Speaker 1: Welcome to another edition of the Official Jets Podcast powered
Speaker 1: by Amazon Web Services. Ethan Greenberg, Eric Allen here for
Speaker 1: the first episode of the off season. We're not stopping
Speaker 1: here on the Official Jets Pod. The Jets now looking
Speaker 1: for a new head coach. Adam Gates no longer the
Speaker 1: head coach of the New York Jets. General manager Joe
Speaker 1: Douglas spoke to the team or spoke to the media,
Speaker 1: should I say on Tuesday? CEO Christopher Johnson spoke to
Speaker 1: the media on Monday, and you really got the sense
Speaker 1: that this full this head coaching search is about to
Speaker 1: be in full swing over the next couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: It certainly is happy New Year to all our listeners
Speaker 1: out there. Things move quickly in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: It seems like seven months ago that the Jets had
Speaker 1: a fourteen seven lead over the Patriots in Weeks seventeen
Speaker 1: in that third quarter before gone down to the Patriots
Speaker 1: to fourteen. On Sunday night, Christopher Johnson informed Adam Gates
Speaker 1: that he would not be back in two thousand twenty one.
Speaker 1: Then Christopher Johnson spoke to the media on Monday. Joe
Speaker 1: Douglas spoke to the media on Tuesday, and Douglas already
Speaker 1: has told reporters that they put in multiple requests throughout
Speaker 1: the National Football League to speak to some coaches. So
Speaker 1: the searches on in earnest because the National Football League
Speaker 1: right now there are six head coaching vacancies, and Christopher
Speaker 1: Johnson said that it's gonna be a deep search and
Speaker 1: broad but time will be of the essence. And as
Speaker 1: we're recording this Monday or not Monday morning, Wednesday morning,
Speaker 1: the days are kind of metching together for me right now.
Speaker 1: So that's my bad, but it's Wednesday morning. It's forgivable, man,
Speaker 1: all thank you. I appreciate that. So the Jets have
Speaker 1: not officially interviewed any head coach. And when you look
Speaker 1: at the timeline the coaches that you know, you see
Speaker 1: the reports out there who the Jets are looking to
Speaker 1: interview so far, a lot of them are coordinators and
Speaker 1: a lot of them are going to coach this weekend
Speaker 1: in post season play. And so for the Jets that
Speaker 1: can't interview those guys until after their game this weekend,
Speaker 1: that could be as early as Sunday. But for someone
Speaker 1: like one name, for example, Eric b Enemy, the Chief's
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator. He because he has a bye week, the
Speaker 1: Jets can interview him this week, so we'll see what happens.
Speaker 1: And you mentioned a broad search. I just wanna throw
Speaker 1: this out there that Joe Douglas said that the head
Speaker 1: coach that's to be named the twenty head coach of
Speaker 1: the Green and White does not need to have prior
Speaker 1: NFL head coaching experience. If it's a college coach that
Speaker 1: fits the criteria, that's great. And when Joe Douglas was
Speaker 1: talking about different qualities that he's looking for, and uh,
Speaker 1: and a head coach, I mean the awards that came up, communication, leadership,
Speaker 1: vision for the team, and then the blueprint how to
Speaker 1: achieve that vision, and really the identity. And I think
Speaker 1: that he got the sentence and he said, this is
Speaker 1: not gonna be offensive, it's not gonna be defensive. You know,
Speaker 1: that would eliminate half of the pool. He said, So really,
Speaker 1: I think they're looking for the right guy. And I
Speaker 1: thought it was interesting that he said it's not like
Speaker 1: a a power ranking of characteristics. It's a group of characteristics,
Speaker 1: almost kind of like how you'd approached the draft. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and it's interesting that Kim Jones from NFL Network asked
Speaker 1: Christopher Johnson about, Hey, are you the New York Jets
Speaker 1: organization looking for a CEO type and Chris said, I
Speaker 1: don't love that term, but yes, they want a head
Speaker 1: coach to oversee the entire operation. And when you say why, NET,
Speaker 1: they're not going to emphasize the offensive side of the
Speaker 1: ball or the defensive side of the ball, pro or college.
