New York Jets: Rex Ryan Shockingly Open to a Return
By Nick Ziegler
Former New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan is without a job for next season. However, he has left the door open for a return to New York if he was wanted.
The New York Jets had a really disappointing 2016 season. Despite being one of the worst teams in the NFL, head coach Todd Bowles wasn’t fired. If the Jets have another poor season in 2017, Bowles would likely have to be fired.
Related Story: Grading the 2015 Draft Class
As of now, former Jets head coach Rex Ryan is without a job. He still believes that he should be a head coach in the NFL. Despite being fired by the Jets a few seasons ago, Ryan shockingly is open to a return to New York one day.
“They had to fire me,” Ryan said to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “I won four games. It’s as simple as that regardless of whether we had $40 million or whatever under the cap. It felt like $70 million under the cap. So, I get it. I walked out of there with my head up and I understood. But that wasn’t easy for Woody. That wasn’t easy for anybody. When you go 4-12, you’re going to get fired. And I knew that.”
Ryan’s firing came along with the firing of general manager John Idzik. In Ryan’s final season, Idzik really hung him out to dry without spending money in free agency. The Jets had plenty of money to spend, yet, Idzik held off on spending in the offseason.
“I had six years there and I enjoyed every one of them,” Ryan said of the Jets to Mehta. “I know I was supported. It might not have been 100 percent support throughout the organization (see: Idzik). But it was probably 99 percent. So, that was awesome. I love that support that we got. It felt like a family.”
Ryan was very successful in his first two seasons with the Jets. They were able to reach the AFC Championship Game both years, but things did go south after that. Despite some struggles, Ryan was certainly passionate about being the head coach of the Jets.
“I loved the fans too,” Ryan added to Mehta. “The fans were awesome. They never stopped supporting me when I was in New York even when it was a disaster (of a) season. I still felt the support of the fans. That’s an unbelievable feeling. That’s what was so painful. I felt like I let them down. When we went 4-12, I wanted to win so damn bad for them.”
Next: Rich's Seven-Round Mock Draft 1.0
It is rather shocking to see Ryan leave the door open to return to New York. It’s hard to imagine that the Jets would ever consider bringing Ryan back, but you never know.