Jets introduce Douglas to New York Media as Anti-Maccagnan

If you were looking for anything earth shattering, you didn’t get from new Jets General Manager Joe Douglas during a very matter of fact introductory press conference in Florham Park, New Jersey.

With a commanding presence, the larger than life Douglas came across as both soft spoken, genuine and focused.  As Jets CEO and owner Christopher Johnson noted during his remarks, Douglas is a “consensus builder, who is not afraid to share his opinion.”

In short, say hello to the anti-Mike Maccagnan. Or (at least fans hope) the anti-John Idzik.

In so many ways, Johnson threw Douglas’s predecessor under the bus on several occasions Tuesday when he said Douglas shares Johnson’s vision for the entire organization.

“He must be able to build and maintain a winning culture, including earning the trust of his colleagues,” Johnson said taking a direct slap at Maccagnan, who reportedly did not get along with Gase leading to the fractured relationship that Johnson couldn’t stand much longer.

“My goal is to be a steward to this franchise. We will find passionate people who love the game of football, that hate losing more than they do winning. My first step is to be engaged and connect with the entire organization,” Douglas said.

On Gase, Douglas said that he is “excited to be with Adam again. We share a special bond and vision.”

Douglas added that Gase reached out to Douglas when he was a newbie in Chicago back in 2015, after spending the previous 15 years in Baltimore.

“Adam reached out to me almost immediately and we struck a relationship,” Douglas said.  “We had dinner and talked ball and we shared a vision of building a team and a winner.”

Conspiracy theorists will probably jump on that quote that Gase has been using Douglas since 2015, but there had to be some connection between the two that puts them on the same page.

For Jets fans who have seen the square peg in a round hole with the Johnson’s trying to mix an match Idzik with Rex Ryan, and Maccagnan with Todd Bowles and Gase, a strong working relationship between the head coach and GM is a nice change of pace.

“To Jets nation you are getting a relentless worker, someone who will strive to put a product on the field that will strive for greatness.”

One can only hope.