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas is approaching this with an open mind. He
Speaker 1: just wants the best candidate and the best partner. And
Speaker 1: he also said, hey, we're not making major decisions as
Speaker 1: far as the rosters is concerned before we get a
Speaker 1: head coach in here, because I have to know his
Speaker 1: vision and make no mistake about it, whether the Jets
Speaker 1: changed their structure or not. Joe Douglas is the leading
Speaker 1: man in this search. Part of the interview uh committee,
Speaker 1: of course, will be Christopher Johnson and team president himI
Speaker 1: el Hi el Hie. Christopher Johnson pointed to as far
Speaker 1: as he was a big part of the interview process
Speaker 1: before the Jets brought in Joe Douglas, and the Jets
Speaker 1: are really happy with Douglas. Christopher Johnson said that he
Speaker 1: is the GM that we have been searching for four
Speaker 1: years now. It is imperative for us to get the
Speaker 1: head code right and then we believe we have a
Speaker 1: very good future. And uh, Joe Douglas knows that as well,
Speaker 1: and I like that he goes into this with an
Speaker 1: open mind and it feels a lot different differently than
Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. We're not naming names here.
Speaker 1: The reason why I say that is because the Jets
Speaker 1: talked about somebody helping a young quarterback developed in Sam Donald. Well. Uh,
Speaker 1: the narrative certainly has switched quite a bit in less
Speaker 1: than two calendar years. And Joe Douglass since day one
Speaker 1: has always emphasized the culture, and I think that's what
Speaker 1: he's looking to bring someone to further that culture. And
Speaker 1: the words that Joe Douglas said was bring the Jet
Speaker 1: back basically to being a playoff contender. And obviously all
Speaker 1: the thirty two NFL teams want to compete for the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. He wants to put the Jets back on
Speaker 1: the map essentially. And I think after listening to Joe Douglass,
Speaker 1: I think that there is a real sense of hope
Speaker 1: and I think that the fans I could be wrong
Speaker 1: here but I really do think that the fans trust
Speaker 1: Joe Douglass even though he's been on the job for
Speaker 1: what almost two years? How long? Like almost two years?
Speaker 1: It was it was June, so it's like eighteen months.
Speaker 1: To be honest with you, it's two seasons. But he's
Speaker 1: only had one draft class. So when we look at
Speaker 1: the job he's done so far. Oh, by the way,
Speaker 1: that's one of the enticing parts of this job. I
Speaker 1: think if you're a head coaching candidate out there, is
Speaker 1: that the Jets have great draft capital and they have
Speaker 1: a man who is so well respected in the NFL circles,
Speaker 1: who seems like he got a lot of things right
Speaker 1: in his first draft class, most notably his first pick
Speaker 1: overall McKay beck. Then he could be the best tackle
Speaker 1: out of that two thousand uh twenty class. And then
Speaker 1: Denzel Mims we saw him flash in the second round,
Speaker 1: and there are other pieces in that class as well.
Speaker 1: The Jets are very excited about. So if you're a
Speaker 1: head coach, my thing is what Joe Douglas and Christopher
Speaker 1: Johnson and him al Hi are going to have to
Speaker 1: look at his who is a developer of talent Because
Speaker 1: Christopher Johnson was right when he said the Jets are
Speaker 1: a young team, but Ethan they're about to get younger. Yeah,
Speaker 1: they are. And the draft capital is huge. Two first
Speaker 1: round picks this year to first round picks next year,
Speaker 1: to third round picks this year to fifth round picks
Speaker 1: this year. There's a lot of capital and the Jets
Speaker 1: can really continue to build the core that they've already established.
Speaker 1: I mean it even goes back, it pre dates Joe
Speaker 1: Douglas with Quinnin Williams, and then you think about his
Speaker 1: first draft class and these reasons and the things that
Speaker 1: I'm saying, I think are reasons why I think the
Speaker 1: fans trust Joe Douglas. I mean, we knew that he
Speaker 1: came from a winning culture with the Baltimore Ravens and
Speaker 1: Ozzie Newsom and then of course on a Super Bowl
Speaker 1: with the Eagles in two thousands seventeen, and you just
Speaker 1: kind of get the sense that Joe is very calm.
