Football Legend Offers Opinion on New York Jets General Manager Search

A football legend has advocated for one of the candidates the New York Jets have interviewed for their general manager vacancy.

Dec 28, 2024; San Antonio, TX, USA; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders walks on the field during the game against the Brigham Young Cougars at Alamodome. / Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The New York Jets have officially begun the lengthy process to fill their general manager and head coaching vacancies. Candidates have been interviewing with the franchise for about several weeks, as they are casting a large net for each position.

For head coach, the team has wrapped up interviews with former Tennessee Titans leader Mike Vrabel and former Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers leading man on the sideline, Ron Rivera.

Former Gang Green head coach Rex Ryan is also expected to interview for a second chance at the job.

In the front office, the first known interview was with Vrabel’s partner with the Titans, Jon Robinson. Earlier this week, they had discussions with ESPN analyst Louis Riddick, with a formal announcement being revealed on Thursday.

It will remain to be seen if the Jets are big enough fans to hand the keys of their front office over to him, but there is one person who has advocated for him to get the job; Colorado Buffaloes head coach Deion Sanders.

Coach Prime took to X, formerly Twitter, speaking very highly of Riddick for the work that he has done and the kind of person that he is.

“Jets Please don’t mess this up and I pray this was a real interview and not that other thang y’all do. This man deserves a REAL CHANCE! He is knowledge & Class personified! #CoachPrime” he wrote on social media.

Riddick is the fourth candidate to speak to the team, as he has been with the worldwide leader in sports for more than a decade, breaking down both the NFL and college games. He and senior bowl director Jim Nagy both have zero prior general manager experience.

Former Atlanta Falcons GM Thomas Dimitroff is the fourth candidate.

Prior to moving into television, he spent time in multiple NFL front offices. In 2001 he was hired by the Washington as a pro scout. He was in that role through 2004 before taking over as the team’s director of pro personnel from 2005 through 2007.

In 2008, he moved on to the Philadelphia Eagles, where he was a pro scout once again. A year later he was promoted to assistant director of pro personnel before taking over as the director of pro personnel, a role he held from 2010-2013.

Riddick has interviewed in recent years for general manager jobs. In 2020, he reportedly met with the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions. In 2022 the Pittsburgh Steelers interviewed him for their vacancy at the position.