Hymie Elhai - Pro Football Rumors

Woody Johnson Unlikely To Leave Jets For Trump Administration Role?

December 17th, 2024 at 2:48pm CST by Sam Robinson

The first Donald Trump presidential administration featured Jets owner Woody Johnson as the ambassador to the United Kingdom. This led to Johnson not being directly involved with the Todd Bowles firing or the hires of Joe Douglas and Robert Saleh. As the decks are being cleared in New York, Johnson may be playing the lead role as the team retools.

Johnson is not set to be the next UK ambassador; investment banker Warren Stephens is on track to serve in that post. While Johnson could be in line for a separate role during Trump’s second term, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones notes the Jets are not expecting the owner be part of this administration.

This route taking shape would keep Johnson with the Jets during what will be an eventful period. The Jets fired Saleh after Week 5, with Johnson going around Douglas to make that move, and the owner then canned Douglas last month. The Saleh firing did not key a boost for the Jets, who have slunk to 4-10 (2-7 under interim HC Jeff Ulbrich), and they are believed to be prioritizing experience this time. Since Bill Belichick‘s abrupt resignation in 2000, the Jets have primarily hired first-time head coaches; Adam Gase was the only exception during Johnson’s 24-year ownership tenure.

Woody Johnson, 77, leaving the team in 2017 left brother Christopher Johnson in place as acting owner. The less seasoned Jets leader led the Douglas and Saleh hires, firing Bowles in 2018 and GM Mike Maccagnan in 2019. Christopher Johnson is expected to play a role in the upcoming hires, with Jones adding Jets president Hymie Elhai will be part of the process as well. But this set of hires will feature Woody Johnson as the final decision-maker.

The prospect of Woody Johnson being the point man is also interesting due to the increased role he has taken on in recent months. Johnson has meddled in personnel matters significantly in 2024, with Jones indicating he has taken on a greater role as the year has progressed. The offseason involved Johnson impeding Douglas on a Bryce Huff offer while also nixing a trade for Jerry Jeudy. Johnson also appeared more resistant to a Haason Reddick extension than Douglas was, though the owner did step in — with Douglas effectively stripped of power — to finalize the agreement to bring him in.

Reports of a rift between Woody Johnson and Aaron Rodgers emerged as well. Johnson called for Rodgers’ benching after a Week 4 loss to the Broncos and may well have done so again at a different point in the season. While the future Hall of Fame quarterback — believed to be on his way out of New York — attempted to downplay those reports, it is clear Johnson has become a more prominent presence with regards to roster say than he has in the past. With Johnson potentially staying put, this will be a key component as the Jets attempt to hire HC and GMs. Mike Vrabel, who is viewed as an early frontrunner, will need to take potential Johnson input into consideration.

Ex-Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and ex-Vikings GM Rick Spielman are playing central roles in the Jets’ hiring process as well, being brought in by Woody Johnson to run the interview process. This has already brought GM interviews with Thomas Dimitroff and Jon Robinson. GM and HC candidates not tied to teams are free to interview now, but clubs conducting searches must wait until divisional-round week to meet with candidates who are on other staffs. As the Jets attempt to reverse course after their NFL-long playoff drought has reached 14 seasons, it seems Woody Johnson will see this process to the end this time.

Adam Gase Denies Power Struggle Led To Mike Maccagnan’s Firing

May 20th, 2019 at 9:43pm CST by Sam Robinson

Barely four months after Mike Maccagnan hired Adam Gase, the Jets fired their GM. Gase now stands as the team’s interim GM and is helping with the search for Maccagnan’s successor.

It would appear, given the reports thus far, that the first-year Jets coach won a power struggle. He staunchly denied that Monday and that he will have control of the Jets’ 53-man roster after Maccagnan’s successor arrives.

“I disagree with that … as far as a power struggle,” Gase said, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “Whoever’s going to be hired is going to have the same control: Control of the roster. … I coach the football team. Nothing’s changing in that structure.”

Jets CEO Christopher Johnson said last week Gase would be in charge of the 53 in the interim, so it will be interesting to see how power is divided once a new GM arrives. Johnson, Gase and Jets VP of business affairs/general counsel Hymie Elhai will conduct the GM search, with Mehta adding it will be the team’s new HC that will play the lead role in selecting the next GM.

Eagles VP of player personnel Joe Douglas and NFL.com’s Daniel Jeremiah have been mentioned as candidates, though interviews have been requested with neither.

“That’s what it was,” Gase said (via NJ.com’s Darryl Slater), indicating he was surprised when Johnson told him of Maccagnan’s ouster. “He’s the owner. In this business, (expletive) like that happens all the time. It happened to me last year. I think that’s what it is. I mean, I work for (Johnson). That’s how we’re aligned, is the GM and the head coach both report to the owner.”

Over the weekend, Mehta reported Maccagnan heavily restricted Gase’s pre-draft input, leading to Gase moving his chair away from cameras during the draft and essentially letting the since-fired GM run that operation. Gase denied a large-scale rift existed.

“Since we’ve started, we just constantly were in communication, whether he’s coming down to my office or I’m going to his office,” Gase said of his work with Maccagnan. “That’s all we’re trying to do, is just make sure we’re on the same page all the time and making sure that we’re trying to put this thing together as well as we can in a short period of time.”