Speaker 1: He now, his first draft, by the way, as general
Speaker 1: manager in the NFL, was a virtual draft, which no
Speaker 1: other generalman manager has dealt with before, and I think
Speaker 1: he handled it very well. And you think about the draft,
Speaker 1: the draft, Dame moves like trading back in the second
Speaker 1: round and still getting mims, and then you traded back
Speaker 1: again in the end of the third round, then you
Speaker 1: had the three fourth round picks. I mean, there's a
Speaker 1: lot that we can get into as we'll get into
Speaker 1: it and review it between now in April Straft. But
Speaker 1: in terms of the head coach, I thought it was
Speaker 1: really interesting. Joe Douglas said that the last time he
Speaker 1: was involved in a coaching search was two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: and he was on the outside because he was a
Speaker 1: scout with the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens hired John Harbaugh,
Speaker 1: who's still the coach of the Baltimore Ravens, and Joe
Speaker 1: said that he called a couple of people he said,
Speaker 1: you know, what did you do well in your process
Speaker 1: that you liked? What are some things that you wish
Speaker 1: you could do over? And then he said, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: attack this like the only way I know how, which
Speaker 1: is like the draft, where you develop your criteria and
Speaker 1: then you just go about it that way. And if
Speaker 1: his history proves right, it seems like he's gonna make
Speaker 1: the right higher. And I think that a lot of
Speaker 1: fans I know I've said this again, but I'm reiterating
Speaker 1: it because I'm curious your take. Do you think fans
Speaker 1: trust Joe Douglas could because I get the sense that
Speaker 1: they really do. Yeah, listen, and Joe is the first
Speaker 1: one to admit that, Hey, every decision he has made
Speaker 1: hasn't hit, so to speak. And he looked at himself.
Speaker 1: I think that appeals to people where he took some
Speaker 1: ownership for what happened this year too. He said, I
Speaker 1: have to supply better talent to whoever is the head
Speaker 1: coach ultimately, but he's one of the most well respected
Speaker 1: guys in the National Football League. He's been in it
Speaker 1: in twenty one years. For twenty one years, he is
Speaker 1: three Super Bowl rings. You mentioned Baltimore. That's so interesting
Speaker 1: because we go back who did they hire? Who did
Speaker 1: azi knew? Some higher a special teams coordinator, So we
Speaker 1: talked about offense defense. Well, let's include special teams in that.
Speaker 1: But this the learning point there was a lot of
Speaker 1: guys can come out of No. Eric doesn't have to
Speaker 1: necessarily be the hot name. It has to be the
Speaker 1: right guy for you in the entire organization. And I
Speaker 1: do agree with Joe. The other thing he said, is
Speaker 1: we have a lot of good people here. Not only
Speaker 1: do we have the draft capital on, the financial flexibility
Speaker 1: and some young players who on both sides of the ball,
Speaker 1: who we think can be part of our core moving forward.
Speaker 1: But the Rex Hogan's of the world, the Phil Savages,
Speaker 1: the Chad Alexander's, the Greg Nasmas, the list goes on
Speaker 1: and on. So the Jets like their structure in place.
Speaker 1: And I think when a lot of people get there
Speaker 1: and they have an opportunity to sit down not only
Speaker 1: well virtually like we are right now, but have that
Speaker 1: opportunity to talk to Joe, himI el Hi and Christopher Johnson,
Speaker 1: they're gonna come away very impressed. And uh, you know,
Speaker 1: we go back to it. Christopher said, he and Woody
Speaker 1: are guys who are going to provide the resources people
Speaker 1: need to do their jobs. Yeah. I think that this
Speaker 1: is an exciting time if you're a Jets fan, because
Speaker 1: Joe is Joe Douglas. I think, like we said, I
Speaker 1: think fans believe in him. I do think he's gonna
Speaker 1: get the head coaching higher right and when in terms
Speaker 1: of this search, I don't think that we've seen maybe
Speaker 1: half the names, if not more that have yet to
Speaker 1: be reported in terms of who the Jets will interview.
