One of the biggest stories for the New York Jets this offseason was the departure of head coach Rex Ryan.
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Ryan, despite usually saying whatever is on his mind, has been relatively quiet about his last season with the Jets. In an upcoming interview with Andrea Kremer on HBO’s Real Sports, Ryan is very open about his final season as the coach of the Jets.
“I knew we weren’t going to have a good team when we never did anything in free agency. I knew that,” Ryan told Andrea Kremer in a sit down interview that will be on HBO’s “Real Sports.”
“Oh, I was done,” he said. “One-hundred percent, I knew I was done. One-hundred percent.”
The Jets were shockingly quiet in the offseason last year, as despite having a ton of money to spend, the Jets sat on their hands. Then general manager John Idzik took all of the heat for setting the Jets up to fail. The poor offseason translated into a poor regular season, and then resulted in both Idzik and Ryan being fired.
Despite having a 4-12 record, there was always the thought that Ryan may be safe, as owner Woody Johnson has always been a big fan.
“Yeah, I know Woody wanted to keep me,” Ryan said in the interview. “We talked like brothers. I know Woody never wanted to fire me. I could’ve been his coach for 20 years. That’s what Woody wanted. There’s no question Woody wanted that.”
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Asked if there was a way Johnson wouldn’t fire him, Ryan said, “Maybe, but I’ll tell you this: He couldn’t do it. There’s no chance he could’ve brought in another GM and kept me again. There’s no way. It wouldn’t have never worked in New York. They weren’t going to allow it. The media wasn’t going to allow it. It wasn’t going to work.”
Ryan’s career started out great with the Jets, as in his first two seasons they went to the AFC Championship Game. After those two seasons, the Jets became mediocre with and 8-8 record in 2011, 6-10 record in 2012, 8-8 record in 2013, and then the dreadful 4-12 record in 2014.
In his six seasons with the Jets, Ryan totaled a 46-50 regular season record, and a 4-2 record in the playoffs. Whether you loved him or hated him, Ryan did a decent job in New York, and was always an entertaining person.
After being let go by the Jets, Ryan signed to become the new coach of the Buffalo Bills. Ryan has already found his way into the news with the Jets, as the Bills signed IK Enemkpali after he punched Geno Smith in the face.
Ryan has struggled in the last few seasons as the Jets’ head coach, as he seeming lack of interest in the offense really hurt the Jets in the past few seasons. The Bills are in a similar situation to the Jets with a lot of good pieces on offense and defense, but no franchise quarterback.
As the season progresses, there will surely be more talk about Ryan and the Jets, especially when he makes his return to MetLife Stadium.
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