12/31 — The Jets reached out to Bill Cowher about their head coaching vacancy but were informed Tuesday night that Cowher has politely removed his name from the list of potential candidates. 

"After reaching out to Coach Cowher's representatives, we were informed tonight that he is not a candidate for the position," said Jets team spokesman Bruce Speight.

According to a source familiar with conversations, the talks never advanced to a point of scheduling a formal interview and material items such as structure, money and length of contact were never discussed.

The Jets promised a thorough search, so it should come as no surprise that they placed a call to Cowher's representatives.

"We will be very, very thorough," said Jets owner Woody Johnson on Monday, "and select somebody that can succeed Eric [Mangini] and build on the good foundation that he and people in management have built."

Whoever is interviewed and ultimately gets the head coach's office, Johnson has made it clear he believes in the separation of coach and GM duties. During his news conference, the chairman/CEO said of having one man do both jobs:

"I've watched this, from a business standpoint and from a football standpoint. It's too much. There's no way that you can do it, in my opinion, and really do it, because you're always relying on somebody else. You may think that you have the power, but you can't make those discerning decisions. There' s just too much work to do and be a coach."

The team plans to talk to a number of strong candidates, one of whom is said to be Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, who reportedly will be interviewed Saturday.

Update, 9:17 a.m.: The Jets have also set up interviews for their vacant head-coaching position with two coaches on their offensive staff, coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and assistant head coach/offensive line Bill Callahan.