Speaker 1: I mean, the names that you've seen on Twitter and
Speaker 1: on social media that have been reported are Eric Banamy,
Speaker 1: the Chief's offensive coordinator. It was Patrick ram the Giants
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator until he signed a multi year extension with
Speaker 1: the Giants what was Tuesday night, and so he will
Speaker 1: not be looking for any head coaching gig Then their
Speaker 1: names like Brian day Ball, Arthur Smith, Matt eber Flews
Speaker 1: the Colts defensive coordinator, and Brandon Staley. But I don't
Speaker 1: think that those names, I mean, I think what I'm
Speaker 1: trying to say is I think there are a lot
Speaker 1: of names that have yet to be reported. Yeah, they're
Speaker 1: gonna cast a wide nut, and sometimes, uh, you kind
Speaker 1: of go under the radar, especially if you're looking at
Speaker 1: college people. That remains to be seen and we'll find
Speaker 1: that out in the weeks ahead. And there are some
Speaker 1: connections there that that that's the other thing you look at.
Speaker 1: You know, Dave Ball was a guy who worked here
Speaker 1: back in the day under Eric Manginie, Rex Hogan and
Speaker 1: Eberflus obviously worked together with the Indianapolis Colts. So you
Speaker 1: look at connections. But again, Douglas just keeps an open mind.
Speaker 1: That's his approach on everything. So they're gonna be guys
Speaker 1: here where there are no uh connections, direct connections, I
Speaker 1: should say, And they're gonna come in and uh they
Speaker 1: will be very thorough in this process. One of the
Speaker 1: most critical decisions moving forward for this organization is long
Speaker 1: term success. And Joe said it, he was open about
Speaker 1: this with the media, is that you gotta get the
Speaker 1: head coach right. You have to get the quarterback right.
Speaker 1: So automatically the question becomes, Okay, Joe, then what are
Speaker 1: you gonna do with Sam Donald? And I thought he
Speaker 1: handled that right. If you're Joe Douglas and you're gonna
Speaker 1: be a partner with your head coach, you can't make
Speaker 1: that final conclusion on Sam Donald right now. He was
Speaker 1: clear about it. He thinks he's gonna be a very
Speaker 1: good player in the National Football League. What with that
Speaker 1: number two overall selection. You have to sit there and
Speaker 1: have these conversations during the interview process and get people's
Speaker 1: thoughts on Sam Donald before you make a conclusion of
Speaker 1: where you're gonna go and assemble game plan moving forward. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think Joe has said this since again day one,
Speaker 1: that no decision is gonna be made unilaterally and it's
Speaker 1: always gonna be a collaborative decision. And for someone that
Speaker 1: keeps on stressing partnership and collaboration, I think that you
Speaker 1: get the sense. And he said it just like you said,
Speaker 1: He's not gonna make a decisi vision on the quarterback's
Speaker 1: future without the head coach being in place. That head
Speaker 1: coach will have a big say, and not only that decision,
Speaker 1: but every major decision which involves free agency, the draft,
Speaker 1: so on and so forth. And you did, I should say,
Speaker 1: you interrupted real quick. I I liked that he came
Speaker 1: out and did say, Marcus May is one I think
Speaker 1: the Jets have like nineteen or twenty guys with exploring contracts,
Speaker 1: and one of them is team m VP Marcus May
Speaker 1: and he meant so much to the team this year.
