Mainly it's the media that wants Rex to be fired. If he was, they would then write all these nasty articles about him, and then say that there is a circus over the search for a new HC. They would say it is Idzik's fault and that he needs to be fired as well, and then accuse Woody and Idzik of either picking a new HC too quickly, or taking too long. They would say "nobody wants to be the Jets' head coach" (which is utter BS- that job pays like $4,000,000 a year whereas a DC gets maybe $500k or whatever. 2 or 3 years being the Jets HC, even if you end up as a failure, you've got a ridiculous amount of money and at the end you will still get another OC or DC job, or a media analyst job where you get $2m a year and barely work at all compared to how much a coach works.) Then they would write all these articles about how the new HC is either: too old, too young, doesn't know enough about the defense, doesn't know enough about the offense, doesn't have any history with Idzik and therefore will fail because he won't be able to work with him, has a lot of history with Idzik and therefore was picked because of cronyism, is too loud and opinionated, isn't passionate enough, is a failure because he was fired from a previous HC job and therefore he will do even worse with the Jets, is doomed to be a failure because he has no HC experience - etc. The main point is that, whatever decision the Jets make, the media will ALWAYS flip it around and make it look like a bad mistake. That's the major narrative, and the lens through which they interpret all facts relating to the Jets. Anything they do or don't do, is a mistake, and they just make it look like whatever they didn't do was clearly the right choice. If they fire Rex, the new guy will become the media's new whipping boy, instantly. Reporters like Mehta just want to get on ESPN and think that the way there is to be as inflammatory as possible, because he knows that negative stories attract more attention than careful nuanced, insightful reporting. Easier to just smear someone far more talented and successful than he is and get attention that way. Same reason why most newspapers focus almost entirely on crime stories rather than positive things like new businesses succeeding and stuff like that. My belief is that, at the end of the day, there are three main types of HCs. 1) Terrible ones who can't use their team's talent effectively and end up under-performing while they try to re-mold the team to fit their scheme that may or may not work; 2) excellent coaches (Madden, Parcells) who can truly get the most out of their guys and end up turning an extremely untalented roster into playoff contenders, or a mediocre team into a team that always makes the playoffs, or a good team into a team that always has a real chance to win a Super Bowl; and 3) average coaches that do well if they have a good team, and do poorly if they have a bad team (Belichick- he was terrible with the Browns for 5 years, terrible with the Patriots for 1 year, and then a "genius" once he got a future HOF QB. He was an "elite" DC... when he had Lawrence Taylor racking up multiple sacks per game and breathing down the QB's neck on almost every passing down. Kind of hard not to be a "defensive genius" when you have that rare sack machine who makes NFL offensive lines seem like they're composed of high school students.) There are almost no head coaches that can make up for having a bad QB situation. If you've got a bottom 5 QB, you're going to finish in the bottom ~7 every year. Rex had a bottom 1 - 3 QB every year, and yet he almost made it to 2 Super Bowls! He won 14 games out of the last 32 regular season games, with a QB that averaged OVER 1.5 turnovers per game for that stretch. That's not in the "amazing" category, but it's closer to that category than it is to the "average" category. You have no business being a playoff contender in Week 15 if you have one of the worst QBs in the league, yet the Jets have been under Rex, so to me that says he's pretty special. Whisenhunt isn't particularly good. He's ok. Not going to make an elite team lose, but he won't make a bad team win. Yeah he made it to a Super Bowl- but with Kurt Warner. When he had bad QBs he immediately had a bad team, despite having a defense that seemed very good. It'd be the same if he went to the Jets- he can't win without a quarterback. Rex has shown that he can win without a good quarterback. College HCs are often a lot worse in the NFL because their strategies may not be so effective in the NFL, and their success is often largely due to having an overwhelming talent advantage, so that there are only about 1 - 2 loseable games on your regular season schedule. In the NFL even "elite" teams routinely lose 4 games a year, and successful teams actually get a recruiting penalty because their draft position worsens the better the team does, meaning that the better your team is, the better your GM has to be just to prevent your team from getting worse. Whereas in college, the more you win, the better players you get, which helps you win more, which helps you get better players, and so on. You can't have an NFL team stacked with playmakers at every position like you can in college, you can't get an advantage by disregarding academic requirements to get illiterate but athletic players that schools like ND or Stanford can't recruit because of that thing called "integrity" that they value more than winning and getting more ad dollars - all those advantages are gone in the more level playing field on the NFL. The other thing that people do is, they look at a team with an elite QB, and then conclude that that team's OC must be an offensive genius, so they make him the HC. And he usually isn't good, unless he happens to have a good QB. Or you get a DC from a team with a good defense- but then most of the time he will have some sort of specific "system" that the current team's roster isn't suited for, and it will take him 2 - 3 years to install this new defense rather than building with what you've got. Or you promote from within- but, if the OC was really that good, the HC probably wouldn't be getting fired in the first place. Mornhiweg (or however you spell it) would be a terrible choice for a new HC. He is considered one of the worst of all time, up there with David Shula. Marty went 5-27 in two years with the Lions (even Rex, in his worst year, won more games than that in just ONE year). And he is much worse than even Rex as far as game decisions- he infamously chose to defer after winning the coin toss in overtime. The team that receives had about an 80% chance of winning the game, because all you needed was one field goal to win - he preferred having favorable wind rather than the chance to get within 30 - 40 yards of the end zone and win by default. (When they changed the OT rules to the way they are now, you probably only have about a 66% chance of winning the game if you win the coin toss.) So, whatever problems there are with Rex, I think he's still much better than any alternatives that would be available to the Jets. All he needs is a mediocre QB and the Jets will be very good.
