The New York Jets are looking for a new head coach and could bring in an old friend to fill the vacancy. Rex Ryan, who coached the Jets from 2009 to 2014, is expected to interview for his former job this week.
Ryan, who has worked in media in recent seasons, told ESPN New York on Monday that he is extremely confident in his chances of landing the job. If/when that happens, he also detailed how his scheme would work, particularly regarding quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Ryan criticized Rodgers skipping mandatory minicamp last June, as well as former brass, for allowing it to happen in the first place. Under his leadership, the “country club” atmosphere would cease to exist.
“Obviously, when you have a guy not showing up for mandatory minicamp — and, by the way, it’s your quarterback, who’s coming off an injury — I think that’s an absolutely ridiculous message that you send to the team”, Ryan said, via ESPN.com. “If he comes back, things would be different. If he comes back, it won’t be the country club, show up whenever you want. That’s not going to happen. I’ll just leave it to that.”
Rodgers was fined $100,000 by the team for missing minicamp, so he didn’t emerge completely unscathed, but Ryan’s comments illustrate the type of pragmatic regime he would install as the next head coach of the Jets.
Of course, aside from whether Ryan actually gets the job, there’s no guarantee Rodgers will be there as a quarterback. The 41-year-old suggested that retirement could be his next step and was also open to the possibility of playing for another team if the Jets wanted to go in a different direction.
In addition to illustrating the culture he would attempt to establish with what would be his second tenure as head coach of the Jets, Ryan also explained why he expects to get the job.
“Oh, 100 percent, absolutely, I do,” he said of his chances of landing the Jets head coaching job. “The reason I think I’m going to get it is because I’m the best guy for it. It’s not tight. The thing you have to do is you have to connect with your football team, you have to connect with your fanbase. The way they play, that’s the most important thing.
“It’s not just the X’s and the O’s and all that. This Ben Johnson, I love him, I absolutely love him, but I’m a better candidate than him for this job.”
Ryan was most recently head coach of the NFL in 2016, while managing the Buffalo Bills.
