Why I Don't Want Rex Ryan Back With The Jets

Bringing back the ever-divisive ESPN personality, who hasn't coached in the NFL in years, would be yet another stupid and bad decision by ownership...

Rex Ryan - pictured during his first spell as Jets Head Coach - would not be a right hire for a franchise that needs to look ahead, not back (📸: Bruce Kluckhohn - IMAGN IMAGES)

Rex Ryan has turned self-promotion into an absolute art form.

Love him or hate him, you really do have to give it to Ryan for the way he has relentlessly gone after what he’s always wanted.

It is the world’s worst-kept secret that Ryan has long-craved a second chance with the Jets, and he’s spent seemingly every single day for the last few weeks politicking for the Head Coach job with Gang Green.

Weeks and weeks of brash and unashamed proclamations culminated in perhaps Ryan’s most cringe-worthy, egotistical moment yet. And that’s saying a lot for a guy who has built an entire TV career on non-stop self-promotion and outlandish hot takes. Just check out what he said about Mike Vrabel’s hiring with the Patriots, and how his stupid takedown of the Texans backfired. Even then, Ryan found a way to make both situations all about himself. Because that’s just what he does. But, back to the original point. Appearing on ESPN New York’s morning drive show, DiPietro & Rothenberg, Ryan brashly declared that he would “100%” be getting the Jets job because he’s the “best guy” for the job. And it “ain’t close”, apparently. This is also the same guy who went on the same show and boasted that had he been in charge this season, the Jets would have gone unbeaten. Yeah, that actually happened.

I wish I had one iota of Ryan’s otherworldly self-confidence.

Ryan, who has interviewed for the job, may really believe that he’s the only guy to lead the Jets into a new era, but I’m not sure so sure.

In fact, I think the Jets would be making a colossal mistake by bringing Rex Ryan back for a second stint as the Head Coach.

And I have a plethora of concrete reasons to back up that belief.

Firstly, Ryan has been out of the game for a long time. Yes, he was the last Head Coach to lead the Jets to back-to-back AFC Championship games. And, yes, I do subscribe to the notion that you can learn a lot by taking a step back, observing and learning. In his role with ESPN, Ryan has certainly had bountiful opportunities to watch games, study the modern NFL and learn from the mistakes he made during his last stop in the league. However, with all that said, Ryan hasn’t coached an NFL game since 2016. Football has evolved a hell of a lot since then. Plus, in his final three seasons as a Head Coach - one season with the Jets and two with the Bills - Ryan finished a combined 19-28. That record hardly fills you with confidence.

From a pure coaching standpoint, I think the game has probably passed Ryan by. The product we see in the modern-day NFL is eons away from the style of football played back during Ryan’s heyday as a coach. We also live in an era where offense wins the day and offensive geniuses are sought after every offseason in a quarterback-driven league. Hiring a defensive-minded coach who hasn’t been in the league in nearly a decade would be a backwards move for a franchise that desperately, desperately, desperately needs to get it right this offseason.

I also really struggle to comprehend how Ryan will relate to and manage modern-day NFL players. As evidenced by what we talked about earlier, Ryan will never be accused of being a wallflower. He has an extremely combative personality, he clearly has a high opinion of himself - the saying ‘if he were chocolate he’d lick himself to death’ springs to mind when thinking of Rex - and he’s going to be to be way too outspoken in the media. He just can’t help himself. Just look at what Ryan has said about Aaron Rodgers in the last week, including the comments about Rodgers not getting the “country club” treatment if he were to return to the Jets for a third year. Do you really think it is going to sit well with the likes of Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner if they are called out by their Head Coach in a public forum? No, of course it won’t.

Putting Ryan in charge of a modern-day NFL locker room would be like putting a pyromaniac in charge of a room full of explosives. It just isn’t going to end well.

I mean, could you imagine if the Jets hired Ryan as their next Head Coach and then brought Rodgers back? That is a doomed marriage destined for a quick and ugly divorce. I can’t see Rodgers taking any crap from Ryan, and I can’t see Ryan taking the high-road and refraining from showing Rodgers who is in charge every single day. It would be a toxic and highly-combustible partnership that would no doubt quickly morph into in absolute sideshow. Furthermore, while I don’t put all of the blame for the Jets imploding this season purely on Rodgers’ shoulders, he was still a big part of the problem and he’s a 41-year-old quarterback with nobility issues and waning powers. Is he really going to get fixed by a defensive guy like Ryan? It’s incredibly unlikely.

