When Adam Gase became head coach of the Jets, he didn’t have final say over the roster. For now, he does.
Here’s the real question: Will Gase have it after the Jets hire a new G.M.?
The strongest clue could come from the fact that the Jets have taken the unusual step of making Gase the interim G.M. So he now has the final say that he didn’t have when he arrived. It’s hard to imagine him not having that power after a G.M. is hired.
In fact, it makes much more sense to just let Gase run the show. A new G.M. with actual G.M. powers would potentially not want Gase, creating the same kind of arranged marriage that the team endured when John Idzik and Rex Ryan formed a most bizarre (and short-term) tag team.
But here’s the problem, if Gase has final say: The Jets would have a harder time finding a G.M., since a team like the Eagles could deny permission to interview a candidate like V.P. of player personnel Joe Douglas. While the Jets could set up the documents to say that Douglas has final say when, in reality, Gase will tell him how to use it, that could set the stage for another short-lived Mangini-Kokinis experiment, where the G.M. had final say in writing and was foolish enough to actually believe that he did.
However it plays out, Gase emerges with much more power, an impressive outcome for a guy who was fired by the Dolphins and managed to accumulate influence and authority without ever coaching a single game for the Jets.