Woody, new GM must be in sync

T HINGS appear to be getting serious between Woody Johnson and Mike Maccagnan, his prospective next general manager.

The Jets owner and Maccagnan met for a second time Friday and had dinner together. If Johnson didn’t offer him the job over dessert, several sources believe Maccagnan, the only GM candidate to be called back for a second visit, is the Jets’ man and an offer is imminent.

Now comes the hard part for Johnson: Hiring his next head coach.

This represents the most critical juncture of his 15 years as Jets owner and he cannot afford to screw it up — not coming off a 412 season, a fourth consecutive year out of the playoffs and disgruntled PSL customers dwindling.

Johnson cannot allow another scenario in which there is no synergy between the general manager and head coach — the most important relationship in the building.

The cloud from the failed forced marriage between John Idzik and Rex Ryan still casts a dark shadow over the Jets and Johnson cannot allow that to happen again.

So the question now — once Maccagnan is secured (if indeed he is Johnson’s man) — is this: Who will be picking the head coach?

The new general manager? Johnson’s consultants — respected former NFL general managers Charley Casserly and Ron Wolf — whom he hired to help him choose candidates and make choices? Or only Johnson? For the Jets’ sake, let’s hope Johnson will allow his new general manager’s choice for head coach to carry the most weight, followed by the opinions of Casserly and Wolf. As the owner, as it should be, Johnson has final say. But it’s crucial for him to follow the lead of his football people.

Two years ago, Johnson let his affinity for Ryan cloud his judgment when he retained Ryan and hired Idzik. We all saw how that worked out.

The GMHCoftheNYJ combination that makes the most sense for Johnson is Maccagnan — who by numerous accounts from league sources is the highly respected, organized football man with a sound plan that the Jets need in the front office — and Doug Marrone, the former Jets assistant and the former Bills head coach who opted out of his contract two weeks ago.

The two men know each other well, have worked together and would dovetail with their organizational beliefs and philosophies in a way Ryan and Idzik never did.

Maccagnan, a lifer NFL scout type, is a strong personnel man who would bring in the talent that Idzik failed to procure.

Marrone is a fixer, a coach who took over a Syracuse program that was one of the worst in major college football and brought it respectability, brought it bowl games.

Those who are fixated only on his 2525 record at Syracuse are missing the point about the depths from which Marrone excavated that program. The same goes for those who are obsessing on his 1517 record in Buffalo, where he took over one of the sorriest NFL franchises and led the Bills to their first winning season in 10 years in 2014 — going 97 just two years into the job.

Dysfunction and a dearth of talent were rampant at both Syracuse and Buffalo when Marrone took over those programs. Those two issues exist with Johnson’s Jets right now. Marrone, who is a Bronx native, knows this difficult market and is unafraid of its challenges.

It’s possible Marrone might not be Johnson’s man; sources say he likes Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn a lot and Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles also impressed the Jets owner.

But neither Quinn nor Bowles — both of whom might turn out to be excellent head coaches — has any NFL head coaching experience. If Maccagnan is indeed Johnson’s man as the new GM and Johnson insists on hiring Quinn or Bowles, he’ll be taking a significant risk with first timers at both GM and head coach.

Johnson, who has been intent on taking his time and seeing the thorough process through before making these hires, is cautious by nature. He needs to be very careful with this head coaching hire and listen to his new GM and his football consultants.

That’s his best way to avoid making the same mistake he made two years ago, his best way to reverse the course for his floundering franchise.

ALL TOGETHER: No matter whom Woody Johnson hires as the Jets’ next general manager — Mike Maccagnan (inset) is the favorite, according to sources — they must be on the same page with the coaching hiring, writes The Post’s Mark Cannizzaro.