Jets' search for GM and coach will be assisted by former GMs Tannenbaum and Spielman

The New York Jets are turning to one of their former general managers to help them find their next GM and head coach.

The franchise announced Monday that The 33rd Team, a football media, analytics and consulting group founded by former Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum, will assist team owner Woody Johnson in the searches.

Tannenbaum and Rick Spielman, former GM of the Miami Dolphins and Minnesota Vikings, will be The 33rd Team's primary representatives in helping find replacements for former coach Robert Saleh and GM Joe Douglas.

The 33rd Team was founded in 2019 by Tannenbaum as a media and technology company. In their announcement, the Jets said The 33rd Team will help identify and vet GM and coach candidates and coordinate interviews.

Douglas was fired last Tuesday, the latest shakeup for a franchise that had Super Bowl aspirations with a healthy Aaron Rodgers at quarterback but has limped to a 3-8 start and appears likely to miss the playoffs for a 14th consecutive year.

Phil Savage, a senior football adviser with the Jets since 2019, will serve as the interim general manager for the rest of the season.

The firing of Douglas came exactly six weeks after Johnson fired Saleh as coach on Oct. 8 after the Jets were 2-3 to open the season. New York has since gone 1-5 under defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich, who was tabbed as the interim coach.

The Jets are coming off their bye-week break and will host the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

The franchise has plenty of questions to answer over the next several months, including decisions on their next general manager and coach — and the future of Rodgers. The four-time NFL MVP turns 41 next week, has dealt with leg issues all season and is off to the worst statistical start of his career.

Tannenbaum and Spielman will help the Jets find the people to help Johnson and brother Christopher make those key decisions.

Johnson took a similar approach in 2015, the last time the Jets hired a general manager and coach in the offseason. Former NFL GMs Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf worked as consultants for the team, which hired Mike Maccagnan as GM and Todd Bowles as coach.

Tannenbaum, currently an analyst for ESPN, has first-hand familiarity with Johnson and the franchise. He worked in the Jets' front office for nine years before being promoted to general manager and serving in that role from 2006 to 2012. Tannenbaum helped build the 2009 and 2010 Jets teams that went to the AFC championship game in consecutive seasons under coach Rex Ryan.

Ryan, who last coached the Jets in 2014 and also is currently an analyst for ESPN, recently has been lobbying on air for a return to New York's sideline.

Tannenbaum also was Miami’s executive vice president of football operations from 2015 to 2018.

Spielman served as the Vikings’ general manager from 2012 to 2021 after working as the team’s vice president of player personnel for six years. He was also the Dolphins’ GM in 2004 and served as an adviser last year for the Washington Commanders in their GM and coaching searches.

This story has been corrected to show that Spielman was formerly GM of the Minnesota Vikings instead of the Detroit Lions.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

FILE - Minnesota Vikings general manager Rick Spielman stands on the field before an NFL football game against the Chicago Bears, on Jan. 9, 2022, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Bruce Kluckhohn, File)

FILE - Miami Dolphins executive vice president of football operations Mike Tannenbaum looks on prior to an NFL football game between the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins on December 17, 2017, in Orchard Park, N.Y. (AP Photo/Rich Barnes, File)

BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Scuffles and fistfights broke out between ruling party and opposition lawmakers in Serbia’s parliament on Monday, weeks after a deadly rail station roof collapse that ignited tensions in the Balkan state.

The opposition wanted to discuss who is responsible for the crash that killed 15 people in the northern city of Novi Sad on Nov. 1, while governing officials, who have a majority in Serbia’s legislature, sought to adopt a bill on next year’s state budget.

The opposition displayed a banner showing a red hand print reading “blood is on your hands." The ruling party responded with a banner accusing the opposition of wanting “war while Serbia wants to work.”

Scuffles erupted when the two sides tried to grab each other's banner.

The rail station, a major hub, was recently renovated as part of a Serbian-Chinese partnership. Critics allege that corruption, poor oversight and inadequate construction work contributed to the tragedy.

The collapse has fueled widespread anger toward the government and protests, becoming a flashpoint for broader dissatisfaction with Serbia’s authoritarian rule. There are growing public demands for transparency while the country undertakes large infrastructure projects, mostly with Chinese state companies.

Serbia’s parliament speaker Ana Brnabic on Monday accused the opposition of wanting to come to power by force with help from outside.

“There is not a hint, not a grain of doubt, that these are people who are well organized, who were trained quite well, I believe paid well, to create chaos in Serbia and destabilize our country,” she said.

Serbia's autocratic President Aleksandar Vucic said on Instagram that the “daily bullying" and "the savage behavior" of the opposition would not be tolerated.

“I want to reassure the citizens and tell them that we will respond to their rudeness, rudeness and arrogance with even more work in the future." he said. "Today they tried to prevent pensioners from receiving their increased pensions, public sector employees from their increased salaries. They won’t succeed.”

Opposition leader Dragan Djilas said the speaker had “shut down” the parliament by refusing to allow a debate on who's responsible for the tragedy.

“She started with that when she refused to put on the agenda the request of more than 80 members of the opposition for a debate on confidence in the government because of the murder and crime in Novi Sad,” Djilas said.

Protesters shout slogans with red paint on the hands symbolizing blood, demand arrests, two days after a concrete canopy collapsed at a railway station in Novi Sad, killing 14 people and injuring three, during protest in Belgrade, Serbia, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)

Ruling party lawmakers, opposition members, and some ministers fight during a Serbia's parliament session, which was scheduled to debate the 2025 budget, in Belgrade, Serbia, Monday, Nov. 25, 2024. (AP Photo)