GM Joe Douglas makes Jets debut: ‘Ex-girlfriend’ Gase, Johnson fawning

The Jets now have their leaders.

After a tumultuous month, the Jets introduced Joe Douglas as their new general manager at a Tuesday press conference. The word of the day was collaboration, which was said repeatedly as the organization hopes to find harmony with this hire.

“I feel that we now have the right people in charge of our football operation,” Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson said.

The Jets hope the tandem of Douglas and head coach Adam Gase can end a nine-year playoff drought and a 50-year championship drought. The two worked together with the Bears in 2015 and have remained friends. Now, they will run the Jets together.

“We’re going to find passionate people that love the game of football, that hate losing more than they love winning, that love to prepare, that love to practice, that love to compete,” said Douglas, who spent the past three years as the Eagles vice president of player personnel.

The hiring of Douglas comes a little under a month since the Jets surprisingly fired Mike Maccagnan. Johnson made the move after months of consideration. After keeping Maccagnan following a third straight losing season and the firing of coach Todd Bowles, Johnson got to see Maccagnan’s decision making up close through the coaching search, free agency and the draft.

Johnson could see that Maccagnan and Gase were not meshing and also felt the Jets needed a more decisive leader at GM and someone with stronger communication skills.

They now feel they have that in Douglas.

The Jets were impressed by all four of the candidates they interviewed, but Douglas stood out. The 42-year-old impressed the Jets in his interview and had a more expansive résumé than some of the other candidates the Jets considered. Douglas helped build a Super Bowl winner with the Eagles and was in a leadership role there.

“He’s a consensus builder, an effective communicator who is not afraid to share his opinion,” Johnson said. “When he believes in something, he will let you know.”

Douglas’ prior relationship with Gase was also critical. The Jets now hope they can have a strong relationship between the front office and coaching staff, something that has not always existed over the past decade.

Gase looked thrilled to have Douglas on board.

“His evaluation skills are unbelievable,” Gase said. “Coaches, our staff, guys that have worked with him in the past, they always would say if Joe says a guy is a good player, believe him. He knows what he’s doing. Coaches trust him. You don’t hear the squabbles because he does such a great job evaluating players.”

The Jets showed how much they believe in Douglas with a six-year contract. Douglas will have control of the 53-man roster while Gase will control the depth chart, but Douglas said he will listen to Gase on personnel matters.

“Just because there is control of the 53 doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be strong collaboration,” Douglas said. “That was the model in Philadelphia and Baltimore and Chicago. It’s collaboration not only with the head coach, but every position coach and the entire personnel staff.”

Douglas said he has no reservations about the ownership situation with Woody Johnson possibly returning from his stint as ambassador to the United Kingdom in the next few years.

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“I can promise you that I wouldn’t be standing here if I didn’t have a comfort level with where this franchise was from a leadership position,” Douglas said. “I can’t tell you how great it was getting to know Christopher through this process.”

Douglas said his first priority will be connecting with people inside the Jets organization. One person who already has connected with him is Gase, who was giddy.

“I was excited when Christopher called me and told me what was going on [with hiring Douglas],” Gase said. “I was borderline ex-girlfriend harassing Joe: ‘When are you coming up, when are you coming up?’ The last couple of days have been awesome.”

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