In my opinion, the Jets need a fresh start across the board. That means no Rodgers and no Ryan. It is time to turn the page on the past and instead focus on putting this franchise back on the right tracks.

If I were leading the charge for a Head Coach, I’d be going all out for Mike Vrabel or Ben Johnson. Sadly, Vrabel is no longer available having agreed a deal to become the new Head Coach of the Patriots. By the way, with their quarterback of the future in place in Drake Maye, a boatload of cap space this offseason and now having hired a proven and respected team and culture builder in Vrabel, the Patriots are seemingly on the come all of a sudden. That’s bad news for the Jets. Meanwhile, Johnson - who is leading the next wave of offensive geniuses in the league - looks set to opt for a much-better situation elsewhere with a team that has a high-end quarterback he can develop and build a franchise around.

In that case, I’d take a long, hard look at other candidates like Lions DC Aaron Glenn, Vikings DC Brian Flores - although his handling of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa scares me, especially if the Jets end up drafting their quarterback of the future over the next couple of years - or former Seattle Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll. I’d even prefer Ron Rivera over Rex, because at least Rivera has coached in the National Football League recently. Out of those names mentioned, I’d make a real hard push for Glenn. He’s a defensive savant - just look at what he did to the Vikings in Week 18 - and he would build a program and a culture the right way. You hear the term ‘leader of men’ thrown around a lot this time of year, but Glenn would certainly fit into that category, and he’d be exactly what that defense, and the entire organization, needs.

In an ideal world - and what I’m about to say really would belong in the idealist of ideal worlds - Mike Tomlin would become available. In that scenario, the Jets would be beyond stupid not to do everything within their power to lure the Steelers Head Coach to New York. Again, the very idea of Tomlin becoming available seems incredibly unlikely but, if he were to be made available for trade by the Steelers, Jets ownership should be prepared to give up whatever it takes. If there is one guy who would be able to craft the Jets into a respectable and winning franchise, it would be Tomlin.

I just don’t want Rex Ryan. Nostalgia isn’t always a good thing, and just because Ryan once had success in New York with the Jets doesn’t mean that more success is guaranteed second time around. Those back-to-back trips to the AFC Championship Game were a long, long, long time ago and, not to labor the point, but football has changed a hell of a lot in the time span since. Plus, his overall record in New York was 46-50, so let’s not kid ourselves into thinking that Ryan was some Hall of Fame-bound coach with the Jets. I know that’s the impression he wants you to have, but reality paints a very, very, very different picture.

Coming off the disastrous Aaron Rodgers era, the Jets need a fresh start in every single sense of the word. Chasing history and opting for a re-tread would be foolish. As would hiring a guy like Ryan who loves the sound of his voice way too much, and who would clearly be in it for himself. Watch any of his TV appearances from the last week alone, and it will become crystal clear almost instantly that Ryan only cares about one thing and one thing only: The Rex Ryan Show.

Ryan can drone on and on as much as he likes about how much he loves and cares about the Jets. But, when you drill beneath all the noise, it is abundantly clear that he’s only interested in being back in the spotlight and the significant ego boost that comes with being an NFL Head Coach in a gigantic market like New York.

Now, there will be some who will argue that Ryan should get the job because he wants it, coupled with the fact that a lot of other top candidates will opt for better situations elsewhere, but that’s no reason to hand the keys of your franchise over to a guy who hasn’t coached in eons and who can’t keep his mouth shut.

Again, and I can’t stress this enough, bringing Ryan back would be an absolute disaster. He will not mix or play well with the modern-day athlete, and the wheels would fall off the entire thing by November if he were to get the job.

If the Jets want to be taken seriously as a respectable NFL franchise that prioritizes winning over dominating the news cycle - and I’m not convinced owner Woody Johnson does - then they should avoid repeating history by swerving Ryan at all costs.

If they don’t, and do indeed look to win the back pages by bringing back a guy who will win the press conference and win over fans, but who probably won’t do a whole lot of winning where it actually matters, then I fear the Jets will slip even further into the NFL black hole.

It is just my opinion, but re-hiring Rex Ryan could, and probably will, set the New York Jets back years. It is an absolute car crash waiting to happen.