Speaker 1: And Joe said, hey, listen, that is one of our
Speaker 1: off season priorities to get him signed. Yeah. I think
Speaker 1: that was cool and Jets fans are gonna be happy
Speaker 1: to hear that. In terms of Sam and the quarterback situation,
Speaker 1: you can skin this cat a thousand ways. Now you
Speaker 1: can skin in a thousand ways on draft day. But
Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is that no decision has
Speaker 1: been made, No decision will be made until the head
Speaker 1: coaches in the building in place, and that discussions and
Speaker 1: which are gonna be many discussions, whether it's about sam
Speaker 1: evaluation of the quarterback class that's going to be in
Speaker 1: the two one draft, it's gonna happen over time, but
Speaker 1: right now there's no real update because the Jets don't
Speaker 1: have a head coach, and that's the priority for the
Speaker 1: organization is filling that spot, making sure that is the
Speaker 1: right call. You know. Actually, e A caught up with
Speaker 1: Joe Douglas one on one after Joe Douglas spoke to
Speaker 1: the media, So let's hear from Joe de Joe, you've
Speaker 1: won big in the National Football League. With that being said,
Speaker 1: how difficult was this past season? Very difficult? UM. I
Speaker 1: don't think anyone envisioned us starting the euro in thirteen
Speaker 1: and finishing the year two and fourteen. UM. But we'll
Speaker 1: say very very proud of the way that this team
Speaker 1: stuck together, a lot of the way the locker rooms
Speaker 1: stuck together. They competed every day in practice. We're able
Speaker 1: to be two playoff teams down the stretch and win
Speaker 1: two of our last three games. But obviously we have
Speaker 1: a lot of improvement improvement to make moving forward. Joe,
Speaker 1: over the course of your career, what is set you
Speaker 1: up along your journey for this moment? Yeah, good question.
Speaker 1: I think. I think just relationships that have been able
Speaker 1: to build over the course of twenty one years in
Speaker 1: the National Football League. UM being able not not being
Speaker 1: able to to really be a big part of a
Speaker 1: head coaching search, but UM haven't been able to tap
Speaker 1: into mentors that have been able to to to run
Speaker 1: a search and and really leaning on them for guidance
Speaker 1: UM and advice and having some great conversations. So I
Speaker 1: feel good about our process. I feel good about the candidates,
Speaker 1: the names we've required, and you know, right now we're
Speaker 1: we're ready to start this process and and ready to
Speaker 1: learn about these guys and get to know them and
Speaker 1: and their their philosophies and and uh really really excited
Speaker 1: about it. We talked about that a lot over the years.
Speaker 1: But can you trace back and speak to those mentors
Speaker 1: us as far as what they've done. No, Actually, I'm
Speaker 1: a reward that we talked about it a lot over
Speaker 1: the years. But you just mentioned your mentors. Um, are
Speaker 1: there lessons that you're taking from them right now as
Speaker 1: you begin the search? Yeah, there are. You know, it's
Speaker 1: UM there. There's there's a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: good people out there that UM that I've had a
Speaker 1: chance to work with over the years, and so UM.
Speaker 1: You know, you you you try to stick to your strengths.
Speaker 1: And you know, for me, UM, twenty one years in
Speaker 1: the in the league, in the personnel department. UM. You know,
Speaker 1: one of those strengths is is the draft process and
Speaker 1: and everything that goes into that and every every evaluation
Speaker 1: of a player, and so you think about the critical
Speaker 1: factors and the position specifics and so really correlating that,
Speaker 1: UM in terms of acquiring a player. UM, now you're
Speaker 1: you're what are the critical factors and positions specifics that
Speaker 1: we're really looking for in a head coach in the
Speaker 1: New York chet and so UM, you know, we've had
Speaker 1: had a chance to really dive into that with him
Speaker 1: and Christopher and talk about what we need moving forward,
Speaker 1: and I feel like we have a great plan. Christopher said,
Speaker 1: it's going to be abroad and deep search, but time
Speaker 1: will be of the essence. There's a lot of openings
Speaker 1: in the National Football League, So how do you balance
Speaker 1: being thorough while moving quickly at the same time. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that is a balancing act because there's a lot of
Speaker 1: urgency in this league and a lot of competition. So
Speaker 1: I feel like I feel like, for for our part,
Speaker 1: we're we're gonna let this process dictate our decision and
Speaker 1: not a date on the calendar. And so we we
Speaker 1: are we are going to be thorough, um, And so
Speaker 1: I think that's that's the that's the most important thing
Speaker 1: for us, um to be thorough, but but urgent and
Speaker 1: so um. Unfortunately, there's a lot of people, a lot
Speaker 1: of good people in this organization that are that are
Speaker 1: helping us in terms of the logistics, in terms of
Speaker 1: in terms of gathering information, and uh, I feel like
Speaker 1: we're ready, We're ready to start our process. Some of
Speaker 1: these candidates are gonna have multiple suitors. What are you
Speaker 1: gonna tell them about your vision for this organization? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think when when I talk about vision, and of course, UM,
Speaker 1: my vision is important, but I want to know about
Speaker 1: what the head coaches vision is gonna be. Um. You
Speaker 1: know when I when I talk about vision, you know
Speaker 1: of of what the head coach and what the team's
Speaker 1: gonna look like. I feel like I've been pretty clear
Speaker 1: upfront about what I think wins in the National Football League,
Speaker 1: and that's strong, strong offense and defensive lines. And then
Speaker 1: you have to have you have to have a great quarterback.
