Rex Ryan wants a second chance at being the head coach of the New York Jets and he desperately wants everyone to know it.
The Jets entered the season with Super Bowl expectations, largely because of a 40-year-old Aaron Rodgers at quarterback. But as that dream quickly turned into a nightmare for the Jets and their fanbase, Ryan immediately started dreaming about coaching this team again.
Earlier this week, Ryan went on ESPN Radio in New York and told morning hosts Rick DiPietro and Dave Rothenberg the Jets would be “probably undefeated” if he was at the helm this season. Without Rex Ryan, the Jets are 3-8. Keep in mind, Ryan coached eight season in the NFL. He went 9-7 and 11-5 in his first two years and never had a winning season after that. So “undefeated” isn’t exactly something that matches his resume.
You can question Ryan’s coaching ability, you can question his self-awareness, but you can’t question his confidence and bravado. Ryan proved that on ESPN Radio in New York again Thursday, this time to midday hosts Alan Hahn and Bart Scott. With Ryan repeatedly stating he wants to coach the Jets again, he was asked about the prospect of having to blow the roster up.
ICYMI on @BartAndHahn:
Do the New York Jets need to blow it up?
Rex Ryan doesn’t think so. pic.twitter.com/Xoi9V1NnVi
— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) November 21, 2024
“I look at it this way,” Ryan said. “Blow it up? We’re gonna blow the opponents up. There’s way too much talent on this team to play the way we’ve been playing. Period. Period. And how hard can you get a guy to play? That’s the thing. Like, nobody’s seen a team gonna play the way, as hard as this team’s going to play in the future, trust me. If I’m the guy. Trust me.
“And that’s gonna be it. That’s what gonna separate me from all these other guys you’re gonna bring in. Your Grudens, your whoever, whatever. Give me a break. They ain’t fu — they ain’t New York Jets. I’m all about the Jets. We’ll see. And the great thing is — here’s the great thing. Yeah, you get a second chance at it and that doesn’t happen very often. Well, when it does it’s usually special. And so we’ll find out if I get that chance or not. If not, then I hope they have one hell of a guy in place ‘cause I still wanna be a fan of the Jets. I still wanna be, but you know when I look around I know nobody’s better than me. So we’ll see. We’ll see what happens.”
Ryan said he hasn’t spoken to team owner Woody Johnson about the job yet, but he certainly seems eager to have that conversation whenever the position officially opens. We’ll see what happens.
Revision is history with Ryan. Many fans remember him leading the Jets to two AFC title games and the immediate success he had with Eric Mangini’s players. But once those players started to overturn, Ryan’s success quickly faded, it became the same old Jets and his swagger wore thin.
Ryan told Hahn and Scott that there is “a ton” of things he would do differently in a potential second act with the Jets, before clarifying that there’s also a ton of things he would do the same. But it sounds like Ryan hasn’t changed much as he pedals for the Jets job, which is a great thing for media sound bites, but ultimately a bad thing for his attempt at coaching again.
