Woody Johnson and Jed Hughes will have conducted 11 interviews by the end of the week as part of their search for a new general manager.

The Jets GM search, which appeared to be locked up with Tom Gamble over the weekend, has suddenly taken an interesting turn. In fact, it has been so interesting that even I had a difficult time following it today.

Falcons’ David Caldwell, considered by many to be a “dark horse” candidate based on the positive buzz surrounding Gamble, completed his second interview with the Jets yesterday afternoon. The Jaguars announced that he would be their new general manager later that day.

With their first round of interviews completed and no GM emerging as a favorite, the Jets begin to add additional candidates to the mix, beginning with Colts vice president of football operations Tom Telesco, whom they requested an interview with early this morning (Wednesday). Telesco was named the Chargers new general manager this afternoon.

The Caldwell and Telesco developments must have scared the Jets a bit, because they have now added a long list of candidates throughout the course of the day.

• Dolphins Assistant General Manager Brian Gaine, a Bill Parcells disciple who once worked for the Jets, will be interviewed for the GM job later the week (several reports have the interview happening tomorrow).
• Omar Khan, Steelers Director of Football & Business Administration will be interviewed tomorrow. Khan is considered to be a cap-and-contracts-specialist (that is, specializing in contract negotiations and managing the team’s cap), not a football scout or a “football guy,” as they say. If Khan was to be hired, it’s highly likely he would need assistance from someone with more scouting experience, perhaps someone from the Steelers or even – ugh – Bradaway.
• Former Bears G.M. Jerry Angelo will also be interviewed tomorrow. You may recall Angelo was recently fired in Chicago after 11 years as their general manager. Some positives on Angelo: He has some experience with personnel form his days in Tampa Bay and he is also known for being cheap.
• Seahawks VP of Football Administration John Idzik will interview for Jets GM job on Friday, according to Jason LaCanfora. Idzik has played a huge part in restructuring the Seahawks cap situation in the past few years so, yep, you guessed it, he’s another “cap guy.”
• Jim Popp, GM of Montreal Alouettes in CFL, is believed to be on Jets GM radar as well, according to Manish Mehta. No interview has been scheduled, but many around the league believe him to be an excellent candidate. He was the runner up for the Colts job last year and he is a top candidate for the Panthers opening.
• As a side note, Albert Breer reported that  the Jets requested and received permission to interview San Diego Chargers Director of Player Personnel Jimmy Raye for the position. Raye has since been taken out of the mix. According to Cimini, “(the) interview never (never) scheduled.”

Gaine, Khan, Angelo and Idzik will join Gamble, Marc Ross and Scott Cohen in the current candidate pool. Given the large number, the GM search “process” is expected to go into next week as Woody Johnson and Jed Hughes work to “leave no stone unturned.”

Perhaps I am misinterpreting the situation, but the Jets appear to be scrambling and desperate at the moment.  Why suddenly add a large group of second-tier candidates? One thought process is that the team plans to promote Cohen but wants to give the appearance of being thorough before promoting from within. My friend Jeff Capellini of CBS New York/WFAN disputed this theory on Twitter, tweeting, “Been talking to various people close to situation and the consensus is Cohen will not be promoted unless roof caves in.”

I know what you’re thinking: What happened with Gamble? Excellent question. Unfortunately, I don’t really have an answer for you, but according to Mike Florio (I hate saying that), the Jets’ interview with Tom Gamble “didn’t go well.” Joe Caporoso of Turn on the Jets tweeted that according to his source, the Jets felt Gamble didn’t have an appropriate understanding of the cap. I have also been told through discussions with people that Gamble is not really a shiny penny — he is a “football guy” and perhaps Woody and Rex were not keen on his style or demeanor in that sense.

Quick Hits:

• The Jets have promoted coach Dennis Thurman to defensive coordinator. The Thurman annoucement should quiet any speculation about a Ryan brothers combo (Rob Ryan was fired yesterday)
• The Bills have hired Mike Pettine as their new defensive coordinator.
• Woody says the GM will be required to keep Rex for 2013, which could explain, in part, why some top tier candidates have passed on the Jets GM job.
• Rex Ryan, in his Tuesday press conference, announced that Ben Kotwica will replace Mike Westhof as the special teams coordinator.
• Both Rex and Woody refused to comment on the future of the quarterback position on Tuesday, saying both players are under contract and they will evaluate things when a new offensive coordinator is hired.

If you missed this week’s episode of “The Blue and Green Review”, taking about the Jets season ending press conference, the search for a new GM, RG3, Christian Ponder and more, you can watch the replay here.