Forget him! Mike Shanahan no longer in Jets' head coach hunt

Forget him! Mike Shanahan no longer in Jets' head coach hunt
January 3
New York Daily News
"First, the Jets were spurned by Bill Cowher. Now their brief flirtation with Mike Shanahan is over, according to an NFL source.

The Jets made a play for Shanahan, who was unexpectedly fired on Tuesday by the Broncos, but he rebuffed their overtures. The two-time Super Bowl champion coach is taking a two-week vacation and he's not planning to speak with any prospective employers until he returns, he told the NFL Network.

With the two biggest names on the coaching market out of reach, the Jets are focusing their search on top assistants, namely Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, the presumed front-runner. Spagnuolo, also drawing interest from the Broncos, will interview Saturday at the Jets' facility in Florham Park, N.J.

Meanwhile, new details of the Jets' quick and ill-fated courtship of Cowher have come to light. He had agreed Tuesday to speak with the Jets about their vacancy, but he withdrew his name from consideration several hours later because, in part, he wasn't able to speak directly with owner Woody Johnson, according to a person with knowledge of the situation.

"Bill Cowher easily could've been enticed to coach if Woody Johnson would've taken a sit-down meeting with him," the person said. "Cowher's camp was told that Woody was out of the country and couldn't have a sit-down with him."

Chances are, it wouldn't have changed the outcome, according to a person close to Cowher, but the "Where's Woody?" routine apparently was the last straw for the former Steelers coach.

Johnson is out of the country, a person familiar with the search confirmed, adding that Johnson speaks several times a day with GM Mike Tannenbaum. Cowher-to-the-Jets was a longshot from the outset - he apparently will remain a CBS studio analyst for at least another year - but face time with Johnson might have helped the Jets' chances. He never had a phone conversation with the owner.

Tannenbaum is the point man in the coaching search, although Johnson was willing to make himself available to speak with Cowher, according to a person close to the team.

Johnson didn't participate in Friday's interviews with the two in-house candidates, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and offensive-line coach Bill Callahan. He also won't be involved in this morning's sit-down with Spagnuolo, but Johnson will review notes from the sessions and is expected to step in for the second round of interviews, when the field is narrowed.

A potential Jets-Shanahan marriage never seemed likely. The Jets performed their "due diligence," according to a person familiar with the search, but it never advanced to the serious stage. Shanahan probably will seek a job where he can have final say on personnel, a power he held in Denver, and that doesn't fit in with Johnson's organizational philosophy. That, too, may have been an issue for Cowher.

Meanwhile, the Jets' focus turns to Spagnuolo, who will have spoken to four te"
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