View from pilot seat : Tannenbaum directs the Jets' busy offseason Don Banks> INSIDE THE NFL - May 13, 2010 I thought I heard him laugh a bit under his breath when I posed the question, but who in the NFL would you rather be right now than Mike Tannenbaum, general manager of the news-making New York Jets ? There's a new billion-dollar Meadowlands stadium to open in the fall, to go with the new, Jersey-based team complex that went up less than two years ago. There's the galvanizing and surprising trip to the AFC Championship Game last January to build off, the bold-talking but goods-delivering head coach who took the league by storm after you hand-picked him, the first-round franchise quarterback who has been worth every dime of the investment, and all the buzz and momentum generated by the perception of New York as a young and exciting team on the rise that seemingly everyone wants to play for. Short of getting the big confetti shower and shiny silver trophy after your final game of the season,that's about as good as it gets in the NFL these days.And that's what Tannenbaum presides over as he winds down a whirlwind offseason that kept his risk-taking Jets in the headlines and made them the talk of the town and the league."My approach to my professional life has always been choose a job you love and you'll never have to work a day in your life,'' Tannenbaum said by phone Wednesday evening, en route home after conducting some business in New York City. "I'm lucky enough to have a job leading an NFL team in New York City, and what we're most excited about is having a locker room full of guys that care deeply about winning. We're pretty fortunate. I love the environment we have right now, because I'm surrounded by a lot of great people.'' And a lot of new people. Has any organization ever undergone a faster, starker 180-degree change in personas than the Jets, who just 17 months ago still reflected the style and demeanor of then-head coach Eric Mangini's button-downed ways, just as much as they now reflect Rex Ryan's brash, never-back-down approach. It's just that leaning forward mindset that has infused this Jets' offseason, prompting them to resist any urge to stand pat and interpret last January's charmed playoff run as a validation of the status quo. . . rest of article : > http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/don_banks/05/13/jets/index.html
