Ron Wolf talks Jets, possible role in coaching and GM search

Ron Wolf could be an important piece of determining exactly how the New York Jets will look over the next few years and the highly respected former general manager of the Packers of Green Bay tells Metro New York that he is on standby if need be.

With the Jets likely ushering out second-year general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan after this season mercifully ends for the 3-12 team this Sunday, it will be Wolf along with former longtime NFL executive Charlie Casserly who will be tasked with rebuilding the front office. The Jets will employ Casserly as a consultant should they make any changes and reports earlier this week said that Casserly will utilize Wolf as part of this search.

Sources tell Metro that Jets owner Woody Johnson has not told anyone within the organization what his plans are for Idzikand Ryan yet, if either will stay or if one or the other will be fired. That includes Casserly, the source said, who does not know Johnson’s final decision on the matter.

A source said that Johnson “is believed to be leaning towards getting rid of both Rex and John. Every indication is that the team will be looking for a new general manager and head coach this year.”

Wolf confirmed to Metro this week that Casserly has reached out to him about joining in a consulting capacity but he doesn’t know if the Jets will hire the duo.

“That’s a maybe. That’s a huge maybe,” Wolf said. “And the maybe is, what the Jets decide to do.I don’t know that because we haven’t discussed that simply because there isn’t anything to discuss at the moment. Everything in place, there’s still a head coach and there’s still a general manager.

“It’s depends what the hierarchy of the Jets determine to do before I enter into, if in fact I do. That hasn’t been finalized it either. It was just a call ‘Would you be?’ or ‘Could you be?’ All that has to be worked out. It has to be be worked out. I haven’t talked with anybody affiliated with the Jets. I’ve only talked to Charlie.”

Neither Casserly or Wolf will be called upon to make the decision on if Idzik and Ryan stay. That will rest solely in the hands of Johnson.

This past fall, Wolf was named as a finalist for induction into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, something that is of very little surprise considering his work with the Packers, where they made the Super Bowl twice and won once.

Both Casserly and Wolf are members of the NFL’s Career Advisory Panel, which the former Packers general manager said was created to create a dossier of “top-tier drawer either head coaches or general managers, should a member team want that information and we’ll supply them with whatever information they need.”

The committee meets once a month in New York for a four-hour meeting. Individuals and possible emerging candidates in both management and coaching circles are discussed, examined and research is done to determine their viability.

Wolf still tracks and follows the Packers closely, not a shock given that he still summers in Wisconsin and attends their preseason games. But he admits to possibly coming into the Jets situation with an open mind and is unbiased in his thoughts about the team.

“I really and truly don’t know anything about the Jets,” Wolf said.