Speaker 1: And so um quarter like I said before, quarterbacks one
Speaker 1: of the most important positions in all pro sports. So um,
Speaker 1: you know, just just diving in roll up sleeves, getting
Speaker 1: talking talking ball with the with a coaching candidate, feel
Speaker 1: very very excited just to to learn about, uh, their
Speaker 1: vision and their philosophy and uh, I'm sure, I'm sure
Speaker 1: we're all gonna um learn some really new new and
Speaker 1: intriguing things. Well, you talk to coaches with both offensive
Speaker 1: and defensive backgrounds and also coaches that are in the
Speaker 1: pros and at the college ranks as well. Right, you know,
Speaker 1: we're we're gonna cast wide that I feel like we
Speaker 1: have the right criteria and what we're looking for, and
Speaker 1: if if there's a coach and in the in college
Speaker 1: that fits that criteria, we're we're looking forward to talking
Speaker 1: to them. Do you think it also is a balanced
Speaker 1: as far as finding that right coach but also finding
Speaker 1: the guy who is the right fit for the New
Speaker 1: York Jets organization. Correct, absolutely, Eric, you know, there there
Speaker 1: has to be uh a fit and alignment fitting, the
Speaker 1: UH fitting and then the vision. Um, there needs to
Speaker 1: be alignment and the vision. And so um that's a
Speaker 1: big thing that that you touched on, um, because ultimately,
Speaker 1: you know, we're looking for the right partner to really
Speaker 1: springboard this organization for many years to come. And so
Speaker 1: you know, like I said, just can't I can't wait
Speaker 1: to get going. Um. I feel like we we're gonna
Speaker 1: find find the right guy with the right leadership traits,
Speaker 1: right communication, ability to connect and engage with players, with staff,
Speaker 1: and so um, we're we're excited to get this process going.
Speaker 1: You've always approached this thing with humility and like you
Speaker 1: just mentioned, twenty one years on the job already, uh
Speaker 1: two years almost on the job as GM in New
Speaker 1: York Jets. What are the some of the most significant
Speaker 1: lessons you've learned over the course of the two seasons
Speaker 1: here with the Green and White. Yeah. Um, I would
Speaker 1: say I've learned that that relationships matter. You know, it's
Speaker 1: it's important, it's important to to uh connect and engage
Speaker 1: with with everyone in the building. UM, you know, and
Speaker 1: and and deathly learned learned that, UM, you know, people
Speaker 1: are the most important thing. And so the best organizations
Speaker 1: UM have have the best people, They have the right stability.
Speaker 1: And really that's what we're trying to to to create
Speaker 1: here a culture where UM, different ideas UH come together
Speaker 1: and we can we can create we can, but we
Speaker 1: can create one vision, one vision of the team and
Speaker 1: there there's gonna be great collaboration and UM, you know,
Speaker 1: we can we can create the right kind of culture
Speaker 1: that can sustain success for for hopefully a decade. Do
Speaker 1: you think the foundation has already been laid here with
Speaker 1: some of your young players? Do you think there are
Speaker 1: some core pieces that you can build upon right now? Absolutely? UM.
