Stephen A. Smith Sides With Deion Sanders, Urges Jets Not to Miss Their Chance to Hire Louis Riddick as GM

You’d be hard-pressed to find a more disappointing story in the 2024 NFL season than that of the New York Jets. A promising season crashed and burned as they head into Week 18 with a 4-12 record. The head coach has been fired, the QB is on his way out, and, most significantly, their general manager, Joe Douglas, has also been let go. Since then, they’ve wasted no time in their search for a new GM, already interviewing strong candidates like Louis Riddick.

It was Riddick’s ESPN co-worker, Adam Schefter, who broke the news that the Jets had interviewed Riddick for the vacant role. He has been interviewed for general manager jobs before, but he could never seal the deal.

He has served solely as an ESPN analyst over the last few years. Despite that, he’s widely viewed as housing one of the best football brains in the business, and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders warned the Jets about messing up this hire.

“Jets Please don’t mess this up and I pray this was a real interview and not that other thang y’all do. This man deserves a REAL CHANCE! He is knowledge & Class personified!,” the CU head coach wrote on X.

When Sanders says “that other thang”, he’s referring to the “Rooney Rule”, which stipulates that a team must interview at least one person of color for any head coach or general manager opening. Since Riddick is black, it has been theorized that teams merely brought him in to satisfy this rule, rather than treating him as a genuine candidate.

Another ESPN pundit, Stephen A. Smith, doubled down on what Neon Deion was saying. Smith noted several characteristics Riddick possesses that would serve him well as an NFL GM, including his “brilliant football mind” and the importance he places on “accountability”.

“Amen. @DeionSanders is right on the money with this. It’s doesn’t get much better than@LRiddickESPN. Brilliant Football Mind. Ultra high integrity. Class personified. And big on accountability. The @nyjets better not mess this up.”

Riddick isn’t just a talking head trying to crossover; he has worked in NFL front offices before. After his NFL playing career, which ran from 1991 to 2001, Riddick became a pro scout for the Washington Commanders for several years before he was promoted to Director of Player Personnel. In 2008, he returned to the pro scout role with the Philadelphia Eagles before again being promoted to Director of Player Personnel.

Clearly, he knows how to manage a group of men. NFL teams have also kicked the tires several times on Louis Riddick in recent years. In 2020, the Detroit Lions took a look at him, and in 2022, the Pittsburgh Steelers gave him a chance after Kevin Colbert ended his 23-year tenure in the Steel City.

In both cases, the team ended up hiring a person of color for the job: Brad Holmes in Detroit and Omar Khan in Pittsburgh. Riddick’s interviews clearly weren’t performative for the sake of the Rooney Rule.

The Jets are heading toward a complete overhaul, and someone new, like Louis Riddick, coming in with fresh ideas could be just what the doctor ordered. However, the real question is: Will Woody (or Brick) Johnson pull the trigger?