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With Marrone On Radar, Jets Land In Seattle For Coach, GM Interviews

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Woody Johnson's search for the New York Jets' next coach and general manager has taken him to Seattle.

Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and assistant head coach-offensive line coach Tom Cable, along with former Buffalo coach Doug Marrone, are on the Jets' early list of candidates to replace the fired Rex Ryan.

Johnson flew to Seattle on Thursday, along with consultants Ron Wolf and Charley Casserly, and interviewed Seahawks director of pro personnel Trent Kirchner for New York's general manager position, which opened when Johnson fired John Idzik along with Ryan on Monday.

While in Seattle, the trio also will meet with Quinn and Cable. It was a busy day for the Jets, who interviewed Cleveland executive chief of staff Bill Kuharich in New Jersey before they headed to Seattle.

Marrone became a prime candidate for the Jets when he abruptly stepped down Wednesday night as Bills coach. He exercised an opt-out clause in his contract, essentially making himself a coaching free agent. Marrone led the Bills to a 9-7 finish in his second season for Buffalo's first winning campaign since 2004. Buffalo still missed the playoffs, extending the NFL's longest active postseason drought to 15 seasons — but beat the Jets twice.

PALLADINO: CHANGE OF PLANS — HIRE MARRONE ASAP!

As of Thursday night, it was uncertain when the Jets would interview with Marrone. It likely will occur as soon as Johnson returns from Seattle, perhaps as soon as Sunday. Marrone and Johnson touched base via telephone earlier Thursday, according to Sports Illustrated's Peter King.

Marrone, a Bronx native who reportedly had some rocky relationships in Buffalo, has ties to Johnson and the Jets: He was their offensive line coach under Herm Edwards from 2002-05.

Quinn also was a Jets assistant from 2007-08 under Eric Mangini. He's also from Morristown, New Jersey, located just minutes from the Jets' training facility in Florham Park.

New York also plans to interview San Diego offensive coordinator Frank Reich, but nothing had been scheduled. There is also interest from the Jets in Arizona defensive coordinator Todd Bowles and Baltimore offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak.

The Jets already interviewed two in-house candidates Wednesday: Rod Graves and Anthony Lynn.

Graves, the team's senior director of football administration, met with Johnson, Wolf and Casserly for the GM job. Before being brought to New York by Idzik in 2013, Graves was Arizona's general manager for six seasons. He is currently overseeing New York's football operations on an interim basis until a GM is hired.

Lynn, who interviewed for the coaching position, was the running backs coach and served as assistant head coach under Ryan.

With those two meetings, the team also satisfied the NFL's "Rooney Rule," which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate for open positions.

In addition to Kirchner, the Jets have scheduled interviews with Houston director of college scouting Mike Maccagnan and Philadelphia director of pro personnel Rick Mueller, but it wasn't immediately certain when those would occur.

Two candidates the Jets were interested in — Baltimore assistant GM Eric DeCosta and Minnesota assistant GM George Paton — turned down interview requests, preferring to remain with their current teams.

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