Speaker 1: I think we're we're excited about the young players in
Speaker 1: this draft. I think we're excited about, um, the guys,
Speaker 1: the guys like Quinn and Williams who had a great year,
Speaker 1: Mackay Beckton, I'm excited about him, and benzel Mims. We're
Speaker 1: we're excited about quite a few guys. And so UM,
Speaker 1: I think when you look about when you look around
Speaker 1: and you see you see the young guys on our team,
Speaker 1: you see the draft capital that we have moving forward.
Speaker 1: You see that we're we're in pretty good, uh financial
Speaker 1: standing moving forward. There's a lot of opportunity here and
Speaker 1: um there there are there their pieces. So, UM, you know,
Speaker 1: I think I think what we need is the right
Speaker 1: kind of leader, the right kind of person to uh
Speaker 1: to really help build this the right way. Hola Tyson.
Speaker 1: Is that the draft capital you just mentioned. You got
Speaker 1: the number two overall selection in April's draft, you have
Speaker 1: two first round picks, you have five picks in the
Speaker 1: first three rounds, six picks in the top a hundred overall.
Speaker 1: It's exciting, Um, you know, having this kind of draft capital. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, I I feel great about about our college staff.
Speaker 1: I feel great about the work they've put in, and
Speaker 1: I know we're gonna be ready when the draft starts.
Speaker 1: We've got a lot of time, a lot of decisions
Speaker 1: to make before then. But um, we we feel the
Speaker 1: urgency to get get these decisions right. And so, UM,
Speaker 1: while we feel good about about last year's class, that's
Speaker 1: not gonna guarantee that we're gonna have success in this
Speaker 1: year's class. So we we just have to make sure
Speaker 1: that we go through that same process we get together. Um,
Speaker 1: we dive into every every character profile of every player
Speaker 1: and we find the right fit for us. And it's
Speaker 1: important to do that. Uh, we're gonna we're gonna get
Speaker 1: with a new coach and a new staff, get on
Speaker 1: the same page for the blueprint. You know that that
Speaker 1: he's looking looking to build with this team and make
Speaker 1: sure that we lock arms and do this together. The
Speaker 1: draft capital is huge, there's no doubt about that. But
Speaker 1: I think you're gonna say that the development is just
Speaker 1: as big. So when you're searching for that head coach,
Speaker 1: you gotta be thinking, hey, who's going to help develop
Speaker 1: a lot of this young core? Because Christopher said us
Speaker 1: the other day that you guys are a young team,
Speaker 1: but you're gonna get even younger, right right is that's
Speaker 1: a great point, Eric, and that that's gonna be a
Speaker 1: big part of that coach's vision and plan. Not only
Speaker 1: what what does he want the identity of this this
Speaker 1: team to look like and how what his plan is
Speaker 1: to get to that get to that identity, but what
Speaker 1: is your plan to develop these young players? Because like
Speaker 1: you said, we we had so many young players, whether
Speaker 1: they are draft picks, undrafted free agents, We have. We
Speaker 1: have nine picks, plus the undrafted free agents that we're
Speaker 1: gonna signum after the after the h this year's draft,
Speaker 1: and then next the year after that, we have we
Speaker 1: have uh, just as many picks. So we're we're gonna
Speaker 1: there's gonna be a big influx of young and hungry talent,
Speaker 1: and we were gonna need the right teachers, the right
Speaker 1: motivators to get them ready and turn them into good
Speaker 1: professional football players. Is it fair to say you can't
Speaker 1: buy success in the national football You talked about the
Speaker 1: cap flexibility. I don't know that you're encouraged by that,
Speaker 1: and that's definitely an asset as you move forward. But
Speaker 1: you've constantly talked about, hey, listen, we have to draft
Speaker 1: and develop guys in house and free agency. Yes, we're
Speaker 1: gonna get pieces on the outside from time to time,
Speaker 1: but you're not gonna buy yourself into a built right
Speaker 1: I think, like I said earlier, we're we're in pretty
Speaker 1: good financial health right now in terms of cap space
Speaker 1: cap space, and the goal is to stay in in
Speaker 1: good financial health moving forward. But um, you know, I'm
Speaker 1: I'm of the belief that you for for us to
Speaker 1: get to where we need we need to go, UM
Speaker 1: for us to excuse me, sustain the success moving forward,
Speaker 1: It's gonna be about drafting and developing players and then
Speaker 1: to use that cap space to retain those players. So
Speaker 1: I think that's a long term plan and long term
Speaker 1: goal of what we're trying to do. And Uh, last
Speaker 1: year's draft, this, this upcoming year's draft, and then the
Speaker 1: draft after that are going to be huge for us.
