 years. You try to piece together what were the traits of a great head coach and leader, and I’ve been fortunate to get a lot of advice from mentors of mine to help me through this process,” Douglas said. “I think you build a profile on these guys no different than you would a player. When you look at coaches that have had great success over the last 20 years, there are a lot of different profiles. I don’t think there’s one size fits all, so I think it’s important to vet every candidate, and then you get in the room with somebody and feel their presence – can they command the room and the team?”
Ultimately, he says, the final decision comes down to ownership, which he says won’t be a big deal for him, because it’s a “collaborative” effort.
“I feel like it’s my job to help support that and vet these candidates, and give the owner a great group of qualified candidates to talk to,” Douglas said. “I think we’re all excited to talk to these guys, and it’s going to be a very collaborative effort. I think we’ll all come to the same conclusion at the end of the day as to who is the right leader for this team.”
Whomever that coach is, Douglas believes the future is bright at a lot of positions on the depth chart.
“There are a lot of good people here, and a lot of good young pieces to build around. I think we have a really good core group of guys on the interior defensive line, I think we have a future high-level tackle in Mekhi, and we’re really excited about having a healthy Denzel Mims for 16 games," Douglas said. "And, it was good to get Bryce Hall off IR. He is smart, tough, has great length, and he prepares like a true pro. We have a lot of rookies that did some good things, we have nine picks this year and a lot of draft capital in 2022, and a good amount of cap space. We won’t be reckless in spending but we will be aggressive if the right guy is there, so for any coach interested in this job, there’s a lot of good things here."
And if the same structure stays in place where, just like Adam Gase, the next coach reports directly to ownership? All in a day’s work.
“That’s not a big thing for me. I’m focused on finding the right leader for this team, and however it’s structured, I’ve been a part of teams that were successful with both ways.”
Listen to Douglas’ entire interview with Boomer & Gio below!
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