SI

Jets Turn to Surprising Familiar Face to Help Find New GM in Untraditional Move

A new direction in coaching and GM searches.

Kyle Koster

Woody Johnson is pitch side before kick off against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
Woody Johnson is pitch side before kick off against the Minnesota Vikings at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. / Shaun Brooks-Imagn Images
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The New York Jets fired head coach Robert Saleh back in October after the team got off to a 2-3 start. Things did not get better and last week when general manager Joe Douglas was also sent off as the Jets sit at 3-8 and need to rip off six consecutive victories against long odds to sneak into the playoffs. Serious questions about Aaron Rodgers's future with the franchise persist as he, like everyone else, is not getting any younger. In short, there's a tremendous amount of work to be done if the Jets want to compete in 2025, including hiring two people to fill these important vacated positions.

To help in that project they've retained The 33rd Team to support them in the search. ESPN's Adam Schefter was first to report their involvement, which will be spearheaded by former Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum and former Minnesota Vikings GM Rick Spielman.

The 33rd Team describes itself on its website as "a football think tank" created by Tannenbaum.

The 33rd Team will also provide the Jets with their studies of the best hiring practices, data analysis and trends and insights over the past five years, per the New York Post.

On one hand Tannenbaum has a lot of institutional knowledge about the franchise. On the other, it's an interesting move for an organization that's been thought of as being too online.

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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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