Speaker 1: Where do you think Sam Donald was that after year three?
Speaker 1: And then how do you view overall the quarterback position
Speaker 1: on this team? Yeah, you know, I think Sam faced
Speaker 1: a lot of obstacles this year, um, some of some
Speaker 1: of which you can control, some of which he couldn't control.
Speaker 1: And so I think that for him, I think not
Speaker 1: not having different offensive linemen in front of him quite
Speaker 1: often during the season, not having his top three wide
Speaker 1: receivers until week nine of the season, not being able
Speaker 1: to to build that chemistry, um that you need for
Speaker 1: for sustained success throughout a year. UM, I think I
Speaker 1: think that was that was certainly less than ideal. Um.
Speaker 1: You know, so, but I still feel that Sam is
Speaker 1: a quality player in this league. And we're still talking
Speaker 1: about three year old, uh, young man, that's going into
Speaker 1: his third head coach Um again another lesson ideal situation,
Speaker 1: so he's faced a lot of obstacles. I do think
Speaker 1: that he has a good quarterback. I think there's many
Speaker 1: chapters left in Sam Donald's book that are left to
Speaker 1: be written, and I think that he's gonna be a
Speaker 1: good quarterback in this league. I think the overall quarterback room,
Speaker 1: you know, we're we're excited about Um, James Morgan. I
Speaker 1: think we're excited about Mike White. Those are two young
Speaker 1: guys that we didn't get to see in the preseason
Speaker 1: because there was no preseason game games, but guys that developed.
Speaker 1: You know, Mike White we acquired uh and was a
Speaker 1: practice wild player for US last year. That's really developed
Speaker 1: over the last year and a half. And James made
Speaker 1: made really good straight strides throughout the year. Really looking
Speaker 1: forward to getting those two guys in a in a
Speaker 1: great competition next next preseason and hopefully get him out
Speaker 1: on the field and live game games in preseason games. Finally, Joe,
Speaker 1: you've been so gracious with your time. Is always what
Speaker 1: kind of message do you have for this fan base
Speaker 1: as you enter this critical stage where you're looking for
Speaker 1: a partner like you talked about a new head coach
Speaker 1: as the Jets uh enter this two thousand twenty one
Speaker 1: off season. Yeah, I think I think I would echo
Speaker 1: what Christopher said yesterday when you talked to the media.
Speaker 1: You know, we're we're tired of we're tired of losing. Um.
Speaker 1: You know we um we we know we need to
Speaker 1: be better and are our most important goal right now
Speaker 1: is to find the right person and the right leader
Speaker 1: that can lead this football team to where it needs
Speaker 1: to be. And so um that that's our message, is
Speaker 1: that we know we need to be better and we
Speaker 1: are going to be better. Uh. And it starts with
Speaker 1: with this decision moving forward, and we have a lot
Speaker 1: of decisions after that that we have to get right.
Speaker 1: But we're focused on this one break stuff from Joe
Speaker 1: Douglas has always and throughout this whole head coaching search,
Speaker 1: E and I will be bringing you all the information
Speaker 1: on each head coaching candidate that completes an interview with
Speaker 1: the Jets, and then of course whoever the Jets do
Speaker 1: in fact higher And it doesn't stop there. We go
Speaker 1: the entire offseason. We got draft coverage. Do not stop
Speaker 1: listening to the Official Jets podcast. Howered by AWS