Even though the stat can be fudged a little and skewed ... I think that a QB that plays every snap for his team, a rating around 85-87+ range will put a team right in the playoff hunt almost every year.
I still have love for Rex but IF he were to get fired I say we re-hire the legendary Herm Edwards just for the pure entertainment of his press conferences, and maybe if where lucky we can get a "Hello, You Play To Win The Game" Part II.
This is brilliant and let me tell you why. Giants fans, many of them in my office LOVE to remind me that the Jets suck, combined with the fact that Mark Sanchez is a joke and Rex Ryan is a bad coach. I can give them the Sanchez thing, the guy has embarassed us enough for me not to go out defending the shit out of him like I used to. However, when it comes to the media, the narrative is not only the Jets make bad decisions, it's overflowing to the fans of other franchises that think we are a joke. Rex Ryan has done an absolute fantastic job if you consider what he was working with (the average fan does not know) going to back to back AFCCC all without a home game, followed by an 8-8 season and one disaster season. He is not a bad coach what so ever. The man needs some help on offense, but that is what Marty is there for... No coach can go to the Super Bowl without talent and the stars aligning. Rex just has not had that special group yet. If/when he does, he will not squander it. I am disgusted with people knocking Rex for the dumbest little things. Look at his resume as a whole, it's pretty goddamn good.
Great post. It sums up this ridiculously premature panic filled thread . No coach wins in today's NFL without very good QB play. The Jets problems stem from QB issues to a significant lack of talent thanks to Tanenbaum. Ryan has gotten the most from this team based on the talent. Firing him would be a huge mistake. Close this stupid thread. What's the next thread? Who should the Jets draft in 2014?
I think people are reading WAY too into the public relations aspect of Rex's job evaluation. Under normal circumstances a coach is partially judged by how they handle the media & communicate franchise decisions. However, in this case the coverage of the team has become SO excessively negative, short of Rex having a meltdown behind the podium I don't think it matters WHAT he does from that perspective.In that way the negative coverage works to Rex's advantage. People like to think they have a handle on the Idzik/Rex relationship & the overall job Rex is doing.The fact is we DON'T KNOW what is happening behind the scenes. But that's exactly what Rex is gonna be judged on.How does a young team w/ alot of untapped talent respond & perform under his watch? Does his handcrafted defense w/ alot of pieces now in place begin to take a dominant shape? Does the offense make strides w/ a new PROVEN OC & some new pieces in place? Wins/losses likely don't matter quite as much as perceived. Rex only has one losing season under his watch, this young roster clearly needs time & the defensive personnel is strongly vested in Rex's philosophies. As for worries about Idzik being the opposite of Rex. I'm not sure that's exactly a bad thing. Sometimes contrast can be the best thing for an organization. You end up w/ real perspective on the decisions that really matter.Tannenbaum was a "Yes man". Idzik will look at things alittle bit closer. If both are honest w/ themselves & are open to other opinions it can be a very good pairing. Both are coach's sons who have been around the game their whole lives. Lack of football competence is not an issue. It could be a Ying/yang type set-up. We'll see.
Sorry I didn't "quote" your entire post. I'm not in agreement with most of it. You're right about the media piling on, but it's just that..piling on. Do we need to list all the ridiculous shit that the Jets organisation has done to attract negative attention? When we WERE winning football games, the media certainly lightened up. Your defense of Rex Ryan is admirable...and maybe spot on two years ago. Since then he has hitched his wagon to a quarterback with declining skills, an offensive coordinator who was truly offensive, and a back-up quarterback who can't throw a pass. He's certainly started off this year on a high note by getting his "incumbent" quarterback slaughtered in a meaningless game. Ooops...there goes our mediocre option at quarterback. But hey...I actually like Rex Ryan, and I hope he can turn things around soon. But left to his own devices, the Jets are gonna continue to be the laughing stock of the NFL...and there ain't nothing "special" about that if you're a fan of the team.
If Jim Schwartz gets canned in Detroit I'd love to get him. I don't want Rex to get fired but if he does then that's a guy that I'd want. Love his attitude and the way his teams play aggressive and borderline dirty. Think he would be a good fit in NY.
As a Rex supporter, I am glad somebody 100% stuck up for him, proving so many great points that I feel it's almost disrespectful to even try adding on to that magnificent piece. I hope that guy sticks around. I see he is new. We need more people like that here at TGG.
