FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- With his first head-coaching pick, New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas selects ...

Douglas has performed a wide range of responsibilities during his 21-year career in personnel, but this is the first time he is directly involved in a coaching search. In fact, the only other time he was with an organization that hired a head coach was 2008, when John Harbaugh was tabbed by the Baltimore Ravens. To create a comfort zone, Douglas is leaning on his background as a talent evaluator.

"I'm going to stick to what I know, and that's attacking it like I would a draft, almost like you're drafting a coach," he said. "You have your critical factors, you have your position specifics, you basically create your criteria and your reports based on that."

Interesting concept.

At its core, the process of hiring a coach and drafting a player is relatively similar. It's all about gathering information -- objective and subjective -- and making the best decision. Douglas won't need his stopwatch for 40-yard dash times, but he certainly will be digging into the backgrounds of the candidates and conducting many interviews in the coming days and weeks.

Instead of scouting pro days, they have Zoom calls. Can we get Mel Kiper Jr. and Todd McShay to weigh in, too?

The Jets got down to business on Wednesday, completing an interview with Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy -- the first known candidate to interview for the vacancy. They also have submitted requests for Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll, Indianapolis Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus and Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Brandon Staley. They're expected to request Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.

Daboll and Eberflus will be calling plays against each other on Saturday in the AFC wild-card game between the Bills and Colts, perhaps a valuable window for the Jets (and other teams looking for a coach) to evaluate the candidates.

Don't rule out a college coach. Douglas made it clear he's casting a "very wide net" and is open to hiring from the college ranks even if the candidate doesn't have NFL experience. Two of the hottest names are Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald, neither of whom has coached or played in the NFL. Stanford's David Shaw always gets mentioned this time of year in NFL circles. He does have a distant connection to Douglas; he was a Ravens' offensive assistant from 2002 to 2005, when Douglas scouted for them.

"It's important that we find a person with high integrity and outstanding leadership skills and communication skills," said Douglas, who wants his new coach to be a "great partner."

A quick look at the search, playing off the draft theme:

'Best coach available' over need: Douglas is applying his drafting philosophy to the search -- and that makes sense. What the Jets need is a true leader -- a CEO-type coach, if you will -- not an offensive or defensive guru. He won't cut the field in half by seeking a coach on one particular side of the ball, which is what the Jets did in 2019. They went for need (offense) and wound up with Adam Gase, who failed in his area of expertise. He tried to evolve on the job, briefly relinquishing the playcalling, but it was too late.

CEO Christopher Johnson made a good point, saying they want someone who can coach the entire team and the staff -- something that was lacking under Gase. That's what made Bill Parcells so good; he knew how to coach the coaches. It's hard to predict how a coordinator with no head-coaching experience will handle the role, but Bieniemy has received high marks for being a dynamic leader. This is where a college coach might be appealing; they know what it's like to lead a program.

Instant impact/credibility: You don't want players in the first team meeting thinking to themselves, "Why did we hire a coach who got fired by a team in our own division?" You want a coach who commands immediate respect because of his résumé. The five known candidates are on playoff teams, which helps. Bieniemy won a Super Bowl ring last year with the Chiefs, but the bling king is Daboll, who has five Super Bowl rings (New England Patriots assistant) and one College Football Playoff national championship (Alabama offensive coordinator) ring.

Beware of one-year wonders: You know the kind; they tantalize with their potential, but their body of work is thin. For instance, Staley has done a terrific job with the Rams -- No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense -- but it's his first season as a coordinator. Smith is in his second season as the Titans' offensive coordinator, though it's hard to argue with the results. He went from 12th to second in total offense, transforming quarterback Ryan Tannehill into a star. Still, his experience doesn't stack up with that of Daboll, a coordinator with four different NFL teams and the man behind quarterback Josh Allen's emergence in Buffalo.

Game manager: No quarterback wants to be called this, but it's a critically important for a coach. If you hire a so-called CEO coach, and he's not calling offensive or defensive plays, he needs to be great at game management. Again, it's hard to project how a former coordinator will respond to running the entire show, which is why a college coach might make sense.

Douglas, on the verge of a career-defining decision, has consulted with various confidantes for advice on how to conduct a search. Presumably, he spoke with his mentor, former Ravens GM Ozzie Newsome. They talk often.

"He's a guy that wants to accumulate as much information that's available to him and then make a decision," Newsome told ESPN last year. "To me, he's a processor. Regardless of how fast things are moving sometimes, Joe D. is going to be solid and he's going to be right down the middle. And he's going to come away with a good decision."