The Jets have already begun interviewing general manager and head coaching candidates, but the search process will begin in earnest this week.
Here are some rules and procedures for searching.
Why are the Jets already interviewing several candidates?
Teams can talk to candidates who are not employed by other teams.
That's why the Jets were allowed to talk to Thomas Dimitroff, Jon Robinson, Jim Nagy and Louis Riddick about the GM job, and Mike Vrabel and Ron Rivera about the head coaching position.
When will I be able to interview everyone else?
For those working in the team, the interview process begins this week.
The Jets can request interviews from other teams with people who work for them.
Coaches of teams participating in wild-card games must wait until after those games to be interviewed.
Will the Jets hire a GM or coach first?
While there are concerns about interviewing coaching candidates without a general manager in place, it's still possible the Jets will hire a general manager first.
Interviews for head coaching candidates hired by teams can only be conducted virtually by Jan. 19, the end of the divisional round.
Virtual interviews with candidates from teams in the playoffs can only last up to three hours.
That means the head coaching interview is a “get to know” session for owner Woody Johnson and other decision-makers with the candidate.
GM interviews, on the other hand, can be conducted in person.
This fact creates a timeline in which a GM hire is likely to occur before a team hires a head coach.
The only exception may be Vrabel. He is not employed by the team and is not subject to these restrictions. He is also believed to want a say in who the new GM will be.
When can I conduct a face-to-face interview?
Even if a coach is not employed by a team, they can now be interviewed in person.
That's what happened to Vrabel and Rivera.
Coaches employed by teams will not be available for in-person interviews until January 20th.
If a coach's team is in the conference championship game, in-person interviews will not be available until Jan. 27.
What about the Rooney Rule?
The Jets must directly interview two people of color and/or women for each position before hiring.
Virtual interviews do not count towards the Rooney Rule.
That means the Jets won't be able to hire Vrabel on Monday morning even if they wanted to.
The team has already interviewed Rivera for the head coaching open and Riddick for the GM job, but at least one more candidate will need to interview for each position to meet the requirements.
