It's Week 2 and the Jets' head-coaching interview process will ratchet up. We're hearing that owner Woody Johnson this week will conduct interviews with six candidates for the job opening.
Two of them will be Johnson's first interviews with the Jets' in-house candidates, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer on Tuesday and assistant head coach/offensive line Bill Callahan on Wednesday.
I don't have hard information on who the other four interviewees will be, but we can say that due to the complex rules that the NFL has developed for interviewing candidates still coaching in the playoffs, a window of opportunity will open soon to talk with Rex Ryan, the Baltimore defensive coordinator whom the Ravens have given the Jets permission to speak to.
The Ravens flew away from the Dolphins, 27-9, on Sunday and have advanced to a Saturday AFC Divisional Round Game at top-seeded Tennessee.
While Johnson was out of the country last week, he was in close contact with GM Mike Tannenbaum as the process began last week with interviews with Schottenheimer and Callahan on Friday and Giants DC Steve Spagnuolo on Saturday.
One thing to keep in mind regarding this search is that it's not about "practice, practice, practice" but rather "process, process, process." The search has been set up along the lines of the Green & White draft process.
When the Jets draft every April, they do so only after meticulously setting up their annual procedure of filtering and weighing all their myriad interviews, visits, meetings, combine workout information, external and internal recommendations and research. And that's just the way this coaching process has been set up as well ... except maybe for the combine part. It's probably not important for the Jets' new coach to be able to turn a 4.4 in the 40 and a 6.8 in the three-cone drill.
Several commentators have noted the thoroughness of the Jets' current process, including Jay Glazer of FoxSports.com, who spent time with Eric Allen and me this morning for this week's "Jets Two-Minute Drive." That show can be heard on newyorkjets.com later this afternoon.
One more bit of information we've learned about the Jets' coaching search is that despite published reports, no frontrunners for the job have emerged this early in the process.
There's that word again.
Checking in at No. 17
Lost in the Jets' coaching search is their draft position. Just to confirm for anyone who missed it, the Jets are in the 17th slot in the first round. They are tied with four other teams — Chicago, Tampa Bay, Detroit (from a trade with Dallas) and Arizona — in the 9-7 segment.
The Cardinals automatically fall to 21st and last in the segment for Round 1 because they're in the playoffs. The other four teams were ordered based on their opponents' schedule strength. The Jets' .471 was the lowest of the four so they get the highest pick in the first round in that segment. Then they fall to the bottom of the segment for Round 2, which is No. 53 overall.
As a final note, the Jets could rise to No. 16 overall, but only if San Diego reaches the Super Bowl.
