Jets' search for GM and coach will be assisted by former GMs Tannenbaum and Spielman

Updated Nov. 25, 2024 12:59 p.m. ET

Associated Press

The New York Jets are turning to one of their former general managers to help them find their next GM and head coach.

The franchise announced Monday that The 33rd Team, a football media, analytics and consulting group founded by former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, will assist team owner Woody Johnson in the searches.

Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman, former GM of the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings, will be The 33rd Team's primary representatives in helping find replacements for former coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas.

The 33rd Team was founded in 2019 by Tannenbaum as a media and technology company. In their announcement, the Jets said The 33rd Team will help identify and vet GM and coach candidates and coordinate interviews.

Douglas was fired last Tuesday, the latest shakeup for a franchise that had Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback but has limped to a 3-8 start and appears likely to miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive year.

Phil Savage, a senior football adviser with the Jets since 2019, will serve as the interim general manager for the rest of the season.

The firing of Douglas came exactly six weeks after Johnson fired Saleh as coach on Oct. 8 after the Jets were 2-3 to open the season. New York has since gone 1-5 under defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who was tabbed as the interim coach.

The Jets are coming off their bye-week break and will host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The franchise has plenty of questions to answer over the next several months, including decisions on their next general manager and coach — and the future of Rodgers. The four-time NFL MVP turns 41 next week, has dealt with leg issues all season and is off to the worst statistical start of his career.

Tannenbaum and Spielman will help the Jets find the people to help Johnson and brother Christopher make those key decisions.

Johnson took a similar approach in 2015, the last time the Jets hired a general manager and coach in the offseason. Former NFL GMs Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf worked as consultants for the team, which hired Mike Maccagnan as GM and Todd Bowles as coach.

Tannenbaum, currently an analyst for ESPN, has first-hand familiarity with Johnson and the franchise. He worked in the Jets' front office for nine years before being promoted to general manager and serving in that role from 2006 to 2012. Tannenbaum helped build the 2009 and 2010 Jets teams that went to the AFC championship game in consecutive seasons under coach Rex Ryan.

Ryan, who last coached the Jets in 2014 and also is currently an analyst for ESPN, recently has been lobbying on air for a return to New York's sideline.

Tannenbaum also was Miami’s executive vice president of football operations from 2015 to 2018.

Spielman served as the Vikings’ general manager from 2012 to 2021 after working as the team’s vice president of player personnel for six years. He was also the Dolphins’ GM in 2004 and served as an adviser last year for the Washington Commanders in their GM and coaching searches.

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This story has been corrected to show that Spielman was formerly GM of the Minnesota Vikings instead of the Detroit Lions.

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