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This news was huge
and I’m not sure it got the spotlight it deserved.
Talking the Jets changing their front office power structure.
This significant announcement was made the same day Robert Saleh was introduced to the New York media on January 21. I give Brian Costello a lot of credit for asking the question.
Brian Costello, New York Post:Â Christopher, you said you were open to changing the organizational structure, will you guys change the structure or will Robert and Joe still report directly to you?
CJ:Â That structure has changed. Joe will report to (ownership), Robert will report to Joe. It seems a clean and simple way to do things.
This is so, so important. The old way wasn’t working and was impeding the Jets’ chances at success.
So as much as the hiring an alpha dog like Robert Saleh looks like an important step in the right direction for the Jets, that other announcement at his presser, was just as significant, in my opinion.
The old way of doing things was leading to a lot of dysfunction. As we reported a couple of years ago, there was a long stretch of time that Todd Bowles and Mike Maccagnan weren’t even speaking to each other. This story was never reported anywhere else than here, and I’m not saying this to brag, put to point out how this crazy story flew under the radar.
Even to me.
I was the Senior Bowl, and another team executive said to me, “What is going on with the coach and GM with that team your covering?”
I said, “What do you mean?”
He said, “They aren’t speaking to each other – you didn’t know that?”
I have to admit, I didn’t.
That was crazy, and illustrative of how the old set-up was bad. That old set-up can lead to is constant bad blood between the head coach and GM. Why? Because the the GM picked the players, and the head coach was forced to use those players, whether he liked them or not. Wouldn’t that irk you sometimes, especially if you didn’t think the man picking the players was doing a great job?
In a way, you’ve got to give Adam Gase a little credit. He was seeing moves by the old GM and his first lieutenant, and was basically saying, “What the heck is going on here/” Like with the largesse of the C.J. Mosley and Le’Veon Bell contracts, so Gase essentially executed a coup to get the old GM removed.
Whether it was John Idzik and Rex Ryan, or Mike Maccagnan with Todd Bowles or Gase, it just wasn’t working.
And even with Gase and Douglas, who liked each other, it wasn’t totally working, with the Frank Gore situation being a perfect example. Gase playing the 37-year-old Gore as much as he did, on last place team, with talented young running backs on the roster. was dereliction of duty. But the way the Jets were set up, Douglas had no power to stop it. Yes, Douglas picked the players, but the coach decided who played on game day.
So now, if Saleh pulls something like Gase did with Gore, which he probably never would, Douglas is empowered to stop it.
So with all the excitement about the Jets now with five picks in the first 87, a ton of cap space and a new coach, this new power structure change should excite fans just as much.
This is a game-changer in Florham Park, especially because Douglas looks like a keeper.
And this story probably didn’t get as much attention as it deserved.
This is huge.
March 1, 2021
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