Traditionally, teams like to hire a general manager before hiring a head coach. It allows the GM to start to build a team from the ground up and have a certain level of trust and comfort with the other decision makers in the organization.
That does not seem to be the route being taken by the New York Jets, however. Consultants Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf, who are leading the hiring process, appear to be looking to bring in a head coach before they move on to a general manager.
"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 on 620 AM WDAE radio in Tampa on Wednesday morning. "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."
Casserly used the Seattle Seahawks and Kansas City Chiefs, which hired head coaches Pete Carroll and Andy Reid, respectively, before tapping a GM, as examples of success with that formula. However, New York's reported top candidates - Doug Marrone, Dan Quinn and Todd Bowles - do not have the NFL pedigree to handpick a general manager at this point. Tom Cable, Garu Kubiak and Jim Mora also are believed to be on New York's list of candidates, according to ESPN.com.
It will be interesting to see how the Jets' hiring search plays out. The team has not made the postseason since 2010, and while owner Woody Johnson realizes this is a process, he will likely want to see positive results sooner rather than later.
