There are two things you need to know about New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan.
One, he has a big mouth. He didn’t even wait until the ink dried on his contract before he started throwing verbal spears. He had an entertaining one-on-one with Miami LB Channing Crowder. And Patriot fans had his “I never came here to kiss Bill Belichick’s rings” statement memorized since Ryan said it in June.
This whale of a man speaks unfiltered and will never suffer from foot in mouth disease because Ryan can swallow his foot whole. Confidence is one thing, but many believe he crossed into cockiness long time ago. Rex Ryan is larger than life.
And he has a serious ego.
In Ryan’s latest antic, he politics to season ticket holders, imploring them to be loud on Sunday:
"Hey. It's Rex Ryan, the head coach of the New York Jets. I just want to let you know how much we need you this week. I've already admitted that, hey, the Patriots have a better head coach and they got a better quarterback than us. But we're going to see who's got a better team. And the other part, the reason that I'm so confident is that they got to face you and they got to face the rest of our fans. My challenge to you is that we need you at your best. So come get ready to go for four quarters, get after them, especially when our defense is out there. We really need you. We want it to be miserable for Brady and company. And seem like there's 13 or 14 guys out there on defense. It's tough enough when we just have 11. But when our fans are into it, it's almost impossible to do anything against us. So that's my challenge to you. Again, I admit that I'm not as good as Belichick. But at the end of the game, I want to be 1-0 against him. So help me out if you don't mind. So that's my challenge. Okay? Thank you. Bye."By now Ryan has Pats fans in a lather. “The gall of this man!” the fans think. They sense an ulterior motive when Rex compliments Belichick. “He’s buttering Bill up, hoping the grease makes Belichick slip,” Patriot Nation believes. They see through the ruse, and they can’t wait for Bill and the Patriots to shut Ryan the hell up.
The second thing Patriot fans know about Rex Ryan, but we won’t admit it, is he is absolutely right when he speaks. We don’t like it, but it’s true.
Teams and coaches want to win every week. For years we’ve heard nothing but respect from opposing teams. The polite compliments cover the truth. Sure they know the opponent is good, but they want to beat them into submission every week. That desire goes way up when it’s a division rival and/or a championship-level team.
Ryan is being completely honest with his “won’t kiss the rings” statement. He respects the accomplishment, but he’s not interested in bowing down. If Belichick extended his fist to Ryan, dressed with the three championship rings, Bill can expect to have three less fingers.
As far as Ryan’s plea to season ticket holders and Jets fans, why not rally the acolytes to support the home team? We see it every week when the defenders flap their arms upward, asking for more noise to disrupt the offense. Usually the request comes during crucial drives and downs. Ryan and the Jets hope the fans don’t wait and make their presence felt from beginning to end. If Seattle can raise a 12th man flag every home game, then Ryan can record a telephone message to hype up the fans.
Ryan is looking for anything that can help his team because he knows from experience that the Patriots are tough to beat. Having QB Kevin O’Connell on the roster exposing New England’s secrets is just the beginning. If the home crowd can be loud and distracting to create a couple of penalties or force the Patriots to use a timeout, Ryan will take every edge possible because Rex believes his Jets will need it.
Ryan is an excellent defensive coach. But he still has a 1-3 record against Belichick and the Patriots as a defensive coordinator. Rex is also familiar with Belichick’s success against rookie quarterbacks, a perfect 5-0. As good as Mark Sanchez was last week, he likely will see things he never saw before as Belichick and the coaching staff will do everything they can to make Sanchez uncomfortable and confuse the kid.
So if getting the crowd behind the Jets from the opening kickoff to the final whistle evens the playing field, Ryan is all for it.
There really isn’t anything wrong with what Rex Ryan has said (so far). He’s just honest, unlike the coaches and players that repeatedly regurgitate the same, measured, rehearsed answers we’ve grown used to over the years. Ryan shouldn’t take a step back because the Patriots have three Championships. With all due respect, he knows his team has to beat teams like the Patriots to get a title of their own.
And rallying the fans for a big game is nothing new. No one makes a big deal of it when it’s done at the college level.
Even though he coaches the hated Jets, Ryan is likeable because he’s entertaining. The league lacks personality at the head coach position so it’s fun to hear a coach crack jokes, trash talk and call out an opposing player by saying he never heard of him. Rex Ryan is breath of hot air that the NFL sorely missed. Patriots fans don’t have to stretch Ryan’s remarks and perceive them as trash talk. He was being honest, not malicious.
Safety Kerry Rhodes on the other hand, when asked what he wants to do to the Patriots, said “Not just go out there and try to win, try to embarrass them. Try to make them feel bad when they leave here.” There’s no mistaking it. Tack that on the bulletin board.
Questions? Comments? Send to talktome@randolphc.com.
